Not so fast, Jimmy.
Jimmy Carter’s new book has opened him to accusations of petulance, taking pot-shots at the deceased Ted Kennedy and at other ex-presidents. (He claimed to be a “superior” ex-president in one interview.)
But this claim, made on pg. 412 of the book, is just plain factually wrong:
On March 24, 1980, after losing out in the New York Democratic Primary to Ted Kennedy by a vote of 59-41 percent, Carter blamed the loss on the popularity of Kennedy’s brothers and his overall lack of Jewish support.
However, Carter also took a firm jab at the state of New York, saying, “It’s a unique state, with a habit of sucking at the federal budget tit more than anyone else in the country.”
Carter is, simply and factually, wrong.
As we’ve noted elsewhere in the In Box, New York state receives back only around 80 cents in Federal spending for every dollar that we contribute in Federal taxes.
Over the years, the Empire state has forked over billions — if not trillions — of dollars to fund programs in other parts of the US.
Typical Southerner’s view.
I caught a bit of his interview on 60 Minutes last Sunday. It was humorous.
I think it’s important to understand that this book basically is his diary as written at the time. He admitted in the 60 minutes interview that they were his reflections of the days events and aren’t always accurate and have more than a little anger, frustration, etc. in the writings.
Regarding Ted Kennedy, it was also stated at the end of the interview by Lesly Stahl (sp) that President Carter and Ted Kennedy reconciled and mended fences a few years after the 1980 election.
What I personally find most interesting about the interview is that Carter had made a serious effort at health care reform. As I was ten years old at the time, I was unaware of this effort on the part of Mr. Carter. And the fact that Ted Kennedy may have thwarted this effort for political gain says a great deal about his true ambitions. Not knowing the scope of Presidents Carter’s effort at reform, I can’t help but wonder what its passage may have done to improve the system we now have shackling businesses, gov’t, individuals, etc….I guess we’ll never know.
Funny, I don;t recall Carter ever talking about national healthcare- at all. But then, Carter made himself irrelevant about 6 months into his presidency anyway when everyone suddenly realized they’d elected a very pleasant, caring man with neither the qualifications, imagination or backbone to be President.
Brian, the numbers you cite about New York are, presumably, recent. Do you know that Carter was incorrect in 1980 when he wrote this?
Carter was probably the only US president of the 20th century that didn’t launch or continue a military excursion against another country, so that’s presumably why the far right hates him so much.
Carter was clueless just like the left is now. Out of touch is an understatement.
The right “hates” him because he sacrificed our collective dignity through his bungling and indecision. Personally scheduling the use of the White House tennis courts while Iran held our people hostage and interst rates climbing into the low 20% bracket is not the type of leadership we needed.
The man is/was and unmitigated disaster, and an arrogant one at that judging from the recent interviews.
Who cares what any of these “famous” people think or write?
I never read anything by anyone who is famous for anything other than fiction or poetry.
Nine times out of ten, they have someone else do the writing anyway and why should I give money to people who already have money. This includes Bob Woodward’s latest attempt to make a buck.