Editing Jimmy Carter (section)

=== Assessments ===
When Carter left office in 1981, scholars and even many Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter's Legacy of Failure |url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Jimmy-Carter-s-Legacy-of-Failure-2483048.php<!-- also: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Jimmy-Carter-s-Legacy-of-Failure-2483048.php --> |date=December 12, 2006 |first=Cinnamon |last=Stillwell |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717125517/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Jimmy-Carter-s-Legacy-of-Failure-2483048.php |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter: Why He Failed |url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2000/01/21politics-hess |date=January 21, 2000 |publisher=Brookings Institution |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725153444/https://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2000/01/21politics-hess |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Ramesh |last=Ponnuru |title=In Carter's Shadow |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810305,00.html |magazine=Time |date=May 28, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725145652/https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810305,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Siders |first=David |date=March 13, 2019 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jimmy-carter-trump-1207385 |title=Democrats find a foil for Trump in Jimmy Carter |newspaper=[[Politico]] |access-date=September 28, 2024}}</ref> [[Betty Glad]], a [[political scientist]] at the [[University of Illinois]], summarized the public consensus on Carter: "he didn't have a well-developed political philosophy and gave people a feeling he didn't quite know where he was headed."<ref name="eftg5"/>

Historians [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|have ranked Carter's presidency]] as below average.<ref name="Jimmy Carter's Post-Presidency">{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter's Post-Presidency |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-post-presidency/ |publisher=PBS |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506081425/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-post-presidency/}}</ref>{{sfn|Brinkley|1998|pp=505–530}} After leaving office, he told allies he predicted history would be kinder to him than voters were in the 1980 election.<ref name="eftg5">[https://www.newspapers.com/article/wisconsin-state-journal-historians-rate/161375991/ Historians rate best and worst presidents]. ''[[Wisconsin State Journal]]''. January 10, 1982. Retrieved December 22, 2024.</ref> In a 1982 ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' survey, when 49 historians and scholars were asked to rank the best and worst U.S. presidents, Carter was ranked the tenth worst.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-world-presidents-rated-truman-ike/156226892/ Presidents rated: Truman, Ike near the top]. [[Chicago Tribune]]. ''The World''. February 4, 1982. Retrieved September 29, 2024.</ref> In 2006, conservative British historian [[Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia|Andrew Roberts]] ranked Carter the worst U.S. president.<ref>Roberts, Andrew (November 11, 2006). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-jimmy-carter/161333473/ Jimmy Carter]. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved December 21, 2024.</ref> Yet some of Carter's policy accomplishments have been more favorably received.<ref>Schumann, Megan (February 23, 2023). [https://www.rutgers.edu/news/jimmy-carters-legacy-rutgers-historian-reflects-39th-president Jimmy Carter's Legacy: Historian Reflects on the 39th President]. ''[[Rutgers University]]''. Retrieved December 21, 2024.</ref> The 2009 documentary ''[[Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace]]'' credits Carter's efforts at Camp David, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt, with bringing the only meaningful peace to the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gibb |first=Lindsay |url=https://realscreen.com/2009/06/08/montecarlofest-20090608/ |title=Monte-Carlo TV fest opens with doc for first time |date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=June 12, 2012 |archive-date=March 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326204832/https://realscreen.com/2009/06/08/montecarlofest-20090608/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WorldScreen.com – Archives |url=https://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/21252 |website=worldscreen.com |access-date=June 22, 2015 |url-access=subscription }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Stuart E. Eizenstat]], who served as Carter's chief White House domestic policy adviser, wrote, "Carter's accomplishments at home and abroad were more extensive and longer lasting than those of almost all modern presidents."<ref>Eizenstat, Stuart, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/12/29/stuart-eizenstat-jimmy-carter-accomplishments/ "History views Carter's legacy — and his many accomplishments — all wrong"], ''The Washington Post'', December 29, 2024.</ref>

While historians generally consider Carter a below-average president, his post-presidency activities have been universally praised, including his [[peacekeeping]] and humanitarian efforts.<ref name="Jimmy Carter's Post-Presidency" />{{sfn|Brinkley|1998|pp=505–530}} ''[[The Independent]]'' wrote in 2009, "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president."<ref name="Independent 2009-01-22">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/jimmy-carter-1482922.html |title=Jimmy Carter:39th president – 1977–1981 |work=The Independent |location=London |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223024100/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/jimmy-carter-1482922.html |url-status=live}}</ref>