In The Footsteps of Jimmy Carter?
As President Barack Obama is heading into his re-election bid for the 2012 elections, many political scientists and historians are seeing a number of similarities between the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
President Carter had listed three reasons for his defeat in the 1980 Presidential Election. The first was the Iranian Hostage Crisis and his shortcomings on retrieving them. During the revolution in Iran that ousted the Shah of Iran, the rebels would overrun the U.S. Embassy and take American hostages. It has also become knowledge, through recently declassified CIA documents, that the CIA helped fund these rebels in the early stages of the Iranian Revolution due to the Shah falling out of favor with the American government.
The covert operation to rescue the hostages, Operation Eagle Claw, was a failure. The Iranian Hostage Crisis is still considered among many historians as the most devastating diplomatic incident in contemporary United States History.
The second reason was the division in the Democratic Party. The liberal elements within the party no longer supported President Carter, who had taken somewhat of a conservative approach to governing once he was in office. This division manifested itself when Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he was going to challenge the incumbent. This led to massive fallout within the Democratic Party. Along with this, principle voting blocs – Roman Catholics, Evangelists, Jews, Latinos and African-Americans – were no longer supporting President Carter in the 1980 Presidential Election as they did in the 1976 Presidential Election.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter appealed to many voters in the fact that he was not part of the Washington Establishment that had been in place during the JFK Assassination, RFK Assassination, Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Watergate Scandal and every other event during this timeframe that led Americans to lose faith and trust in their government. He promised that his presidency would be a departure from the old way of doing business. However, his presidency was ineffective and a disappointment.
The third and probably the most important issue was the state of the economy in the U.S. Economic events during his presidency would deal major blows to his popularity and play a major role in his defeat to Ronald Reagan. Unemployment was at 8% and inflation had risen to 20% by 1980.
President Barack Obama, although he is not dealing with a major hostage situation in the Middle East (despite the fact that three students decided to go hiking along the border of Iraq and Iran in the midst of the Iraq War) is facing the challenge of not drawing down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan quickly enough.
Although combat operations consisting of American troops are no longer taking place in Iraq, there is a presence of roughly 50,000 American troops still stationed there and still in harm’s way. During his presidency, President Obama has shifted his focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. For 9 years, the American troop count in Afghanistan never exceeded 20,000, now exceeds 100,000. Although there are drawdown dates as to when the United States will be pulling its troops out, the end result is that as we approach the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, we are still entrenched in war…war that the United States can no longer sustain.
When looking at the latest “Arab Spring” taking place in the Middle East, this has the potential of mirroring the 1979 Iranian Revolution in its political agenda. The United States has thrown its support for the Arab Spring in the Middle East, but only time will tell where it winds up and how it will affect the United States.
As the 2008 election was rolling on, Senator Obama had very strong support from the Democratic Party, as well as key groups that helped him win the election. At this moment in time, he is losing much of the support that he had at the 2008 election…just as President Carter did. If we look at the voting blocs of Roman Catholics, Evangelists, Jews, Latinos and African-Americans, they are not supporting President Obama as they did in 2008. Once in office, President Obama has taken a less liberal approach than what he promised while campaigning.
When looking at the state of the economy in the United States today, it has pretty much flatlined. Today, the unemployment rate stands at 9%, which has consistently risen from 7.8% when President Obama took office in January 2009, but slightly down from its peak of 10% (also during his presidency). The unemployment rate today is very comparable to that of the Great Depression. August has marked the 31st consecutive month in which the unemployment rate has been above 8%.
The housing crisis is also comparable to that of the Great Depression. Prices of homes are in the same downward spiral that consumer confidence is in. Some will argue that the roots of the housing crisis can be traced back to President Jimmy Carter and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. In most recent events, President Obama is suffering from the AAA credit rating loss to the United States by the S&P, just as President Carter suffered from America's first 20 percent mortgage rate.
In the 2008 Presidential Election, Senator Barack Obama campaigned on doing away with the old way of politics. The campaign slogan was “Change we can believe in” and he stated that he would “turn the page” on the old way of doing business, much like Jimmy Carter did in 1976. However, as we are now seeing, President Obama is not as effective as he had promised and is turning out to be a disappointment to the American people due to his ineffectiveness.
