Jimmy Carter just passed away at 100 years old. 

I was sixteen when Jimmy Carter was elected, so wasn’t paying much attention.  Carter got ridiculed for an incident where a rabbit harassed his fishing boat.  That was a dumb story, but journalists don’t seem to be very smart.

Jimmy Carter was weak tea.  He had a good resume, but was too idealistic to be effective.  He grew up pretty poor, attended the Naval Academy and was trained on nuclear reactors.  Carter was a good Christian and a good family man.

Carter’s presidency was a bleak era.  The misery index was often mentioned.  The misery index is the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate.  It hit about 20 during Carter’s presidency.  For reference, it’s been about 7 since Bill Clinton was president.  The stock market was dismal.

Any president does some good things, some bad things, and some things that just didn’t pan out.

Carter’s good works:

Carter deregulated the beer industry, opening up home brewing and microbreweries.  A decent lunch and interesting beers are now available at the 9000 microbreweries.

Carter deregulated the airline industry.  This is a mixed bag, but only a snob would be against it.  A cheap ticket can now be purchased at a quarter of what it would have cost before deregulation.  To front-line airline personnel, the Clampetts were now buying tickets.  Since you are a Clampett, it is nice to have the option.

Prior to deregulation, flying was expensive, so available to business travelers and people with some money.  Clampetts is a reference to the Beverly Hillbillies TV show.

Carter’s bad works:

Carter gave away the Panama Canal.  He didn’t have to, but there was unrest in Central America.  He negotiated guarantees from the military leadership of Panama, but those protections deteriorate with time.  The Panama Canal is critical to United States.

Carter prohibited the reprocessing of nuclear fuel rods.  In a nuclear power plant, fuel rods are replaced when they are 25% depleted.  By not reprocessing the fuel rods, nuclear power is more expensive and more high-level nuclear waste is produced.  With his nuclear background, Carter should have done more to encourage safe, reliable and abundant nuclear power.

Carter’s works that didn’t pan out:

Carter made Energy and Education, cabinet-level positions.  In almost a half-century, and after spending trillions of dollars, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education haven’t significantly improved their areas of authority.