Gerard Baker
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From The Times
May 25, 2007
Pretty bad – but not Jimmy Carter bad
America is in a funk, but it needn’t be
You know how bad things have got when Jimmy Carter’s critique of your presidency is taken seriously. This week the former US President attacked the current one, saying that, “as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world”, George Bush’s Administration had been “the worst in history”. It’s one thing to have to listen to Bill and Hillary Clinton claim that things were better when they were in the White House, but Jimmy Carter? Being told by Mr Carter that you’re the worst president in history is like being told by William McGonagall that your poetry stinks.
For the younger reader, perhaps already infused with a nostalgia that recalls the 1970s as a time of peace and prosperity, a brief reminder of the golden era of Carter is in order. It wasn’t all disco and flared trousers and sex without condoms. Also fashionable in those days were unemployment, inflation and communism.
The US jobless rate was more than 10 per cent. Inflation touched 15 per cent. Soviet troops marched unmolested into Afghanistan. America watched helpless as its diplomats were held hostage by Iranian revolutionaries for 444 days. In the rest of the world, from Latin America to Asia, American power yielded to the communist advance; economically, America was being bested by Japan and Germany.
And then there was the moment when the US President was almost felled by a killer rabbit. It struck one day in 1979 when Mr Carter was in the presidential dinghy on a fishing trip in Georgia. A large, evidently amphibious animal with big floppy ears and protuberant teeth swam boldly up to the President’s boat and had to be smacked away with a paddle (a nice metaphor in many respects: the President may have been up the creek but at least he still had his paddle).
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Mr Carter’s defenders say: very well. Not our finest hour. But at least people liked us. Better to be pitied than despised. And laugh if you will about killer rabbits, at least Mr Carter’s near-death experience came at the furry paws of an animate creature; Mr Bush’s main brush with mortality in the White House was with a pretzel.
For many Americans, the Carter critique rings true. They wonder whether, finally, this is it for America. Whether two terms of George Bush may have done for the superpower what the Great Depression, fascism, communism and Jimmy Carter failed to do: sow the seeds of its destruction.
The country is in the grip of an unrelieved gloom about its condition. The Iraq war rolls on, sapping self-confidence. In the broader Middle East the war that was supposed to turn history in America’s direction seems to have done the opposite. Iran is emboldened. Syria is throwing its weight around again.
Farther afield, of course, America is despised as never before. Its much-vaunted soft power, the appeal of its freedoms, its lifestyle, its economic opportunities, is tarnished. It is not just Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, but the very American system itself – its thirst for oil, its healthcare, its inequalities – that is now so readily maligned.
Americans read every day that their economic supremacy is in its last days. This week a delegation from Beijing has been in Washington for economic talks. In the pictures of the event, the Chinese leaders, smiling beneficently on their hosts, looked like nothing so much as a kind of memento mori, a chilling reminder for Americans that the future does not belong to them.
Meanwhile, an immigration debate rages on. Right and Left are furious with a compromise Bill in Congress. The nativist Right, egged on by latterday Goebbelses on TV and radio, thinks America is being overwhelmed by sub-literate Hispanic immigrants, armed with lawnmowers and cleaning brushes, ready to roll in and sweep them away. The bleeding-heart Left thinks that, in allowing an amnesty for only 12 million illegal immigrants, America is inflicting unimaginable cruelties on another 30 million family members who will not be allowed to come into the US.
Steady on. Once Americans get into a funk, there really is no stopping them. It’s an old truth that things are never as good or as bad as they seem and so it is now.
Start with economics. America is not going to be overtaken by China any time in the next century. So large is the US advantage that, even growing at 3 per cent, the country’s economy adds more to the level of global activity than China does growing at 10 per cent.
Its soft power may have been attenuated these past few years, but not destroyed. Who is there to replace America? China? Do me a favour. Does anyone out there really think they would prefer to live in China rather than America? Europe? Viewed from the comforting perspective of a pavement café in Paris, Europe might look a more appealing place. But the continent is in the midst of a long, slow suicide; falling birthrates and a moral surrender to the forces of relativism have left it an easy prey for less tolerant cultures.
There’s no denying that Iraq is a self-inflicted wound and an energy-sapping one at that. But the scale of the damage to America there can be overstated too. All we’ve really learnt in the past five years is that even the US is probably not powerful enough to remake 700 years of history in five years. That doesn’t mean America is weak, just less strong than it thought it was.
Of course, a president, an inept one, can set back the course of a nation’s progress. Like Mr Carter before him, Mr Bush’s ledger is heavy on the liabilities. But America recovered from Mr Carter, thanks to good leadership and the ingenuity of a people whose great gift is their constant capacity to recreate themselves. Who’s betting it won’t do so again?
If anyone who was alive and cognizant in the 1970's under Carter remembers, inflation was rampant, our products' quality was horrible (does anyone remember the 1977 Ford Fairmont?)our national morale stank, and most people's motto was, "Party on." We were in a period of moral malaise as least as great as the one we're in now and things just looked bad. Carter was, is and will always be one of the most ineffective U.S. Presidents ever. He (or the military under his command) couldn't even mount an effective rescue mission for our people in Iran. What a joke that was.
Carter criticizing Bush? Please... Recall that on Day One of President Reagan's time in office, the Iranian-held hostages were released. Carter didn't have to deal with 9-11 or Katrina.
He couldn't have handled it anyway. #
Stephen Stults, Houston, Texas USA
In times of crisis Americans face facts.That is how they survive as a great country.
Jabli Izvesti, Kalimpong, India
It's time for Americans to face facts. The only thing most other countries like about us is and always has been the money we give to them FREE!
Isn't it rather strange, if all these countries dislike us so much, that so many people from all over the world still want to come here?
Actually, I think that George W. Bush is a good president. At least you know he means what he says, which is more than you can say for most leaders of other countries and our own congress.
Where did the idea come from that people liked Jimmy Carter so much? Nobody that I know did.
Dorothy A. Nelson, Arlington, Texas
John Collins: You are wrong. America is great BECAUSE of it's worship of God. The Founding Fathers were aware of the pitfall of a State Religion, as practiced in Britain at the time (my forefathers came from Wales in 1701 to escape Religious persecution). Our early documents regularly refer to God, and it was intentional. You may have a problem with God, but don't confuse folks about America, because we don't...
Bill Sanford, Grand Rapids, MI,
Bush started his Presidency with the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Without a doubt, it changed the attitude and focus of America. Carter would have told us to 'pray it doesn't happen again'. Carter is hovering at the bottom of the worst Presidents the US has ever had, and his yapping shows he is STILL clueless.
Mary Catherine, Elmhurst, US
God Bless all free countries that can express ourselves as we please.....notice there are no bloggers from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, or the other Theocracies speaking their mind here.
Mark , Chicago, Illinois, USA
The liberal views voiced here make your head explode. How to respond? I will just make one simple observation for you. If the Islamist take control of Middle East Oil, even though the U.S. is the largest single consumer, we will overcome the problem for America rather quickly. Europe and Asia however will be in a world of hurt you clearly do not yet understand, and you will not be able to overcome it. Good luck.
A. Davis, League City, Texas, USA
Working Adult Americans have spent about $6,000 each on Iraq and live in a country with up to 10 times the gun and imprisonment rates as many European countries. Rather than place its best school in poor neighborhoods, Americans rely on property taxes so the poorest get the poorest school.
Emma H., Ottawa, CAN
Funny Jimmy was the first president elected on the blue jean forum.......he was laid back ....but the rest of the world paused and whoa.........Russia burnt itself out, the middle east found itself and everyone became wholesome......jewels were out, money was out ...we (Americans) were the what we should be ...egalitarians.........................
Now we are back to what we always hated .....the "uppercrust' (you know the upper crust: kings, queens and the entitled who collect EVERYTHING) owning and runing the world...
caroline..Oregon
caroline, portland,
Every year, guaranteed, roughly 46,000 Americans die on the roads. Countless many more others are "maimed and wounded". This carnage goes almost unreported outside of the USA. As a child reading history of WW2 I asked and thought about Adolph Hitler - "Why did nobody try to stop him before he got started ?" At least the Yanks have had the guts to try to change 700 years of history.In contrast time has judged Carter as being weak and ineffectual despite the chattering classes endeavours to re-write history.
Quintin Buckley, Brisbane, Australia
Mr. Baker's fishing image is cute, but he should learn to look below the surface of the pond. None of the troubles that beset Jimmy Carter were caused by him. He inherited the unpopular Shah installed by Republicans and in the 1950s. Perhaps Mr. Baker has forgotten about a group called OPEC and the oil crisis of 1973. That is what accelerated the inflation train of the 70s and Nixon didn't stop it, but aimed it at his successors. It was also Nixon's failed campaign promise to end the war in Vietnam (at least within 4 years) that rendered the US weary of foreign adventures. That was why the Russians felt emboldened and the US felt passive. By contrast, Bush's initial preoccupation with Star Wars rather than terrorism, our policy of unilateralism, Rumsfeld's war-on-the-cheap policy, the expulsion of all the Baathists from power, the failure to rebuild, the sweetheart deals with Halliburton, the deregulation of the energy market, and the stalling on global warming are all Bush.
