Early assessments of Jimmy Carter’s presidency started from the premise that it had “failed,” where failure was defined in electoral terms. Indeed, if the voters in a single election are considered the first and ultimate arbiters of presidential success, then there can be no disputing the notion that Carter failed; after all, we lost our reelection bid to Ronald Reagan in 1980 by a lopsided margin in the electoral college (the popular vote was not nearly as one sided, and it was further complicated by the independent candidacy of John Anderson, whose support came largely at Carter’s expense).
However, a different consensus begins to emerge if the 1980 defeat is put in a larger context—if it is understood that Jimmy Carter knowingly imperiled his own presidency by the stands and actions he took. A vivid example of that character trait was President Carter’s decision in the summer of 1979 to appoint Paul Volker chairman of the Federal Reserve. By then it was clear that Carter might well be facing a challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination the next year from Massachusetts’ Senator Edward Kennedy; and it was obvious that Kennedy could only come at us from the left in such an intraparty fight. Carter knew that Volker would be a fierce hawk on monetary policy—that he would insist on high interest rates to squeeze inflation out of the economy. The result would be some tough times for businesses and consumers, and negative political fallout was assured. But Carter also believed that over the long term Volker and his tight-money approach would be beneficial to the country. History proved both Carter and Volker right, but it came at a huge political cost; although Carter triumphed over Kennedy at the convention, the so-called “misery index” helped defeat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 general election.
Almost without exception, Jimmy Carter was determined to do what was right or necessary despite the political downsides; those on his staff learned quickly not to try to persuade him to adopt one policy option over another based on political arguments.