President Jimmy Carter was a one-term president due to his inability to turn the United States around from a nation that was demoralized. It appears that President Obama is following in his footsteps.
President Carter had listed three reasons for his defeat in the 1980 Presidential Election. The first was the Iranian Hostage Crisis and his shortcomings on retrieving them. During the revolution in Iran that ousted the Shah of Iran, the rebels would overrun the U.S. Embassy and take American hostages. It has also become knowledge, through recently declassified CIA documents, that the CIA helped fund these rebels in the early stages of the Iranian Revolution due to the Shah falling out of favor with the American government.
The covert operation to rescue the hostages, Operation Eagle Claw, was a failure. The Iranian Hostage Crisis is still considered among many historians as the most devastating diplomatic incident in contemporary United States History.
The second reason was the division in the Democratic Party. The liberal elements within the party no longer supported President Carter, who had taken somewhat of a conservative approach to governing once he was in office. This division manifested itself when Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he was going to challenge the incumbent. This led to massive fallout within the Democratic Party. Along with this, principle voting blocs – Roman Catholics, Evangelists, Jews, Latinos and African-Americans – were no longer supporting President Carter in the 1980 Presidential Election as they did in the 1976 Presidential Election.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter appealed to many voters in the fact that he was not part of the Washington Establishment that had been in place during the JFK Assassination, RFK Assassination, Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Watergate Scandal and every other event during this timeframe that led Americans to lose faith and trust in their government. He promised that his presidency would be a departure from the old way of doing business. However, his presidency was ineffective and a disappointment.
The third and probably the most important issue was the state of the economy in the U.S. Economic events during his presidency would deal major blows to his popularity and play a major role in his defeat to Ronald Reagan. Unemployment was at 8% and inflation had risen to 20% by 1980.
President Barack Obama, although he is not dealing with a major hostage situation in the Middle East (despite the fact that three students decided to go hiking along the border of Iraq and Iran in the midst of the Iraq War) is facing the challenge of not drawing down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan quickly enough.
Although combat operations consisting of American troops are no longer taking place in Iraq, there is a presence of roughly 50,000 American troops still stationed there and still in harm’s way. During his presidency, President Obama has shifted his focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. For 9 years, the American troop count in Afghanistan never exceeded 20,000, now exceeds 100,000. Although there are drawdown dates as to when the United States will be pulling its troops out, the end result is that as we approach the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, we are still entrenched in war…war that the United States can no longer sustain.
When looking at the latest “Arab Spring” taking place in the Middle East, this has the potential of mirroring the 1979 Iranian Revolution in its political agenda. The United States has thrown its support for the Arab Spring in the Middle East, but only time will tell where it winds up and how it will affect the United States.
As the 2008 election was rolling on, Senator Obama had very strong support from the Democratic Party, as well as key groups that helped him win the election. At this moment in time, he is losing much of the support that he had at the 2008 election…just as President Carter did. If we look at the voting blocs of Roman Catholics, Evangelists, Jews, Latinos and African-Americans, they are not supporting President Obama as they did in 2008. Once in office, President Obama has taken a less liberal approach than what he promised while campaigning.
When looking at the state of the economy in the United States today, it has pretty much flatlined. Today, the unemployment rate stands at 9%, which has consistently risen from 7.8% when President Obama took office in January 2009, but slightly down from its peak of 10% (also during his presidency). The unemployment rate today is very comparable to that of the Great Depression. August has marked the 31st consecutive month in which the unemployment rate has been above 8%.
The housing crisis is also comparable to that of the Great Depression. Prices of homes are in the same downward spiral that consumer confidence is in. Some will argue that the roots of the housing crisis can be traced back to President Jimmy Carter and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. In most recent events, President Obama is suffering from the AAA credit rating loss to the United States by the S&P, just as President Carter suffered from America's first 20 percent mortgage rate.
In the 2008 Presidential Election, Senator Barack Obama campaigned on doing away with the old way of politics. The campaign slogan was “Change we can believe in” and he stated that he would “turn the page” on the old way of doing business, much like Jimmy Carter did in 1976. However, as we are now seeing, President Obama is not as effective as he had promised and is turning out to be a disappointment to the American people due to his ineffectiveness.
President Jimmy Carter was a one-term president due to his inability to turn the United States around from a nation that was demoralized. It appears that President Obama is following in his footsteps.
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