Not true. Jimmy Carter was and is a highly competent individual. His biggest issue was that he tried too hard, and people can learn not to do that.
What a golden opportunity!
For example, during his first year in office, Pres. Carter directed that the presidential yacht be put up for auction. Good decision. People need to be confident that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.
Please give me a couple of other positives and/or possibilities. Thanks.
He had an overwhelming majority in Congress but they wouldn't agree to it.New York Times EditorialTax Reform: End the Disgrace (Published 1977)
ed backs sweeping tax reform that would virtually eliminate personal and business deductions, tax shelters, integrate personal and business taxes, and transform tax expenditures (loopholes) into Fed subsidies; speculates on whether Carter's tax reform pkg, when released, will fulfill his...www.nytimes.com
What a golden opportunity!
If Carter had followed through with tax reform — and with a Democratic Congress helping to keep it simple — this most likely would have changed the fortune of the two parties for a generation, or more. And just maybe, improve the lives and prospects of individual American citizens.
Has a shot at getting re-elected?? After he essentially runs the table.
Let's not get too carried away. Carter can begin to turn the economy around, but it's unlikely it'll feel "fixed" by 1980. Keep in mind, the present is still going to feel not-great to voters who don't have OTL to compare it to. How far advanced will healthcare reform's infrastructure be by 1980? Will that go smoothly? And most tax bills take years of analysis before effects can be measured.
This is something that is actually considered to be a bad decision, and an example of why Carter had terrible relations with congress. Chris Matthews book "Hardball" actually discusses this as an example of what Carter did wrong in handling Washington and compares it to other presidents who didn't make these mistakes. If anyone would know, it would be Matthews, as he worked on both Carter's staff, and then was chief of staff for Speaker of the House Tip O'Niell.
For example, during his first year in office, Pres. Carter directed that the presidential yacht be put up for auction. Good decision. People need to be confident that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.
Please give me a couple of other positives and/or possibilities. Thanks.
Reagan got just under 51% in 1980. In fact, Reagan’s first chief-of-staff James Baker later said that it was not so much a mandate for Reagan, as an opportunity.
Jimmy certainly comes across as a coalition builder.
Tax reform is tough, because the Senators from oil-producing states want to keep the deletion allowance, etc, etc, so on and so forth. And in a very real sense, the members of the House and Senate are doing their job by representing their constituents.
Anderson's an interesting factor. Imagining a more successful Carter generally means a more liberal-appearing Carter (liberal in the American sense at the time). Does that mean a larger vote share for Anderson as more moderates feel less comfortable with Carter? Does it mean Reagan pushes left, as he sees an opening? Does that keep Anderson from jumping in, or at least take a bunch of votes from him?
Carter's entire plan of dealing with congress was a disaster, from not having a chief of staff, to getting rid of the fluff that had been used to woo congressional leaders for decades (such as the yacht). It would appear that he believed he could treat the presidency similar to being governor (governors can often be more controlling over their legislatures), this was never going to work. To get Carter to have good relations with congress, you need more than just keeping Albert around as speaker, you'd have to change Carter's whole view of dealing with them going into his presidency. Thats the problem with running as an "outsider", if you win you eventually will have to work with the people you've been saying are the problem. If you're not conciliatory enough, of course this will cause some level of disfunction. Take Reagan as the opposite example, he campaigned against the government and as an outsider, but when he got to Washington he actually went out of his way to ingratiate himself with the "establishment".Tax reform is tough, because the Senators from oil-producing states want to keep the deletion allowance, etc, etc, so on and so forth. And in a very real sense, the members of the House and Senate are doing their job by representing their constituents.
Or put another way, it takes a lot to move from regional interest to national interest.
Behind Nixon to the left is V.P. Spiro Agnew and to his right is Speaker of the House Carl Albert.
If only Carl Albert had decided, most likely we’ll get a new Democratic President elected in 1976. He’ll need (or possibly, She) some help from a seasoned pro and also a little transition time for Tip O’Neill becomes the next Speaker.
As it was, Carl did not seek re-election in ‘76, and in addition to a new president, we also had a new Speaker of the House.
It could be argued that a more liberal Carter would make Anderson less likely to run 3rd party (and thus Reagan's chances stay pretty strong), but it could also be argued that a more liberal Carter actually takes votes away from Anderson if he does run. If you look at where Anderson won the most votes, it was often in liberal areas where he seemed to be taking votes away from Carter instead of Reagan. For example if you look at Massachusetts, Reagan's vote share was pretty much in line for a normal Republican at the time, it was Carter's that was much lower. I think its reasonable to assume that a large portion of Anderson's voters were actually liberals instead of moderate, and that he would get less votes as Carter moved left, not more. This is backed up by the info we have from exit polling, where Anderson got 11% among self identified liberals, and 8% among moderates.
Absolutely reasonable. Though even taking 100% of Anderson’s vote doesn’t get Carter past Reagan (and 100% is unlikely).
You’ve just re-invented the logic of the Cold War!
