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Donald Trump has a lot in common with Jimmy Carter
Carter with G7 leaders. 1978. Wikimedia Commons
Some similarities between Trump and Carter are obvious. Both are political outsiders who had little support from even their own political parties as they won unlikely victories during partisan times. They both tried to position themselves as “above politics” in their purported efforts to save their fellow citizens from the nefarious plans of the opposing party. Both of them tried hard to present themselves as both victims and heroes, often at the same time. They both tended to lean on hyperbole, making absurd statements to illustrate more prosaic points. Both were hard men to like, neither one was any good at public speaking, and both served as president during tumultuous times, while the American left was rapidly surging even further to the left.
There are some clear differences, as well. Trump was extraordinarily successful in many private ventures before his pursuit of a career in politics. It’s hard to imagine Jimmy Carter holding a job in anything outside of government (I mean, just try to imagine – you can’t – Mr. Carter was born a government employee – he’s a principal of a small rural middle school or something…). Mr. Trump can seem arrogant and elitist at times, but one suspects that beneath it all he really loves America. Mr. Carter can seem down-to-earth at times, but one suspects that beneath it all he really hates America. So they could be very different, as well.
Both men had reputations as arrogant and difficult. Those who knew him best viewed Mr. Carter as an unpleasant narcissist. His own personal secretary said she never saw him smile away from the cameras, and he almost never said hello to her on his way past her desk. His friend and speech writer Patrick Anderson acknowledged that anyone who didn’t have a personality conflict with Jimmy Carter, didn’t have a personality.
Meanwhile, despite his bluster, those who know Mr. Trump best generally love him. He connects well even with people who would seem to have little in common with him. His ability to quickly befriend all sorts of people at NASCAR races or urban Mcdonald’s or whatever is remarkable.
So his support among the working classes and minorities seems unlikely. Unless you’ve actually met him, apparently. A patient of mine who worked on a few of his projects told me, “I’m from Oklahoma. I don’t like the whole loud-mouth New Yorker thing. And I HATE his politics. But I swear, you just can’t help but love the guy. He loves people. All sorts of people. And he’s as genuine as the day is long.”
Gosh – is it possible that our media has misrepresented Trump as a person? Surely not…
Jimmy Carter didn’t seem to like people. And nobody ever called him genuine. Reg Murphy, editor of the Atlanta Constitution during Carter’s years as governor, called Carter “one of the three or four phoniest men I ever met.”
So obviously, while I think they have certain things in common, there are significant differences between Trump and Carter.
On the other hand, there is one striking similarity that stands out to me:
I’m not sure I understand the ideology of either one. Mr. Carter presented himself as a pious Southern Baptist. He claimed that his political ideology arose organically from his caring personality and his devout Christianity. Thus, anyone who disagreed with him was attacking his religion or attacking him personally. He rarely debated policy – he engaged in the politics of personal destruction. Because to him, that’s all there was. What was the underlying ideology that governed his decision making? I’m really not sure.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Mr. Trump is a lifelong Democrat who governed in his first term as President as a conservative. What underlying ideology governs his decision-making? I’m not sure. Although I suspect that Mr. Trump’s apparent love for people and love for America plays a role in his decision-making, just as Mr. Carter’s apparent disdain for people and disdain for America played a role in his.
Both men are naturally combative, and much of their rhetoric can be simply categorized as “hitting back.” They hit back, against whoever hits them, at whatever time, for whatever reason. No overriding ideology or philosophy in that, for either one.
What I’m trying to say is that I suspect that Mr. Carter and Mr. Trump are both making it up as they go along. Doing whatever makes sense to them at the time. Mr. Carter governed very differently at the end of his term than he did at the beginning. And I suspect that the second Trump term is likely to be different from the first.
Such flexibility can be an advantage in a political career. And it can even lead to good outcomes. At times. Perhaps.
If all the power is on the left, and Mr. Trump instinctively hits back from the right, over and over again, that can be very helpful. Regardless of what his motivations are. Just as Mr. Biden’s lurching to the left was very unhelpful, regardless of his underlying mental state. Leftism is destructive. So hitting back against it is generally good.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn in Duma. Source: Wikimedia Commons
I trust ideology more than I trust making it up as you go along. I wish Mr. Trump understood the evil of leftism and sought to undermine its philosophical underpinnings.
And perhaps he does.
