LETTER: On James Earl Carter
Having worked under President Jimmy Carter for four years while with Treasury Department, I can double down on everything written in your Tuesday editorial on his term in office. For the most part, he was a victim of circumstances under conditions that had accrued over a long period of time. Fed Chair Paul Volcker’s approach to the inflation of that era remains controversial to this day.
If Mr. Carter had come along at a different point in our history, he very well could have been one of our greatest presidents. He had the personal characteristics that attracted followers. If there was one “kink” in his armor, it was that he campaigned on a populist agenda, but governed on “doing the right thing.” At times, these approaches became mutually exclusive.