The Carter Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era

Rating:
Summary: Repetitive and Wandering
Review: After reading books on Reagan and Bush published by University of Press Kansas I had higher expectations than what this book delivered. It is actually written by several people with Fink and Graham editing. This causes several problems, the worst of which is repetition. Fink and Graham frame the major issues at the beginning of the book, and the contributors spend half of the rest of the book repeating what was already written. Also, none of the contributors were actually close enough to the source to offer interesting insight--most of the book seemed to be sourced from the AP. Ironically, the book suffered from many of the same problems as the Carter administration: too many people too distanced from the subject trying to be too objective and never delivering on clear goals. These sort of topical overviews are better handled by one author.

Rating:
Summary: A third rate President and nothing more...
Review: Jimmy Carter must be ranked among our weakest and most ineffectual modern Presidents, and this book fails to take a truly critical examination of Carter and his failed domestic and foreign policies. Upon entering office, Jimmy Carter slashed our military budget and tried to cozy up to the Soviets. Their response was to invade several countries, mainly through their proxies. When the Soviets marched into Afghanistan, Carter's response was to withdraw from the Olympics. After the US embassy was taken over in Iran, Carter tried to appease the Iranians, and then launched a failed and inept rescue mission, which epitomizes Carter's foreign and military record. On the domestic front, it wasn't much better. Energy prices skyrocketed, inflation was rampant, and taxation rose, along with interest rates. Carter's response was to create more government entitlement programs, and accuse the citizenry of malaise. Very, very little was accomplished during the Carter years, as he was a weak, highly flawed little man out of his element on the world stage.