Horace Fairlamb, Briarcliff, USA
When I hear people around the world complaining about the Chinese cultural hegemony, then I'll wonder if China might be overtaking the U.S. in world power. For now, I'll just wonder where the Aztlanites got that primo mota they've obviously been smoking. (Answer: Aztlan, of course!).
As to who inherited what: Carter inherited a recession and made it much worse. GWB inherited an economy beginning to slide into recession and about to get knocked catawampus by 9/11, and still managed to kick the economy into a pretty high gear with low interest rates, historically low unemployment and historically high stock market gains. Bush cut taxes and Carter wore a sweater. That just about sums it up as to which tried to do something about the problems facing America and which just sat around bitching and moaning about others less perfect than him (which, obviously, he's still doing.)
PS: Primary credit for the Camp David accord should go to Anwar Sadat, not Jemmah Cahtuh.
Dave H, Culver City, California
It seems a bit of a stretch to me to equate high inflation with nearly 3,500 dead, 25,000 wounded, and going on a trillion dollars wasted in a worthless war.
Roger Zeimet, Oxford, Alabama
The arguments this author puts forward for the 70's being a hellhole are rubbish. 'Soviet troops marched on Afghanistan' as though it was a sign of the apocalypse. Talk about making an argument out of nothing.
Rory Considine, Liverpool,
Excellent, balanced perspective.
Jim Manzi, Washington, DC
Don't forget the arrival of Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran, ushering in an Islamic state and the age of Islamic Fundamentalism. As I recall, Carter's expectations were pretty high for the civil rights he would bring to Iran.
Stanley Kaish, Springfield, NJ
Maybe Americans are worried about the fact that all our high living is financed by the Chinese. How long can that continue?
Maybe they're worried about a ludicrously large trade deficit that grows bigger every year and means a continuing decline in the value of the dollar. Imports (at least the non-Chinese ones) will keep getting more and more expensive.
Maybe they're worried about the dissapearance of a once-mighty manufacturing sector.
Since manufacturing is largely gone, maybe they're worried about the the outsourcing of service and high-tech jobs to countries like India.
Maybe they're not as enthusiastic about the absorption of the US into Latin America as Bush and the Dems are given the endemic corruption and disorder in Latin America and its history of economic failure.
steve risher , san jose, costa rica
Mr Carter is the voice of decency and reason. His pronouncements provide the perfect counterbalance in the current , dangerous climate. I have the utmost respect for the man. History will be on his side , mark my words.
Swilly Tisher, Loch Maree, Scotland
Bravo Mr Baker, as usual some common sense.
I bought my first home when Carter was president, I believe the interest rate was just under 16%.
I remember a weak, timid foriegn policy that resulted in the Iranian revoloution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
I have my problems with Pres. Bush, but Mr Carter was truly an abject failure, and I am old enough to remember it ....I lived through it.
KE Mayfield, Colorado, USA
"The US jobless rate was more than 10 per cent." -- Mr. Baker
This is untrue.Not under Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford was it ever that high. It got up to 7.8 percent under Carter.
It did however get up to 10.8 percent under Reagan, and was above ten percent for several months of Reagan's presidency.
Herman, Camp Hill, PA
It is a shame that weak-minded Liberals fall so easily for socialist propaganda.
By any traditional and objective measure, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the most brilliantly successful campaigns in history, considering that we have voluntarily excluded the Dresden option, which would have ended the hostilities in Irag, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Syria in April 2003, if exercised.
Surely even Democrats and Liberals recognizes that there are casualties in war ( the Pentagon projected 5000 American deaths in Iraq) but voted to eliminate Saddam regardless, with good reason. But this is the least costly American war in history in terms of casualties and expenditures of GNP. Civilian deaths are overwhelmingly from car bombs, suicide bombers, and IEDs, terrorist weapons all.
The American economy is also the best in history, in spite of the piddling expenses of the war. Thank Mr. Bush's economic policies, after the near catastrophe of Clinton's dot.com bubble.
Iago, Houston,
Christopher,
Who said anything about Mao? Or is it possible that you simply believe that Mao is still running things in China?
By the way, I wholeheartedly agree with Benjamin Franklin's wise words on the subject of liberty and security. Sorry for the paraphrase, but he said something to the effect of: 'Those who would trade their liberty for security will have neither.'
Still, I'm curious as to your knowledge of just what China is like today?
Speaking of fear, I'm not afraid to put my whole name. Something you seem unwilling to do.
Dean A. Nash, Shenzhen, China
Everyone seems to be waiting for America to fall, of course it will someday (long after we're all dead). Hopefully, the next superpower will have the same values and beliefs of tolerance, equality, and justice.
It is laughable how Europeans seem to have so much time on their hands to complain about those brutish Americans. Americans complain about the passivity of Europe and its verbal hostility toward the US.
The West bickers and complains about one another, while Middle Eastern terrorists work towards the same goals. The terrorists see all Britons, Australians, Europeans, and Americans as infidels that should be slaughtered. The terrorists see us as the same team...maybe we should as well.
Mark , Chicago, Illinois, USA
The west continues to assume that the status co will continue.The rest of the world are no fools.America has lost the moral right to lead the world.
jan, London, uk
Religious people that say the secularist are sad and intolerant are probably right, but by making the point they reveal their own lack of faith, since we atheist are going to burn in hell for ever and ever it is not big deal to be sad for an instant which is life. Some secularist are in fact sad and intolerant as some religious people are, I, who does not belive in "God" believe that Carter is a beliver and Bush is not, I am sure that most conservatives do not belive.
Both Carter and Bush rank at the bottom as presidents, but Carter is an interesting smart person and a good expresident. Bush is just ignorant and not very smart ,a vulgar person. when he returns to being a commoner he is going to be was he really is: a nice folk an average rich boy. He is not articulate and when people do not speak clearly means they do not think clearly. He is going to be judged by history by the stupid face he made when told about 9/11. Smart people are not likeable, look at Gore.
DRDRCazalis, miami, us,fl
China will certainly pass the US up in GNP within a decade or two, and will be the most powerful country in the world in other ways as well soon after. 10% a year adds up pretty quickly after a while, and it's been going for a couple decades now. The results are visible to anyone who has been traveling in China for the last couple decades.
Personally, I also think Bush is a lot better than most people say nowadays. Iraq was and is simply a very difficult problem, as Baker recognizes. Bush is essentially a moderate president in an age of extremism, in which left and right are alike vitriolic and cynical. A lot that Bush has done has been very good, but most people don't even hear about it, because it's in no one's interest to talk about it. No one even seems to have noticed the fact that the economy has hummed along quite well all through Bush's presidency -- a little fact that generally gets noticed.
David Marshall, Seattle, USA
I am soooo tired of all the short-sighted people who cannot seem to get their minds around what is really at stake in the middle east. The biggest threat facing the world is Iran because the leadership is pursuing a course designed to bring back the 12th Mahdi (their version of the Messiah) which they believe can only happen through great upheaval and chaos. Iran's President says just that repeatedly, but the liberal press does not focus on his bold statements, just as noone listened to Hitler about his plans. The simple point here is that if an independent, democratic government cannot be established in Iraq and the US leaves, Iran will, in a fairly short time, come to control the oil in Iraq and will be able to choke not only the US but Europe and the rest of the West. If Iran gets nukes, they will undoubtedly use them on Israel and the west as part of their plan for world-wide chaos. This is a most crucial time for the West and we need to wake up.
Mark Caswell, Voorhees, NJ, USA
Oldasiahand says:
"In 2005 according the UK govt stats 50,000 Americans settles in the UK and only 25,000 Brits in the US. That is pretty incredible." Indeed it is, when you consider that there are roughly 5 times, not 2 times, more Americans than Britons. What the devil are they teaching in the schools over there? Neither arithmetic nor grammar, apparently.
Bush's America is such a nightmare landscape that one of our most contentious issues is what to do about the 12 million more people who came here than we were willing to allow. How deluded they must be! We must have 12 million lunatics running loose!
Fortunately, our political system was designed to be robust enough to survive ineptitude (or worse) in high office. No one in government can go too far wrong without invading the prerogatives of some other nitwit or thief, thereby eliciting furious opposition. We survived Jimmy Carter and Warren G. Harding; we will survive G. W. Bush as well.
