While many understand the failures of the late Jimmy Carter’s presidency, he is often referred to as our “best ex-president” because of his humanitarian and diplomatic efforts following his loss to President Reagan. However, the rose-colored glasses through which many Americans view his post-presidency ignore his disastrous meddling in foreign affairs and blatant antisemitism since leaving office. Despite his humanitarian efforts, Jimmy Carter was not the elder statesman his allies alleged him to be. Rather, Carter’s true legacy is that of someone who wished to remain president without the constitutional fetters of the office, undermining his successors of both parties.
Steven Hayward is the Edward L. Gaylord Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University and a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute. He was previously a resident scholar at UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the F.K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow in Law and Economics at the American Enterprise Institute. Dr. Hayward is the author of The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry (Regnery 2004).