Former US President Jimmy Carter dead at 100

[mgk920]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

[bandit957]

The best time of my life was back when he was President.

[Ted$8roadFan]

I'm wondering more why there was a drop in life expectancy from the first 10 or so presidents to the early 1900s.

If LBJ, the last president to die relatively young, is any indication, the mass production of cigarettes and liquor didn't help

LBJ had a massive heart attack in 1955, which is when he quit smoking. After leaving the presidency, which basically broke him, he essentially let himself go. He resumed smoking, not dieting anymore, etc. It's as if he knew he'd die young, and he did. It's remarkable given the ages at death of Truman (88), Eisenhower (79), Nixon (81), Ford and Reagan (93), Bush 41 (94) and now Carter at 100.

[kernals12]

How many posters here were actually alive and have a memory of the Carter administration (Jan. 20, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981)?

I was a teenager then, and I certainly remember his presidency.

I was in the Navy, then. We got the two largest pay rises in the last 50 years during his administration.

That was only to keep up with inflation though

[wxfree]

I'd like to know how they determined the number of future presidents.  Should probably talk to those people.

They're only showing known future presidents.  The most recently born president was born in 1961, at which time there were 11 future presidents.  That number has only gone down since then.  The number reduced by one when LBJ was no longer a future president, and down again when Nixon was no longer a future president.  The numbers in the recent decades will go up when we find out who will be president in the future and see when they were born.  We could assume a minimum age of 35 and add part of their lives now, but either way the graph will change since they will probably all be older than 35 and because term lengths and consecutivity may vary.  Since the graph changes anyway, they're just sticking with the known facts.

[Max Rockatansky]

And the funeral date was declared a Federal Holiday (1/9).  I'll probably need to figure out if I can use the day a week after since I'll be on a work trip all next week. 

[SEWIGuy]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

[roadman65]

I remember my elders used to say that Jimmy Carter was a weakling during his presidency.  What that meant I can't be sure but I'm guessing he couldn't handle the problems he was faced with at the time.

[Max Rockatansky]

I remember my elders used to say that Jimmy Carter was a weakling during his presidency.  What that meant I can't be sure but I'm guessing he couldn't handle the problems he was faced with at the time.

The Iran Hostage Crisis is more than like what is being referenced there.

FWIW even my far left leaning mom didn't like Jimmy Carter.  He had everything going against him and couldn't even make his own supporters happy when in office.   The wide consensus has pretty much always had him as a bottom third tier president.

[SEWIGuy]

I remember my elders used to say that Jimmy Carter was a weakling during his presidency.  What that meant I can't be sure but I'm guessing he couldn't handle the problems he was faced with at the time.

The Iran Hostage Crisis is more than like what is being referenced there. 

Correct. It really was a national embarrassment, but they really couldn't have done any different without killing them. The botched rescue only made the perception worse.

[roadman65]

Yeah that was a factor. However they got released the moment he left office. 

I'm not saying that other people did better, but the fact that ordeal where Ollie North refused to testify was believed to be what got them released.

Even a former coworker who was very liberal says hanky panky got them released.

[kernals12]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

[SEWIGuy]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

You've said this more than once and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unemployment increased a bit, but was pretty manageable until the early 80s.

[roadman65]

Now I remember. My dad said that unemployment was high under Carter.

[SEWIGuy]

Now I remember. My dad said that unemployment was high under Carter.

It was actually higher under Reagan, but the vibes were better.

[Stephane Dumas]

I'm wondering more why there was a drop in life expectancy from the first 10 or so presidents to the early 1900s.

If LBJ, the last president to die relatively young, is any indication, the mass production of cigarettes and liquor didn't help

LBJ had a massive heart attack in 1955, which is when he quit smoking. After leaving the presidency, which basically broke him, he essentially let himself go. He resumed smoking, not dieting anymore, etc. It's as if he knew he'd die young, and he did. It's remarkable given the ages at death of Truman (88), Eisenhower (79), Nixon (81), Ford and Reagan (93), Bush 41 (94) and now Carter at 100.

If we include vice-prisidents, John Nance Garner who was vice-president from 1932 to 1941, died at the age of 98.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nance_Garner

[kernals12]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

You've said this more than once and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unemployment increased a bit, but was pretty manageable until the early 80s.

The lowest unemployment rate during Carter's presidency was an unimpressive 5.6% in May 1979. And even then the economy was overheating, with inflation running at 7%.

[roadman65]

Now I remember. My dad said that unemployment was high under Carter.

It was actually higher under Reagan, but the vibes were better.

Of course we didn't have social media and the web then to inform us, so what might of looked good then might of not been.

I believe that is correct. Reagan was popular with people so people had positive energy for him, but Carter ( even fellow Democrats) had negative energy towards him.  In a way I felt sorry that he caught a bad break.

[SEWIGuy]

Now I remember. My dad said that unemployment was high under Carter.

It was actually higher under Reagan, but the vibes were better.

Of course we didn't have social media and the web then to inform us, so what might of looked good then might of not been.

I believe that is correct. Reagan was popular with people so people had positive energy for him, but Carter ( even fellow Democrats) had negative energy towards him.  In a way I felt sorry that he caught a bad break.

That is true. And I think it shows that widespread inflation leads to more negative views on the economy than unemployment does.

[SEWIGuy]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

You've said this more than once and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unemployment increased a bit, but was pretty manageable until the early 80s.

The lowest unemployment rate during Carter's presidency was an unimpressive 5.6% in May 1979. And even then the economy was overheating, with inflation running at 7%.