Mitch Townsend, Boston, Massachusetts
Carte will be recognized by history as genius.
Few people seem to realize that the Soviet Union was defeated by Reagan. There was no great military victory. The Soviets were not afraid of a blustery Alzheimer addled former bad actor, and why would they.
Reagan did nothing to affect the balance of power in the world. The Soviets were in as good a strategic position at the end of Reagan's Presidency as they were in the beginning.
Reagan substantially weakened our position in the middle east by selling arms to terrorist in Iran, selling arms to terrorist in Afghanistan and encouraging Saddam Hussein in his war crimes. Regan undoubtedly is the most heroic figure in the militant Inslamist cause. Without him they'd be no where.
The Soviet Union self destructed poisoned by the human rights movement Carter so strongly supported. Carter won the cold war. Reagan lost the war on terror. Carter will be hailed, Reagan will be despised.
Robert Hotchkiss, San Diego/Tijuana , USA/Mexico/California /Baja California
Let's say your children were held captive by the kinds of people you don't want anywhere near them. It's fashionable to use terrorists, so why not? Let's say they're held captive by terrorists. If you could call one person to free them from the terrorists, who are you going to call. Jimmy Carter or George W. Bush? Oh, sure, you can call Bush and the standoff will be resolved in short order but will it be resolved to anyone's liking but his own? I doubt it.
Jeff, Lancaster, PA
We should have paid attention to what Carter had to say about energy. maybe if we had we would be more energy independent today and less a contributator to global warming. We would not be as involved in the politics of the Middle East if it weren't for oil. Lets face it we would ignore that part of the world just as we do Africa if it wasn't for oil.
Marc Hall, Bowie, MD
Points on "clarity" well taken! But Baker is pretty much right on; I don't think the world is looking forward to China as the next superpower, they're just resentful that America isn't behaving properly.
Carter was completely dreadful, domestically and in foreign policy. US citizens wouldn't even buy their own government bonds at less than 12% interest--that's 3rd world economics! Trying to work and support a family was miserable, with a gallon of milk seemingly 10 cents higher every day. I wonder who the pundits are who remember the Carter years so fondly, and had to laugh at the commenter who mentioned the "malaise" around bush. The country is in a festival now compared to the Carter years, and "malaise" was coincidentally the one word that characterised the peanut-man's tenure. Good intentions only get you so far, and a well-intentioned oaf can do more damage than you think! The country breathed a sigh of relief when he left.. Good marks on Egypt, though.
Sam Shimek, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Gosh, I'm not sure why anyone would suppose that we Americans are all that concerned about what world opinion is about us. We still get hordes of tourists coming here for vacations, the applicants to become a citizens here are pilling up so high that we are in the process of allowing 12 millions of them through the gate all at once. Our standard of living is so high that even our poorest citizens are the envy of the rest of the world. The only people who REALLY care about what the world thinks of us are the people who's living depends on popular opinion: entertainment celebrities. Their whole world circles around popular opinion and that is only because their income lives or dies by it. It iis only natural that they stay awake at night worrying about this non-issue.
So America, quite fussing about it. "Soldier on" as the British say.
We are doing things right.
History will prove it so.
Michael Fleming, Boston, USA
Mr. Carter has done the country a disservice by "politizing" the role of retired Presidents. In the past, ex-Presidents kept good faith with that small group of men who accept the challenge of leading a great AND diverse nation. Now, he has made the "ex-Presidency" just another source of biased, yelping from the grandstands.
Ray Cook, Granbury, TX
oldasiahand:
Has it ever occurred to you that more Brits emigrate to Spain and France than to America these days because it's easier for them to move to an EU country? (Boy, France's economy sure is booming, isn't it? Lots of opportunities there - just watch out where you park your car. I have high hopes the new leadership will turn things around.) Our ridiculous emigration policies have made it difficult for a European to get a green card - your best bet is to fly to Mexico and cross the border.
Carter vs. Bush? No contest. Mr. Peanut stunk. It's no wonder many Euros adore him though. He's the first anti-American American president we've ever had.
Donna, Milwaukee, WI
I agree with Carter, Bush the little,has done great harm to America in the long ran.
max fabella, orange park, florida, u s a
Van HookStratton has a truly bizarre view of history and how America has saved the civilised world. This US arrogance is revilled, and despised in the rest of the world.But then being able to live comfortably in a land mass the size of the US and being exposed to only the propoganda provided by the biased US media, it is hardly surprising that an attitude of such ignorance shall be expostulated. Are there not huge numbers, thousands if not tens of thousands of US citizens who are landless uneducated peasants? Of course there are! I for one am glad to be a European and British where at least we are fortunate to see things from other peoples perspectives, not from a jaundiced, uneducated & arrogant "We are American thus we know best" attitude, Thank God there is an alternative to "The American Way"!
Andrew Hills, London, England
Can we leave God out of the discussion?? I thought we were talking economics, so until it's demonstrated that 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' was expunged from the tablets and 'Thou Shalt Kill 100,000 With Shock And Awe Tactics And Then Hang The Bad Man' inserted I wouldn't think one can fall back on the guidance of God theory, really??
I'm with Mr Nash here, I also live in China and the already blustersome posturings coming from the White House Staff on balance of trade and defence innovations sound sickeningly familiar. I wonder how many of the detractors here have actually visited China??
Pu Li, Guangxi, China
It is easy to think of America as an homogenised whole. It is not. It is a democracy seething with a humility of self doubt never seen in the Europe of the French and the German. And yet it is far greater than those two countries put together. You may say that America has few friends abroad. Yet we Australians generally, (apart from the left wing press) recognise in America a friend that came to our aid when the "Mother country" had ignored our plight in the second world war. That is why Australians have come to America's side in every war since. We don't abandon mates over here. Sure it has its faults but as a font of democracy and free thought you can not find a place to equal it. (Bar Australia ofcourse). I look at the social issues of immigration and the religious invasions affecting the suburbs of Paris as if they were at war. I see a once great England become an island off the coast and I still see America standing firm against terrorism. You still have mates.
Peter Gallagher, Brisbane, Australia
John Stuart Mill once told a group of 19th century British elites that they owed there freedom and liberty not to William at Hastings, not to henry V at Agincourt and not to Wellington at Waterloo. Rather they owed their way of life to the Greeks at Marathon. It was there that the initial significant conflict between east and west occurred. Since that time the cultures of east and west have been at odds. The Romans conquered much of the Mediterranean world but were held at bay by the Parthians in the Middle East. The Crusades were an effort to restore the co-existence in that region that existed with the Arabic Moslems and was disturbed by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. The Ottoman Empire was defeated at Lepanto in their bid to gain Mediterranean hegemony. We exist in a continuum.
In 50 years historians will view the Bush policy in a positive vein. The world will be better off with a permanent American presence in the Middle East. Reality necessitates our exercise of power.
steve, spring, texas, usa
"There’s no denying that Iraq is a self-inflicted wound . . ."
On 9/11/01 I said to others watching the events transpiring that our fist was in the tarbaby now, whether we like it or not. G-d help us find a way to get it out safely.
Timothy Haynes, Kingston Springs, TN
Carter was a courageous president who had the courage to pursue peace and for America to stand for something positive via human rights---including, not to bomb Tehran following the capture of the hostages at the U..S. Embassy, despite the fact that the Iranian government had assured the US government it would not, negotiate the Panama Canal treaty, a canal that is more efficient and producing more revenue under Panamanian rule than under the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. has great standing in Latin America and the rest of the world because of it., and aggressively pursuing peace between Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accords and subsequent treaty, not a word of which has been broken since. When one mixes in a strong environmental and conservation policy and a prescient energy policy, there is no doubt that Carter when viewed by historians and not by ideologues will be ranked one of the greatest presidents. A Feb. 2007 Gallup poll ranked Carter as a most admired president
Terry Adamson, Washington, DC
I find all these comments pretty amusing. I'm in my 30s. I have lived through the end of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and now Bush Jr. My childhood into adulthood have been largely unaffected by whoever the current president is.
Presidents get waaaaay too much blame, or too much credit for what happens in our country -- three branches, remember.
As to what the world thinks of the US -- what-ev-er. I have lived in Europe and have traveled all over. I'll take the US lifestyle, attitude, and mindset any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Americans are innovative, energetic and unfailingly optimistic.
And for all the talk of the extreme right having such an impact in the US, puhleeze! If anything, there has been a slight adjustment from the radicalism of the 70s, and even that has been almost imperceptible.
Sorry Europe... most of you just don't know what you are talking about! But it's fun to conjecture, isn't it?
Jennifer, Oak Creek, WI, USA
it's sad that one must go to a British newspaper to read something positive about the U.S. The American press can't seem to report enough negative things about the country. Realistic self-examination is good for a society, but a constant drumbeat of mea culpa is destructive.
