Why Wimps Make Bad Presidents

Arguably the nicest man to ever occupy the Oval Office was James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. The peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia had a homespun way about him, from his folksy speech to his down-home mannerisms. In private, I can attest that he is just as kind, having met him at his hometown church about 20 years ago. The 39th President of the United States even called on me to pray in front of a packed house and after the service, posed for a picture with my family and me.

That being said, Jimmy Carter is also on the short list of the worst presidents in American history, jockeying for a position at the bottom of the pile with such luminaries as James Buchanan and Joe Biden. His greatest weaknesses were probably his gullibility and his overly gentle demeanor, both of which invited and allowed everyone from the Ayatollah Khomeini to OPEC to take advantage of him and to hold America hostage.

I admire President Carter for keeping his marriage vows for a remarkable 77 years and counting. His Christian faith also seems genuine, although I have no idea – having read Genesis 1-2; I Timothy 3; and Titus 1 – how he supports same-sex marriage or women pastors. He also made for a strange bedfellow by leading a political party that advocates for abortion-on-demand until birth… and sometimes after.

President Carter also deserves more than a few “atta boys” for his tireless work with Habitat for Humanity, his efforts to eradicate the Guinea-worm disease in Africa, and his push for free and fair elections around the world. For his post-presidency humanitarian work, Mr. Carter was deservedly honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

However, just like Joe Biden, whom former Secretary of State Robert Gates described as being “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” Jimmy Carter was in over his head when it came to dealing with dictators, autocrats, and terrorists. Yes, he was able to bring Egypt and Israel together to sign the landmark Camp David Accord, but when it was time to stand toe-to-toe with the Islamic Republic of Iran, he was sorely lacking. The same goes for OPEC, which humiliated America by forcing us to ration gas at exorbitant prices.

There is a reason why our 52 American hostages were seized by Iranian college students and held by the Ayatollah for 444 days… and then released within minutes of Ronald Reagan taking the oath of office. Carter could be (and was) played like a fiddle while Reagan had a backbone of steel.

I am not a fan of Donald Trump’s sometimes petulant behavior, but it is not a coincidence that Russia waited to invade Ukraine and Hamas delayed attacking Israel until after he left office. Bullies can sense – and even smell – weakness a mile away, and Joe Biden is the very personification of appeasement… and he absolutely reeks of weakness. So does the rest of his mumbling and bumbling foreign policy team from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Back to Jimmy Carter for a minute (or two). Here is an excerpt from a USA Today article dated August 5, 2014…

“Former president Jimmy Carter called on the West to recognize the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas as a legitimate ‘political actor’ that represents the bulk of the Palestinian population. Carter made the comments in an article he co-wrote with former Irish president Mary Robinson in a new issue of Foreign Policy magazine. It was published as a cease-fire took hold Tuesday after four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which governs Gaza. In a sharply worded rebuke to Israel, Carter and Robinson said, ‘There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war.’"

President Carter’s gullibility was likewise on full display in a 2008 interview he gave with Melissa Block of NPR News. Here are a few of Block’s takeaways…

“Former President Jimmy Carter says that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is prepared to accept Israel's right to live in peace. Carter met with Hamas leaders over the weekend, a meeting opposed by Israel and the Bush administration. They both shun Hamas and view it as a terrorist organization… Former President Jimmy Carter says the militant group would not undermine talks for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, as long as the Palestinian people approve the deal by referendum. Hamas also says it will offer Israel a 10-year truce if it withdraws from land seized in the 1967 war.”

A 10-year truce? Willing to accept Israel’s right to live in peace? Yeah, right… and I can give you a good deal on a bridge in Brooklyn and some swampland in Florida.

Something tells me that Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden would jump at those fraudulent deals for suckers… and both Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump would tell me to take a hike.