Jonathan Alter: Jimmy Carter ‘Was a Much Better President Than People Recognize’

EXCERPT:

ALTER: “And so I think it's important to look at him beyond this easy short-hand that you see everywhere, you know, mediocre president/great former president. Actually, that cliché is only half true. He was an inspirational former president who redefined that role, as Joe Biden said yesterday. But he was a much better president than people recognize. He’s not going to go on Mount Rushmore, but he was in many ways a visionary American president who put a lot of points on the board for the environment, with his domestic legislation and other areas, and internationally even beyond Camp David, the Panama Canal treaties, his human rights policy, normalization of relations with China, even bringing the hostages home safely. The foreign policy effort of Jimmy Carter is much undervalued and I think there's a long overdue appraisal underway of his presidency."