I'm old enough to remember Jimmy Carter as governor of Georgia. He was a decent sort, but more of a school teacher than a politician or statesman. He couldn't wheel and deal well enough with the legislature to get meaningful laws passed, couldn't fire the imagination of the electorate to make any sea changes n public attitudes, and was better at admonishing than at leading. Those problems followed him to Washington.
Mike, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
i have always admired jimmy carter as an intelligent person who told americans things we were not quite ready to believe about the limit to our resources and prospects. americans were not yet ready to believe we are limited in any respect. more's the pity and the problem. there is nothing to admire about the current debacle in the white house.
ann bedford, harrison, ny
Thank you.
Felix Dynin, Mountain View, USA/CA
In spite of the complexity of economic woes and high unemployment and rising interest rates ( which were both inherated from a prior administration) and of course the troubling hostage crisis that drug on, few American ever questioned the integrety of President Carter. The same cannot be said for Bush.
Michael Wells, Kansas City, Missouri usa
"The nativist Right, egged on by latterday Goebbelses on TV and radio....." Sir this has nothing to do with the fear of immigrants from Mexico coming here with "lawnmowers and cleaning brushes." This has something to do with the law. I have not heard one credible person on the Right, i.e. National Review, say that they were against immigration, period. What we have been railing against is ILLEGAL immigration. All we ask is that if you want to come to our great country, respect our laws and our Constitution. It's really not that hard of a concept to grasp.
Robert A. McReynolds, Washington DC, US
Correct, but the Carter presidency was, to those of us who lived here, and have the scars to prove it, actually much worse. Morale was rock bottom as his stumblebum administration shambled from one inept catastrophe to another. Worst of all, he didn't have the honesty to admit that his own 'misery index' (unemployment plus inflation) was higher after the 4 years of his 'guaranteed minimum presidency'. Jimmy F. Carter, who has never met a dictator he didn't like (including Hugo Chavez) remains to those of us who suffered under him quite the worst US President in living memory. Not that there's any chance of shutting him up, even when his own people at the Carter Center quit in disgust at his rantings in his recent book. His tenure at the White House was an unqualified embarrassment, as anyone who lived here at the time will remember. Take a look at the GDP, productivity, unemployment and any other economic figures in the late 1970's. Can you imagine if Carter had remained in office?
Simon Kerruish, McLean, VA
As a patriotic American, I can live comfortably with the idea that other nations will "overtake" the USA (whatever that means....)
The beauty of it is, in order to do so, you need to do what America has done: Establish a democratic republic, a well-written constitution, rule of law, create free markets and reduce government regulations to reasonable levels. Once a country does that, they are free to "overtake" America, and with our blessings. Such nations present no threats and are natural allies. Without these elements, no nation can prosper for long. Even if China's economy becomes the world's largest, it will ultimately collapse without pluralism and civil rights.
jcambro, Chicago, IL
Mr. Collins,You say that the founders of the USA would be appalled (and how right you are!) but they did not go to "so much trouble to remove Religion from the Government" but to remove Government from Religion. A most important distinction!
David, Wheatfield, IN, USA
I'm glad that most people aren't buying into this "America on the decline" nonsense. Our economy is the strongest in the world, China merely stands on the shoulders of giants- not liberalizing, not providing the freedom necessary to TRULY sustain a dynamic capitalist system. I think we all go through the rhetorical throat clearing about the Chinese and Indian economies but let's be honest here: most of their citizens are landless, uneducated peasants trying to eke out an existence.
The Iraq War, even IF there is a precipitous pullout, will not be the disaster Vietnam was- and we recovered from Vietnam within ten years. People: We tried to do a right, just and honorable thing. If it doesn't work...well, it doesn't work. Won't be our fault, it failed despite our best efforts. We still removed a dangerous regime, killed thousands of terrorists [and, despite your swallowing of AQ propaganda 10 more do NOT spring up in their place] and took relatively few casualties.
Van HookStratton, Washington, DC, USA
"Europe might look a more appealing place. But the continent is in the midst of a long, slow suicide; falling birthrates and a moral surrender to the forces of relativism have left it an easy prey for less tolerant cultures"
Lets get some things straight:
1. The US will be Hispanic before Europe is ever Islamised.
2. The future belongs to China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia not the US.
3. Individual Americans may be polite and generous but ther adminstration thrives on exploiting the weak and will do anything to hold on to their superpower status in these last few days.
4. Iran will be the US's downfall in the ME.
Adriano Albertazzi , Milan/Geneva,
The writer of the article forgot one important fact about Mr. Carter's presidency; namely that mortgage and interest rates topped 20+ percent. very few people could afford to buy a house, most didn't want to at those rates. I have a lot of respect for Jimmy Carter for his "Habitat for Humanity" organization but that's all. He has a right to state his opinions but he is way off base in his public criticisms of the current administration. In my opinion, he (Carter) would be real close to the bottom when it comes to a poll on the "worst" President's!
Harold Abrams, Decatur, USA/ARKANSAS
Let's compare foreign policy. Sure, Carter was ineffectual at butting in when U.S.-friendly dictatorships were being toppled. But he was hardly responsible for the unhappiness of the Iranians under the Shah or of the Ethiopians under the Emperor. Just what is it you think Carter should have done? In Ethiopia, I guess, he could have thrown U.S. support to Mengistu to keep them from the Russians--certainly (as can be inferred from Chile) what his successor would have done. Unlike Reagan, though, Carter had qualms about dictators who round up their opposition in soccer stadiums and gun them down. In Iran, Carter could have done what Reagan (or at least his NSA cowboys) *did* do--promise to keep shipping the jet parts and missiles the U.S. had supplied to the previous regime. Iran released American embassy hostages because of a *threat* of bombing? From what neo-con mythology book did *that* come from? The revelations of the Iran-Contra hearings are a matter of historical record.
Della Morse, Altadena, CA, USA
As an American it touches me to read in a British newspaper a positive analysis of my country. It seems that when a friend is down, it takes another friend to cheer them up again. This is what friends do. I love my country, but I hope that we Americans shall always be so fortunate as to have a good friend like the UK.
Jim, New York, NY USA
Thank you!
Steve, St Joseph, Missouri, USA
Jimmy Carter might have been incompetent but he did not cause the wholesale slaughter of peoples as we have seen in his successors.
Where is the humanity in Reagan: He bombed Grenada and killed cubans - the numbers we will never know.
Why didn't he bomb Russia?
George H. Bush had all those poor Panamanians (the numbers again, we will never know) killed to get Noreiga in durg charges. And was principally responsible for killing all those Iraqis in driving them from Kuwait.
President Clinton was the leader of the pack that caused all the deaths and destruction in the Balkans.
Yes Sirs, with all President Carter's failures, I will take him over his successors because he tried to strike a blow for HUMANITY.
Fred Hewitt, River Vale, nEW JERSEY
Carter suffered from the paralysis of analysis. His lack of action ushered in the Reagan years and Iran quickly freed the hostages when he was elected. Why? The shame of the American voters drove them to the polls to avoid 4 more years of inaction. It has always been an unspoken understanding in American politics to never criticize the presidents that followed your administration. That policy was first ignored by Clinton and followed by Carter. Both incidents were quickly followed with apologies. Our liberals love to try cashing in on perceived opinion polls and so it goes. The first Trade Towers bombing was in 1993 under Clinton and no action was taken then. Ergo 911. Bush did not inhereit the great economy that some would like to claim. The manufacturing sector went south in 1998 and was kept quiet resulting in his advisor's quitting. The Dow is now at record highs as is the S&P and Nasdaq. God save us if relativism becomes the status quo here. Still the greatest country on earth.
Kevin, Grand Rapids, Michigan USA
If America is indeed even slowly on the decline, it might be good a idea to point out to Europe and rest of world that the customer service will not be as good if or when the Chinese takeover as a world super power. I wouldn't expect any World War II style efforts or BBC friendly foreign policies coming from them.
jonas, Dallas, Texas
"Start with economics. America is not going to be overtaken by China any time in the next century. So large is the US advantage that, even growing at 3 per cent, the country’s economy adds more to the level of global activity than China does growing at 10 per cent."
What an incredible exageration! Although people who think we're going to be kowtowing to Chinese bosses within a few years are equally exagerating, it is absolute self-delusion of the worst, rose-tinted spectacle variety to assume that America will still be the world's largest economy in 2100, or even thirty years from now. The author might do well to remember that people like H.G. Wells were similarly talking down American prospects at the start of the last century. No doubt America will recover from its current malaise (which is as much psychological as anything else), but Americans have no more right than the citizens of any other country to believe that the future belongs to them.
