Jimmy Carter reflects on a lifetime: "Under Trump, the government is worse than it has been before"
Exactly 39 years ago, President Jimmy Carter delivered a speech that foresaw many of the problems America faces now
MATTHEW ROZSA
JULY 15, 2018 1:00PM (UTC)
When speaking with Salon about his famous "Crisis of Confidence" speech, former President Jimmy Carter had this observation about America's current commander-in-chief, Donald Trump.
"I think that under Trump the government is worse than it has been before," Carter explained by email. "This is the first time I remember when the truth is ignored, allies are deliberately aggravated, China, Europe, Mexico and Canada are hurt economically and have to hurt us in response, Americans see the future worse than the present, and immigrants are treated cruelly."
This was probably Carter's most headline-worthy observation, but it is not the one for which he most deserves to be remembered. For that, one must look back 39 years ago — in fact, exactly 39 years ago, right down to the day — when Carter sat in front of the American people and told them that the country suffered from a crisis of confidence.
It was 10 days after Carter had been scheduled to deliver yet another speech on the energy crisis that had paralyzed the nation's economic life in the 1970s. Shortly before he was supposed to deliver that address, the president realized that the issues facing the country were much deeper than those to be found at their local gas stations. He cancelled his speech and, as he later put it, "invited to Camp David people from almost every segment of our society — business and labor, teachers and preachers, governors, mayors, and private citizens." When he was done reaching out to the American people for advice and wisdom, he went before them to discuss what he had learned. Hence the "Crisis of Confidence" speech was born.
There are many sections of this speech that hold up today, ranking it among the finest presidential oratory ever delivered. Near the beginning, when Carter anonymously quotes the people with whom he discussed America's problems (including a "Southern governor" named Bill Clinton), he includes observations that feel more heartfelt and insightful than the standard platitudes one finds in political rhetoric. As he warms to his subject, he makes it clear that while he believes he has only had "mixed success" as a president (an assessment that I have argued was far too tough on himself), he also recognizes there is a deeper problem afflicting the American people.
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https://www.salon.com/2018/07/15/jimmy-carter-reflects-on-a-lifetime-under-trump-the-government-is-worse-than-it-has-been-before/
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