Jimmy Carter's Consequential 4 Years || Peter Zeihan

I typically avoid the analysis of late U.S. presidents, but Jimmy Carter is a special case.

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[Gunnybumper]

Rambo 3! Not Rocky! Rambo shot Communists, Rocky punched Communists.

[fullrounds]

Hands down, this has become my fave comedy show. 😂

[zstrizzel]

Did he just talk about Carter foreign policy for 6 minutes without mentioning the word "Iran"?

[felixmeijler]

He also made peace (ice cold peace) between Israel and Egypt but also forced Israel to accept Gaza as a parting gift, Egypt didn't want it. And here we are today.

[janrabie]

All I remember about Carter was that when traveling abroad, he liked to be seen carrying his own suitcase as an ordinary man would do. Once he passed the cameras, he would immediately put the suitcase down and the secret service would come and pick it up 😂.

[parkepresnell]

You rightly mention that Carter made many of these decisions due to “feeling betrayed by the Soviets.” To really put these thoughts in context it would have been helpful to include that they were reversals of his original positions.

[ddewittfulton]

Fascinating perspective! You've now presented two single-term presidents, Carter and H W Bush as being much more import to the US's position on the world stage in terms of hard policy. The default setting for most armchair readers of American history is to assume that nothing can get done in a single term. And perhaps as a converse talking point, not every two-term president is transformative. Grover Cleveland comes to mind.

I also appreciate that you suggest an aspect of presidential history that might be counter-intuitive. Presidents, whether it was their intention or not, often end up building upon their predecessor's work. And sometimes they even get credit for it!

[christophersoderman]

I'm sorry, but the Sino-Soviet split was thanks to Nixon, not Carter

[Mysticast]

Why is the audio always worse when Peter's actually in the studio?

[brianabare]

His lasting legacy is the misery index - an absolute nightmare time

[davechapman]

I believe that no matter what good President Carter did it was overshadowed by the Iran policy then that we still are facing today.

[jimr]

Carter felt betrayed by the Russians because he was. They did it because they saw him as weak and felt they could get away with it. Which they did. I also remember the hostage rescue disaster. Much was made of the 'Misery Index'. Double digit inflation, double digit interest rates, and double digit unemployment. My most vivid memory of Carter was seeing him address the nation. It was like watching Mr. Rogers with a Georgia lilt in his speaking. Not an impressive or remarkable experience.

[TruRepublican]

My father was on the whitehouse press corps and remembered Carter as a brilliant man who could not make a decision. The guided munitions programs were Nixon era programs used as far back as 68, and first effectively in 1972. Carter didn’t take office until 1976. All I can remember are the engineer friends who committed suicide because he drastically cut defense spending and decimated communities. Carter’s CIA handcuffs led to the fall of IRAN. The USSR invaded Afghanistan because they perceived him as weak. He then botched the recovery effort because his defense cuts left the military with outdated equipment for the mission.

[jimmyp]

I’m older than Peter so I have an adult memory of his time in power. Peter’s political analysis of US politics never ceases to amaze me.

[michellegutierrez]

Thank you for sharing. Peter Zeihan for your insight in the geopolitical impact of our times…..

[jons]

I was a young man with a small family during the disaster of the Carter presidency, he cured me of voting democrat.

[mbjkdajensen]

K, now take the next 2 hours and tell us all of Carters flops and failures.

[DaleSteadman]

There is a reason Carter was a one term president, thank god!!!

[neofreshmao]

Great commentary on Carter. Thank you!

[cleanwillie]

Unlike Peter, I am old enough (graduated college in 1974) to have directly observed Jimmuh in action. He was a putz.