Gilman Grundy, A factory with 200,000 workers, P.R. China
During the American Civil War President Abraham Lincoln was vilified and his intelligence mocked not only because his large and powerful army was bogged down for years but that he had the unmitigated gall to free a people from lives of misery and dread.
Many of the politicians and the Press of the day did everything in their power to defeat President Lincolns efforts at every turn. Those folks were referred to as copperheads which as we all know are poisonous snakes.
Is history repeating itself? I think so.
Peter Fradin, Phoenix, United States / Arizona
Carter vs Bush. Can America recover...hmm
How does one assess a president?
Carter was not a strong executive, true. He only had 4 years, and did not correct some tough economics and an energy situation, that he was handed, following a Nixon presidency on the rocks.
Carter was a good, decent man-- the anti-thesis of Bush. Carter cared about people, Bush doesn't give a damn. Bush is totally owned by his rich supporters, "his base." He is totally prepared to follow whatever means necessary to secure personal and party power and that includes demagoguery, and chicanery. His regime is dishonest, secretive and abusive.
Will America "recover?" Let's hope so - we need a long hot shower, to rid ourselves of all the dirt dished out by Bush. Not to mention a huge deficit. Laws and judicial appointments and government appointments that favor only the corporate class or the republican agenda.
Anything the Bush does that helps Americans is purely coincidental, not intentional.
Dale, Ypsi, mi
Ok I'll Bite.
Carter was a genius and will be remembered as such by history. As everyone knows economies are a delayed reflection of policies that happened years ago. Thus the stagflation that was problematic during Carter's presidency was the direct results of policies by Nixon and Ford. Carter left an economy that was primed for recovery.
Reagan could have just done nothing at all and been the beneficiary of a vibrant recovery. Instead he passed huge tax cuts and spent recklessly as he shredded the the safety net of society.
Of course there was perception of prosperity but it was the same sort of illusion you would experience in a house hold if the parents stopped paying the mortgage and charged up all the charge cards. Things look good for a while but eventually the creditors drop by with an eviction. The eviction for the US was middle class and lower class incomes have been stagnant or declining ever since.
Charlie Marques, San Diego/Tijuana , USA/Mexico/California /Baja California
President Carter is feeling the passing ot his time as it bites at his heels every new day. So he does his best to beat up a President who has been in office almost 3 years longer than he was. A President who faced the equivalent of a Pearl Harbor after less than a year in office. A President who in spite of the failures has done enough right things to keep the US economy in great shape with 5% umemployment and minimal inflation. A President who did not run and hide from terroist as Yello Belly Carter did when Iran started this entire terrorist fiasco against the US. Carter's attempt to rewrite and reinterpret history for those too young to remember the utter failure of his 4 LONG years in office is desperation at its best, knowing that those who write his history after he's gone will not be so kind to him as he is to himself.
David Fowler, Memphis, TN/USA
When Carter was elected, he inherited an economy rampant with inflation that had not been tamed with his predecessor Ford's silly "Whip Inflation Now!" buttons. OPEC was still sticking it to the West in response to the decades we'd been sticking it to all their members. (Goodness, was it just a coincidence that OPEC and Sheikh Yassen got their act together just a couple of years after Britain finally stopped "protecting" Saudi Arabia's bordering sheikhdoms?) In 1976, the US economy had still not adjusted to the doubling, triping gas prices. At least during Carter's presidency, the National Debt as a percentage of gross national product went *down*. It went sharply up during Reagan's tenure. Will the US ever recover from what the National Debt has done under G.W. Bush?
Della Morse, Altadena, CA, USA
This is a fine example of "the pot calling the kettle black". Jimmy Carter gave away The Panama Canal, wouldn't stand up to the Iranians during the hostage crisis, and gave televised fireside chats while the US slaved under double digit inflation. Thank Heaven the most damage this man can do now is with a hammer and nails for Habitat For Humanity!!
Kim Righetti, Upland, Calif. USA
Carter was inept but most of the problems of his era were ones he inherited and failed to sort out. Carter came in when the country has spent 4 years tearing itself apart over Watergate and Vietnam. It was ill at ease and its major foe (the USSR) was still strutting the world stage as America's hard-power equal. Carter was awful in that he failed to do anything much to turn it around, and truly enough he even managed to make some things worse.
Bush inherited a prosperous country generally at ease with itself and utterly dominant in both hard and soft power. He has managed to turn it into a country not dissimilar to that Carter found. Surely that makes him worse right?
Stu, London,
HMMMM...we never talk about the great economy that we have under Pres Bush and we all know what it was like under carter. He was clueless. He doesnt understand that we need to fight because they brought it to our doorstep. Perhaps if Carter wouldnt have cut the military and all of the intelligence gathering personel we wouldnt have emboldened the enemy then and they would respect us more now. Clinton also cut 4000 people from the intelligence community and if only one of those people would have caught wind of what happened in the attacks that led up to 9/11including 9/11 we would have prevented 9/11 and still would have these terrorists to deal with anyway. Saddam would still be killing his own people and still threatening his neighbors and acting like he has nukes. But he's dead and the worlds a better place for it. God bless the troops of the coalition and we should be thankful there are still people willing to fight for whats right. Also thank you to mr. Baker for his column.
TimVan Surksum, brookings , South Dakota USA
Carter was correct about the need for the US to reduce the Demand for Energy. He instituted research at National Energy Labs on Windows and Illumination sources that are now reaping huge dividends. Reagan threw out the Model Building Energy Code developed.. If the Auto Energy Efficiency Standards instituted then would have been followed up.. We might not be in this Mess... And I would remind Gerald that the Iran Embassy Hostage Crisis was in retrobution for the 1953 English instigated and American CIA executed Iranian coup that created regime change to install the Shaw instead of the duly elected Shite Government that had the nerve to nationalize the Iranian resources (OIL) that the English had reaped obsene profits from for decades... So Watch what you blame on Carter.. Look to Eisenhower, John Foster Dulles, T Roosevelt's Grandson (CIA Agent exceptional) and the British greed for obsene profits on Iranian resources...
Ken, Ames, USA / IA
Marek...
"What is so great about the US apart from it's military strength?"
The fact that I live in it.
Christopher, Memphis, Tennessee
Carter was a courageous president who had the courage to pursue peace and for America to stand for something positive via human rights---including, not to bomb Tehran following the capture of the hostages at the U..S. Embassy, despite the fact that the Iranian government had assured the US government it would not, negotiate the Panama Canal treaty, a canal that is more efficient and producing more revenue under Panamanian rule than under the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. has great standing in Latin America and the rest of the world because of it., and aggressively pursuing peace between Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accords and subsequent treaty, not a word of which has been broken since. When one mixes in a strong environmental and conservation policy and a prescient energy policy, there is no doubt that Carter when viewed by historians and not by ideologues will be ranked one of the greatest presidents. A Feb. 2007 Gallup poll ranked Carter as a most admired president
Terry Adamson, Washington, DC
I spent close to a year back in the seventies on the front lines of Jimmy Carter's campaign in the Kansas City area. I was a real go-getter, a true believer. After four years of vacillation, ineptitude, moral cowardice, surrender to evil, and inaction I decided I'd had enough. In 1980 I voted for Ronald Reagan. He was the first Republican I ever supported.
To hear Mr. Carter posture like he is now is pathetic. I for one would never go back to the days he was in "power." It was awful, even worse than things are now.
We will overcome. History will vindicate us.
As for anti-Americanism. I saw lots of it in Europe back in the early nineties. It would generally lose its edge when the crises got close to home, like the Balkans. When they came Europeans would all start screaming, "send American troops." When Iran develops nuclear weapons we'll be hearing the same thing.
As long as it's American blood being spilled and American treasure spent, it'll be okay.
Phil Dillon, Emporia, Kansas/U.S.A
I am an old retired school teacher. I have never seen an administration so cruel and corrupt as the Bush administration. Name me one good thing he has done for the people of America. The war in Iraq was for oil not to fight terrorist.
Mildred Kish, Newfield, New Jersey
Peter Taber from Vero Beach, FL. go read a history book. Menachem Begin was not assassinated.
Matthew Kay, LI, NY
Irony rules, as always!
There is a great - and grave - difference between making mistakes in the name of good governance and trying to fix problems, versus not only ignoring the law but subverting it to undermine good governance in the name of politics.
It seems the "adults who have taken over" have become the child-like wrecking crew of America and most things American!
Three is no cure for stupid! For all his errors, Carter is not and was not stupid!
Robert Hively, Winona, MN
Dean Nash, what a touching tribute to China. Makes me want to go out and buy a big Chairman Mao poster.
I guess if you prefer safety over freedom, China is the place to be. Safety from everyone but your own government, that is.