Unimpressive? That was near the low point of the 1970s and lower than anything in Reagan's term until about 1987.

[dlsterner]

There's the time he shook hands with possibly everyone on plane on a commercial flight. The perks of being a former President is that you outrank the flight crew...?

https://www.google.com/search?q=jimmy+carter+shaking+hands+with+everyone+on+plane

Apparently he did this often.  As a matter of fact - it happened to me once about 15 years ago.  I was on a Delta flight between Baltimore and Atlanta.  Before takeoff, Mr. Carter walked down the aisle and greeted everybody and shook their hand, myself included.  Only time I had ever met a President (current or former).

For context, I was in college during his presidency and the 1976 election was the first election I was able to vote in.

[kernals12]

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

You've said this more than once and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unemployment increased a bit, but was pretty manageable until the early 80s.

The lowest unemployment rate during Carter's presidency was an unimpressive 5.6% in May 1979. And even then the economy was overheating, with inflation running at 7%.

Unimpressive? That was near the low point of the 1970s and lower than anything in Reagan's term until about 1987.

He was the best President of the past 60 years.

He was much better after he was President than he was while he was President.

His foreign affairs disasters (except for getting Egypt and Israel to the same table), the 'stagflation' in the economy', etc v. his later on good works and even his years of teaching Sunday School Bible classes at his church. Great person but one of the worst presidents.  R.I.P.

BTW, all USA flags to be at half-staff until late January.

Mike

The stagflation really wasn't his fault however. It was mismanagement by the Fed more than anything. The combination of Nixon's wage and price controls, OPEC's stranglehold on oil, and just bizarre decisions by Fed Chair Arthur Burns meant that neither Carter nor Ford would be able to do much to manage the economy. It was going to be a sh*tshow regardless.

And no matter who won in 1980, they would benefit from a resurgence. Reagan didn't do anything magic. Paul Volcker's taming of inflation is what got the economy going again - which is why Reagan renominated him as Chair.

Some of the other criticisms of him as president are absolutely fair. At best he was mediocre - wrong man for the time.

The real issue was something no President could control: demographics. You see, in 1950 the world's population growth suddenly skyrocketed. 18 years later, those children began working. In addition, many women decided to get paid jobs at roughly the same time. All these people entering the workforce before capital stock could be created for them to work meant an increase in the unemployment rate and the increased demand for capital simultaneously caused equilibrium interest rates to shoot through the roof.

You've said this more than once and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unemployment increased a bit, but was pretty manageable until the early 80s.

The lowest unemployment rate during Carter's presidency was an unimpressive 5.6% in May 1979. And even then the economy was overheating, with inflation running at 7%.

Unimpressive? That was near the low point of the 1970s and lower than anything in Reagan's term until about 1987.

That's my point. The structural unemployment rate was much higher in the 70s and 80s. Consider that we're currently at 4% unemployment with an inflation rate below 3%.

[Bobby5280]

I think Jimmy Carter was too decent and moral of a person to be President of the United States. I think other people in the government used his principals against him. Even though I was just a kid in the late 1970's I keenly remember a lot of the details. Things weren't all that great when Carter was sworn in as President. The situation with price inflation was largely out of his control. But Americans needed a scapegoat and the peanut farmer from Georgia was a good enough target.

The American hostage crisis in Iran is largely what cost Carter any chance of reelection. I still remember the evening news programs counting the number of days American citizens were held hostage. People were pissed off enough about the price of a Coca-Cola™ doubling in the late 1970's, but the hostages thing and the failed rescue pretty much doomed Carter's bid to be reelected. Let's not forget: it was Carter's administration that negotiated and secured the release of the American hostages. The Iranian government (and the Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rolla) gave Carter a little "fuck you" message by not releasing the hostages until just after Ronald Regan was inaugurated.

Still, even though certain aspects of the late 1970's totally sucked ass, that period of time was one of the greatest ever for American pop culture. The first "Star Wars" movie was released in May of 1977. I mean, holy shit, that was a BIG DEAL back then. Disco music was big at that time, but then Punk and the next generation of Metal arrived. We're talking the Sex Pistols and Van Halen. I really feel sorry for young people growing up today. Back in the late 1970's and going into the 1980's the music industry was adventurous as hell. So much great shit was getting made back then. Carter was on the down-slope of his Presidency when "The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980. That is still pretty much the best "Star Wars" film ever. There was a lot of stuff about life that sucked ass in the late 1970's going into the early 1980's, but American culture was sure hitting a high point during that period.

[Max Rockatansky]

Meh...considering how obsessive people got over Star Wars I think that I could do without it.

[Bobby5280]

There's no denying the original pop-culture frenzy surrounding Star Wars when it was first released. Hell, there was even a cheesy disco version of the theme song that became a big radio hit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ3kV3Icm28

My dad's Marine Corps career had us stationed in Japan through this period, which insulated us for awhile. But when we moved back state-side in 1980 the culture shock (or price shock rather) was pretty brutal.

Star Wars aside, the late 1970's going into the early 1980's was one of the last great periods of American music innovation before the big media labels started suffocating the shit out of everything. The late 1980's, with the arrival of grunge bands like Nirvana and Jane's Addiction, as well as "gangsta rap" acts like NWA, seemed like the last gasps of originality coming from America's music industry. Over the 30 years since then the music industry has been slowly shitting out the same old flavors of familiar fluff. It's no wonder why so many people, even young people, listen to old-ass music. I have a great niece that loves listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That might be cool on one level, but she should have her own music from her own generation, not old people shit from my generation.