Christopher, Memphis, Tennessee
Dear British friends,
the Bush economy is the best in my lifetime - low (4%) unemployment, low inflation, rising real income. The Carter economy featured 10% unemployment, 15% mortgage rates (they're 6% today), and I paid 22% for a car loan! Carter started the Iranian hostage crisis by first supporting the hated Shah and then admitting him to the US. Carter's feeble response to the Soviets in Afghanistan was to punish US athletes by keeping them out of the Moscow Olympics!!! Carter paid the Egyptian dictatorship billions to sign the Mideastpeace agreement... which Israel didn't need -- they beat Egypyt in only 6 days in 1967. Carter was a scold and a fool who blamed everyone else for his own errors. Long gas (petrol) lines and high prices were not HIS fault, it was our "moral malaise"! What an incompetent. Bush has made some bad mistakes, but Carter makes him look like Superman by comparison!
Ronny, Fort Lee, NJ
Mr Carter effectively installed the Mullahs in Iran - it's hard to see how Mr Bush has competed with such ineptitude. True, Mr Bush has removed two fascist/socialist dictatorships, and was hated for so doing - but now Germany and France are more pro-American. Sadly, not the UK, but they don't have a Merkle or Sarkozy - hardly W's fault.
The next President of the US will still have to deal with the Islamist Jihadists, whether he (or she - argh!) tries to ignore them, like Clinton, or confronts them, like Bush. It is this, rather than Bush's mistakes or successes, that will determine America's future.
If Bush finishes his Presidency without another major attack on US soil, he will have done well - this is all that matters.
How would any of us handle that responsibility, by the way?
The Jihadists think on a much longer timescale than we do - Bush understands that - an amazing feat for someone so apparently stupid and bad.
David Williamson, Tucson, AZ, USA
Jeremy Poynton wrote:
"Hmm. Don't remember Carter being responsible for the death of c700,000 innocents."
Clearly you're discounting the encouragement given by the Carter administration to Saddam Hussein to invade Iran.
Alan W, London, UK
Communist Russia banned religion for years but that they were never the happier for it.
Outlaw religion and you'll then find yourself going to war against the people who propogate it. Not really an improvement.
The only official church in China is the state sponsored, heavily controlled one but the underground house church movement has been growing phenominally for years. You can outlaw religion and tell everyone God doesn't exist but somehow people always find more comfort in a loving God for than a nihilist ideology.
Religion won't die in Europe just like it hasn't anywhere else, just maybe the institutions and expressions might change.
Nigel, London, UK
Sure gas prices are high during Bush's administration, but I remember the 70's and the energy crisis under Carter and there was....no gas.
Sure Bush took out his six shooter and sprayed Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. But I remember the American hostages in Iran when after one failed rescue attempt Carters solution was prayer. We prayed..we prayed Reagan could get sworn in earlier.
And lets talk about Abu Grahaib and Guantanamo. Why do these two examples draw the wrath of Europe when prisons in Russia, China, SE Asia, S. America and Africa are litterally hells on earth. Wheres the outrage over that? You never hear it. And I'm sure the recently discovered Al Quaida torture manual......was'nt written by Americans!
Oh well in the end it makes no difference. Bush now...Clinton or McCain a year from now. They'll still do something the world doesn't like. American bashing is nothing new. The only difference is a new American president to take aim at.
Murph, Madisonville, USA/KY
In case many of you have failed to recall history with as much zeal, this rhetoric befalls every President and World leader for that matter. One man does not run a nation anymore than one Congressional figure determines the outcome of a vote. I can recall in every history course in every level of education I have had, speak of the greatness of Abraham Lincoln, which I do not dispute, however, if you place yourself in that time frame you would look at a man that LOST almost half of the Nation, Freed Color People (much to the dislike of almost everyone), and lost more than 600,000 lives. He was even termed as, "Orangutan in the White House". There were draft card riots in NY which claimed about 100 lives, and he even permitted the russians to dock their ships in NY harbor. You can say what you want about Bush, but if "Iraq" is our biggest sore, then I wouldnt want to live anywhere else. I wonder what our G Children will say about the actions of this Man
MAC, Pittsburgh, PA
Sir,
It looks like Hugh MacKenzie has already capitulated to the notion of Britain as the 51st state, or is that just a "rumor," surely not?
It appears that some American friends are under the laughable illusion that Europe is about to become a part of an imaginary caliphate. In which country is the Caliph going to be based, and how is he going to unite the sectarian groups, whilst turning the economy around as an economic base for expansion? It is nothing but a terrible fantasy, just like the bogeyman. It is a case of the politics of fear, something to manipulate the fearful little children. For grown ups, we can speak about the Neo-Con's quixotic tilting at windmills.
I wonder for how long can the exceptionalist US behave like a paranoid armed ghetto, treating the rest of the world to a global version of the Manifest Destiny? It is surely for the good if ordinary Americans obtain some passports, instead of succumbing to the swivel-eyed conspiracy theorists of the Pentagon.
SC, London, United Kingdom
"Does anyone out there really think they would prefer to live in China rather than America? Europe?"
I do, Mr. Baker.
As an American expat, I've lived in three countries other than my own, and China is now my home. I'm fortunate (blessed, actually) that my vocation and American citizenship allows me to live practically anywhere. I choose China.
Three weeks ago, the sad, sick young Korean killed 32 innocent students before taking his own life. A tragedy all the way around. However, that same day, another 49 Americans were killed by guns (in America) with nary a media mention (bloggers and non-traditional medias included.) Why? Because it isn't news. EVERY DAY, an average of 82 Americans (30,000/year) die via guns. This is beyond all reason.
That is the simple explanation of why don't live in America. Here's the simple reason why I chose to live in China. China has embraced change and EVERY SINGLE DAY works to improve itself.
Simple answers due to space constraint
Dean A. Nash, Shenzhen, China
I'm just old enough to remember how bad things were in America during the Carter administration. Compared with that, life today is a bed of roses.
Americans younger than 40 aren't really old enough to remember the late 70's and have no concept of how bad things can get.
Bush is certianly inept, but he hasn't caused anywhere near the damage Carter did.
Dale , Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Europe is steadily becoming stronger. To talk of long term suicide is to display ignorance or wishful thinking. Remember how Americans went on and on about the weakness of the Euro?
America's problem is that it keeps telling itself and the rest of the world that it is the greatest country on earth. It follows, in the American view, that Europe must be inferior.
Such hyperbole inspires irritation and criticism.
What is so great about the US apart from it's military strength?
Marek, London, UK
If Jimmy Carter had won a second term, the Cold War would not have ended with the fall of the Berlin wall. As for the treaty between Egypt and Israel, let's not forget that Sadat and Begin were both assassinated - by their own people - as a result. Moreover, there's neither peace nor a Palestinian homeland more than thirty years on from the date of signing. Bush may rank low in the league tables of American Presidents, but nobody is going to break Carter's iron grip on the bottom slot.
Peter Taber, Vero Beach, FL
Thanks, Mr. Baker, I needed that.
Tom Yancey, Greeneville, Tenn.
HISTORY will judge President Bush's actions. He is a decent, sincere "true believer" pursuing a mission to make the world safer for our children and grandchildren. Boiled down to the simplest terms, that's very difficult to refute. I hope all the armchair, non-combatant pundits take a moment to remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day.
Semper Fidelis.
John Van Sky, PhD, Santa Ana, California
Jeremy Poynton does not remember the millions who died in the Iran/Iraq war - a consequence of Carter's encouragement to power of the Mullahs in Iran, and the old, failed US policy of encouraging Dictators to bring "Stability". By constrast, the Bush doctrine is what used to be called Liberal - oh, and the Lancet figure of 700,000 dead has long been discredited, though the useful idiots still cling to it, while forgetting the 100,000's in massed graves in Iraq (oh, and the many more in Darfur).
David Williamson, Tucson, AZ, USA
One question: How many Americans died during Jimmy Carter's 4 years as a result of Middle East foreign policy?
bill baker, tucson, az
To Mark in Port Orchard, Washington---the reason Bush won the reelection in 2004 was because no president of the US was ever turned out of office during a time of war. Also, at the end of Carter's term, all of the hostages were released. The Iranians knew through 3rd parties (other governments) the US administration was ready to use overwhelming force to retaliate against the Iranian government if those embassy hostages were harmed. I doubt George W. Bush will ever get the Nobel Prize like Carter did in his term for bringing two enemies, Israel and Egypt, to the peace table.
Dave, Chicago, Illinois
Just one point Gerard. A number of Moslem countries have fertility rates lower than replacement level. They are Tunisia, Iran, Turkey and Algeria. An overlap between them and European states has developed and grows every year.
Doug Forbes, Wheeling, USA
Don't forget Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal; which is now operated by China.
Ken Bowers, Phoenix, Az
Whether one agrees or disagrees - It is enjoyable and important to hear the perceptions of your country from outside the box. Life in the 21st century will be life in a global economy like we have never seen before. A big question I have is whether I should have my children learn Spanish or Chinese as a second language.
George, Austin, Texas/USA
Mr Reid of Welllington feels that the US is one if the three most malign countries in the world. One is left open-mouthed at such nonsense. Anyone with any feel at all for history will see not only that the US is now and has been since 1945 the only guarantor of freedom for those in the west, but also that there has never been a nation in history so pre-eminent in strength and so modest in its application of such strength. Mr Reid might care to examine what his prospects might have been under Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot etc before delivering himself of such bilge.
A. Dean, Exeter, UK
Memento mori.
Max, Drogheda, Ireland
For those of you who like to claim Jimmy Carter made peace between Egypt and Isreal, you seem to conspicuously leave out, er, the leaders of Egypt and Israel, Sadaat and Begin. You also seem to forget about the wars they fought that led up to the peace agreement and convinced Sadaat first that he needed peace, because he would never be able to break Israel.
In nother words, peace through strength.
Carter was a fortunate bystander.
Rob Gladstone, Houston, TX
Jon Livesey -
Agree it's a good thing that Americans develop a tough acceptance of the global realite of a world-wide dislike of America, since it rests on Lefty-spurred bitterness, malice and envy. However, don't know if Americans have really faced up to the idea of Empire, as it is a concept of knee-jerk toxicity to the average Joe, which is why our foreign policy invariably gets mangled and tangled up in itself in unbelievable distortions, particularly in cross-action with defense policy.
Hugh MacKenzie -
Skip the Omani..... when are you joining the rest of your tribe over here that have so magnificently contributed to the greatness of America for several hundred years?
Gerard -
OT here, are you planning to check out fhe "Collapse of Europe?" international conference in Malibu on June 10-11? Interesting set of speakers and topics. URL Link:
http://www.americanfreedomalliance.org/microsite/collapseofeurope/program.htm
Mojamaiko, Porter Ranch, USA
While I won't argue with Tony's statement that Bush could be the worse President. I have to say that Tony needs to read his history in non biased books.
Carter threatened Begin with a total cutoff of aid, military and civilian if he didn't meet with Sadat and sign an agreement. While the truce was underduress, it did lead to later improvements of relations.
As to the hostages taken at the US embassy in Tehran.....Carter had nothing to do with the release. The week before Reagan won election, he had his top negotiators in Tehran, and they worked out the deal. Does Tony think the Iranians waited until the minute Reagan was sworn into office to release the hostages because they worked out a deal with Carter?
The worsdt President of the last centuray was Harding. The next was Carter. He was a very smart man who didn't know squat about governing. Bush may yet beat Carter out for the next to the worst President of the last 100 years.
Joshua, Oxford, UK
As a President, Mr. Bush has it all over Carter. Mr. Carter is striking out in the hope that history might not judge him the worst President of the past 50 years.
If an election were held today, Mr. Bush might get a lot more votes than people expect (albeit, not enough to win.) What some see as stubbornness, others see as steadfastness. He has made mistakes along the way, but much of the criticism in America of him is simply the result of ideological hatred by the left.
Europeans, meanwhile, strike me as succumbing to a form of nihilism that sees nothing worth fighting for. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming into dealing with a problem in their own backyard, ie. the Balkans. Be careful, my Continental friends, how hard you criticize my country. Without the Americans the past 50 years, you would be likely be Nazi or Communist. Without our assistance, your grandkids might live subject to a Caliphate. If so, they will not blame us for that. They'll blame you.
Vindication, Virginia, USA
Europe has been sniping at the US for the last 200 years and to paraphrase Mark Twain European reports of the death of the USA have been greatly exaggerated.
Leftish European hysteria in describing George Bush and the US tends (slight understatment) to lack any sort of historical perspective. Worst President? Let's not stop at Carter - is he worse than Hardinge, Coolidge, Taft, McKinley, Cleveland to name a few of the less than sparkling?
And I seem to recall similar reports of the 'end' of the US back in the 70s. Then it was all about the death of US influence post Vietnam, the corruption of US politics post Watergate and the death of the US economy as Japanese companies snapped up the former giants of US industry.
The US will bounce back - its Europe where there are huge question marks.
Hugh, London,
John Collins,
I hate to disillusion you but Jimmy Carter comes from Southern Baptist traditions. He is a Sunday School teacher and an openly Born-Again Christian. The Founding Fathers would have approved, not appalled, at his lifestyle. Americans hold his ineptitude as a president against him but not his faith. His building homes for the poor make him as one of the few openly religious people who practice what he preaches.
Indeed, many of the great American letters and speeches readily invoke God in ways the Founding Fathers understood. The letters of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King are chockful of such references.
TJ Cassidy, Arlington, VA, USA
Mr. Baker. I love you. Are you married? How old are you?
Gawd, but you do make sense.
Fleur, ol' virginny, usa
Jon Livesey -
Agree it's a good thing that Americans develop a tough acceptance of the global realite of a world-wide dislike of America, since it rests on Lefty-spurred bitterness, malice and envy. However, don't know if Americans have really faced up to the idea of Empire, as it is a concept of knee-jerk toxicity to the average Joe, which is why our foreign policy invariably gets mangled and tangled up in itself in unbelievable distortions, particularly in cross-action with defense policy.
Hugh MacKenzie -
Skip the Omani..... when are you joining the rest of your tribe over here that have so magnificently contributed to the greatness of America for several hundred years?
Gerard -
OT here, are you planning to check out fhe "Collapse of Europe?" international conference in Malibu on June 10-11? Interesting set of speakers and topics.
Mojamaiko, Porter Ranch, USA
Somebody wrote "Most of our Legislators are generally incompetent, unresponsive to the needs and wishes of their constituents and lacking in moral/political courage".
What do you expect from an electorate whose favourite topics are American Idol, Paris Hilton & Britney Spears? The president whispers "terrorist" and we all cower in fear and willingly surrender our civil liberties, urge our government to ignorantly go to war, and swallow every lie that the Bushies promote. We deserve the leaders we elect. Our elected officials are lacking in moral/political courage because we the people are lacking in moral/political courage. Shame on us!!!
But you my British friends shouldn't be so quick to criticise the stupidity of the American electorate because you voted Tony "The Poodel" Blair back into office too you know.
RD, Minneapolis,
I disagree that "The country is in the grip of an unrelieved gloom about its condition" Mr. Baker needs to visit the hartland of this country, Our enterprising , self assurance, and independant nature has little patience for gloom that liberals seem so eager to enjoy.
John H, Austin, Texas, USA
I believe that all of this hand wringing by Americans and friends of the U.S. is premature. Harry Truman was more unpopular during his presidency than Bush and he has a fine reputation with the clarity that history brings. The bottom line is that things have to change in the Middle East and Bush made some bold moves to bring about that change. It may or may not work but I believe it is too soon to tell.
Fred , Kansas City, MO, USA
Any reason why Carter isn't as bad as he seems, Gerald?
james C, london,
"moral surrender to the forces of relativism"
Going a bit neo-con there, Gerald..?
Owen, London, UK
"Religion is on its way out" in Europe, John Collins, how deep is your head buried in the clay? You might want to read up on the delights of living on Sharia law, it's coming on a steam roller. Stay in Bradford for a few days to get a taste of it.
Ken Johnson, Citrus Heights, California / USA
As much as I agree with Mr Baker, to deny that any nation will overtake the US in relative power is to stand like King Canute against the tide of history. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day a nation will outflank Uncle Sam. China seems to have a lot of elements on its side, although its lack of christian principles and freedom of speech greatly concerns me. The one thing we can say with most confidence is that it is unlikely to be Europe. But why should Americans be so upset by all this. The UK saw probably the greatest fall from grace during the 20th century, largely by doing the right thing, and it is still a relatively prosperous island nation and (despite rumours put about by its citizens) still a great place to live. If you don't think that these are the most important things in life, then maybe it's about time your bubble got burst.
Jonathan, London,
It is a telling indictment of human nature that we love to remember and celebrate the figures who start, win and lose wars, but our history books are not so full of material concerning the people who stop war by making peace. Jimmy Carter brokered the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and not one shot has ever been fired in anger across that border since the treaty was signed. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt later paid with his life for his courage in approaching Israel in the first place.
Paul Terracini, Marielyst, Denmark
Hmm. Don't remember Carter being responsible for the death of c700,000 innocents. But don't expect sense from Gerard; he is to the Bushites as dear old Polly T in the Gordonian is to NuLab - utterly star-struck.
Jeremy Poynton, Fromeville, 51st State
Comparing Bush and Carter is like choosing between two diseased ladies of the night.
People are voting with their feet. In 2005 according the UK govt stats 50,000 Americans settles in the UK and only 25,000 Brits in the US. That is pretty incredible. There are now more Brits in Spain than in the US and almost as many in France. Ask the young where they wants to go and the answer is almost always Australia or New Zealand. The US doesn't register.
oldasiahand, Guildford, UK
Yes, John Collins. Let's ban religion! While we're at it, let's ban concepts like love, forgiveness, hope, selflessness, humility, peace, and personal sacrifice that were taught by such dangerous right-wing zealouts as Jesus. Oh, and we see what a happy place Europe is these days. A dying continent full of people too self-centered and depressed about the future to even bother having children. From the bitter tone of your writing, it's clear what a positive impact atheism has had on your life! By the way...the recovery from the dark days of Carter was presided over by one very spiritual fellow named Reagan.
Christopher, Memphis, Tennessee
Yes Bush has been inept, but give me a break. Are we supposed to believe that all would be sweetness and light in the world if only Bush had never been elected? Things over here really aren't all that hellish - my daily life feels pretty much the same as under Clinton.
Ian Board, mission viejo, california, usa
Jimmy Carter may well have been inept, and may even have done so rather frequently, but I don't remember thinking he was malign, and that is the difference with the current occupant of the WHite House: the US is now seen as one of the three most dangerous nations on the planet. Living that down will be neither easy nor rapid.
John Reid, Wellington, New Zealand
I generally agree with Mr. Baker's assessment of American resilience. However, we face a very difficult time in the future, not only because of mistakes made by the Bush administration and Congress, but also because of the mediocre stature and abilities of our current and prospective leaders from both political parties. Most of our Legislators are generally incompetent, unresponsive to the needs and wishes of their constituents and lacking in moral/political courage. In addition, at a time when the challenges facing our country are severe, we need a President with the capabilities and stature of a Roosevelt (either one), Washington or even Eisenhower, None of the current Presidential candidates possess the requisite leadership qualities to unite and lead the country in an effective manner relative to the challenges. This leadership vacuum will hurt us for many years to come, much more than, say, the practice of religion by some of our population.
David Holler, Fallbrook , California/USA
John Collins, posting here, is one more example that the truly intolerant radical extremists are the secularists, NOT religious people in general, particularly those in nations that do not establish a national religion.
Pcon-T, Irvine, USA
To Hugh Mackenzie, Aberdeen, UK
Well said, this expat engineer agrees and also gets fed up with all the self styled experts(?) on the US, whether it's the economy, health system or whatever,spouting off all the conventional wisdom(?) digested from the UK/EU newspapers while never having set foot in the place.
The US will survive and thrive, and Mr Baker is correct, today is nothing compared to the utterly awful Carter innings.
As Mr Baker hints, Europe would do better to take an inward look at what their future demographic trends are suggesting rather than taking the convenient distraction offered by the endless bashing of America.
Stan(expat), USA,
Any attempt to suggest an equivalence between the character and effectiveness of the Carter and Bush presidencies is absurd. During the Carter administration the U.S. was in economic meltdown, resulting in one of the most lopsided defeats of an incumbent president in our history. Bush was reelected because essentially the U.S. economy was in solid shape, and has substantially improved since. As to Iraq, predictions are dangerous...especially those about the future. Let history judge. I believe the verdict will be a surprise to most.
Mark, Port Orchard, WA
As a British expatriate, I don't see the funk you see. There is certainly a vigorous debate going on in the US, and Bush's ratings are lower than a gang-member's pants, but my impression is that few Americans doubt their country.
And as for Iraq, I'm not sure if the US is as wounded as it is popular for Europeans to suppose. This isn't VietNam, and certainly not Corregidor. American casualties are few, and the war isn't financially fatal.
The one place where you are right is on negative World opinion. But even there it might be worth reading up on what much of the World thought of the UK at the height of the Empire. It wasn't very complimentary, but did we care? Neither do Americans.
In a sense, a very good thing has happened in the past few years. The US is finally out of delusion about what it is. It is finally clear that it is running an Empire, clear that it is disliked, and clear that it faces risks. This is much better than the earlier denialism.
jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/US
Mr. Collins of East Sussex complains about our Religious Right as trying to impose its values on society, but nothing they propose was absent during the time of the sainted liberal Franklin Roosevelt. As far as living without religion, I merely would like to know whether he would prefer to have lived under the first French Republic, Stalin's USSR, Mao's China or Pol Pot's Cambodia -- all examples of societies where religion is absent. If Europe continues on its current path, in a few years he will be bowing to Mecca five times a day, scarcely an atheistic life style.
Edward P. Allen, Pinole, California, USA
I remember the Carter years and they were the worst. Knowing Mr. Carter, I would lay odds of 4 to1 that if he were the President on 9./11, he would have first seeked UN approval for the USA to attack Afghanistan. Even if he got the approval, I would lay odds against him ever going to war anywhere.
Bob, Bedford, VA
Mr.Baker do you know the President who got the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel? Yes, Mr Baker it was Jimmy Carter who accomplished this. The American economy was on hard times when Jimmy Carter was President but at least President Carter went on to set peace around the world. And many people credit Carter for getting the Hijackers realesed in Iran . See: Nightline with Ted Koppel prior to President Reagan taking office. As for President Carter's assessment of the current President Bush, Carter is correct in every facet. How many more lies and lives have been told from the current Bush administration. Even the generals that President Bush said will determine what will happen in Iraq have told him and HE DIDN"T LISTEN! Although the economy is nowhere near where President Carter's was it may as well be. 70% of this country is not doing as well as many people think and the cost of living is actually higher now than it was during President Carter's term. Bush has ruined the USA!
Tony, San Antonio, USA/ Texas
Mr. Bakers' point about things never being as good or as bad as they seem is a valid one. America will indeed recover from 8 years of Mr. Bush but at what cost? I wouldn't want to be the next leader of the U.S. Mr. Bush has not only created countless new enemies due to the Iraq invasion, worse yet he has damaged the credibility of the oval office by his conduct and complete lack of integrity. The next President will spend the first 2-3 years trying to mend broken fences with their main allies!. Mr. Carter was at best mediocre as President, but his comments on Mr. Bush are valid and should not be dismissed so casually...Peace to all.
Mark Willmott, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Get ready for the Anti-America Backlash! As an oil industry engineer from Scotland I have worked in many areas of the world, Europe, Russia, Asia, Middle East (not South America yet). In my experience America is easily the most dynamic country I have ever worked in. The people I worked with had a “go get it” attitude, were very self reliant and were generally extremely generous individuals in both time and their money. Yes Iraq was a mistake and is detrimental to the image of America and the UK for that matter, however this reminds me of a conversation with an Engineer from Oman. In one breath he was telling an American colleague and I how evil the U.S. and UK governments were, and in the next he was asking my friend all about getting a green card.
I agree that rumors of America’s demise are much exaggerated. The US will maintain its military, economic and cultural leadership for a long time to come. Good! The alternatives?, Dictatorship, Sharia, commumism , lovely choices!
Hugh Mackenzie, Aberdeen, UK
Poor Mr. Bush. People like Gerard Baker who are part of his "Republican Guard" are fighting to prove he is not the worst US President in living memory.
Abraham, Baroda,
Mrs. Clinton certainly has her work cut out for her.
Robert Dare, Clinton, Missouri USA
No doubt we shall rebound, irrespective of the lenghty malaise the current president and his government have led the country to. Sad to think that having a golden opportunity to turn a national crisis and disaster into a positive effort and goal, this president has, instead, led us into a morass that truly has sapped the national vigor to an all time low, lower that that of the Carter Administration during the 444 days of hostage crisis. For shame. Yet, do count on America and Americans overcoming this for it will happen. Those shortsighted enemies foolish enough to think otherwise will be highly surprised and disturbed.
Mario, Miami, FL US
Well, it'll come out in the wash if that is what you mean. : )
Dan, Manawa, Iowa
I utterly agree with Baker!
America recovered from Carter.
It will recover from Bush.
It is just so sad that we who are old, have to watch all this ping pong game from the sidelines.
But we must not underestimate the problem in the U.S.
This Far Rright Christian menace is more serious than we ever imagined.
The Founders of the USA would be appalled!
They went to so much trouble to remove Religion from the Government.
God is most deliberately excluded from the Constitution.
Though now an unbeliever, I used to think , when a believer, that Christianity had a moral superiority to Islam.
Then I see what the Far Right are mouthing in the US!
It is time for religion to be banned totally!
It has inflicted so much hurt!
It is as virulent as any virus.
History shows clearly the damage this virus does.
America must address this virus.
Funnily, it this area, Europe leads the States.
Religion is on its way out!
John Collins, Lewes, East Sussex