But perhaps it doesn’t matter. Perhaps he’s just a right-wing Jimmy Carter. But because he’s right-wing rather than left-wing, or perhaps simply because he genuinely likes people, his outcomes will be better than Mr. Carter’s. In spite of himself.
I view both men as symptoms of the malaise of our republic. In better times, we never would have heard of either one. Their elevation to positions of power is a sign that America has a rather serious problem.
These are interesting times.
These are not interesting leaders.
Perhaps that’s for the best.
Published in General
I think NBC was paying Trump $30 million a year for the Your Fired show.
I can’t evaluate this situation very well, but people like to go see him speak.
Have at it everybody.
Unusually fine work, Doctor, even by the standard you’ve set. Happy New Year.
I’ve decided again not to cancel my subscription.
* * *
Notes
Humour.
Subtlety.
Not just “unusually fine”. Your conclusions, which all come at the end, seem very profound to me, in addition to being uncharacteristically but fittingly unequivocal in manner of expression.
I don’t know what to say about this, but I don’t like it.
A long time ago, I decided with my relatives I’m only going to talk about public policy and it totally worked out for me. I can’t organize the rest of it in my head very well, even though it makes the Democrats look a lot worse on net.
I can’t remember Jimmy Carter even attempting to tell a joke.
Two months in, Reagan was shot in the chest. Lying on his back, with no idea how badly he might be hurt, Reagan looked up at the doctors and said “I hope all you guys are Republicans.”
Carter couldn’t imagine anyone, including himself, not taking him seriously.
Saving the world is for serious people. President Carter liked being photographed carrying his own suitcase down the steps of Air Force One. According to a Secret Service agent the suitcase was empty.
There’s a lesson there when it comes to those individuals that wish to save the world and a lesson for those that are looking for a new daddy or mommy to make all their decisions for them.
As George Orwell opened his essay on Gandhi: “All saints should be judged guilty until proven innocent.”
Holy cats what a great quote.
If someone says they’re just trying to help you, at no gain to themselves, you should not trust that person.
Interesting essay Doc. The similarities are slight other than the obvious ones you pointed out. They are both showmen, and also vindictive. Trump with his Rosie attack, which I think he learned from, and Carter with his, “bless you heart sort of payback”.
Both held grudges. They were both skilled in getting what they want. If Carter had a second term, I believe he would be better according to his own definition. Trump will also be better. To repeat the same position, they both would learn.
This discussion is moot, I love to work that word in yearly. Jimmy moved on. I highly recommend Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal. He probably didn’t have the presidency in mind when he wrote it. At the time he was a Democrat. You can get inside his head on what really bothers him, how to sidestep anyone in his way, and how to get what you want.
People say he is unpredictable. I say he is one of the most predictable politicians I have ever experienced.
Thanks Mark! Very kind of you to say.
Carter, despite the heights he actually achieved – through no real merit, I would say – seems like one of those people who thinks the world – but mostly the country – somehow owed them more than they received.
I don’t know what else he had to say about Gandhi, but I never thought Gandhi was all that brave since he was dealing with a country – the UK/England – that he didn’t really fear might just roll over him with a tank. The way China might have.
These days, with the treatment of J6ers etc, Americans might have more cause for concern than Gandhi did.
Read the essay here:
https://files.eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5497/2016/08/16121702/George-Orwell-Reflections-on-Gandhi-1.pdf
Sounds like that could be a quotation of the day:
https://ricochet.com/1761347/january-2025-quote-of-the-day-signup-sheet/
Sign up today.
People say Trump lies, but those people ignore the church he grew up in. He isn’t lying, he is affirming. And leftists don’t know enough about Spirit to know the difference.
This is all just sill mind reading. Jimmy Carter served our country in the United States Navy which is something Republicans used to admire about a person. He was also smart enough to become a nuclear physicist. I think he would have done just fine in the private sector. The only thing we know was in his heart was lust which he never acted out on, unlike Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump loves Donald Trump more than anything else.
That doesn’t explain why he would sacrifice so much money and leisure etc for what he’s been going through the last several years.
What? He had a BS in engineering and courses as a reactor operator in the Navy. That is nowhere near being a nuclear physicist. I’m sure he was a pretty smart guy as most engineers are. (Don’t tell @gldiii or @percival I said that.) But nuclear physicist is at least one magnitude higher.
He did. He took on the peanut farming business and went from severe difficulties to success.
Nicely shilled!
And I’m not even the one running it.
This rings true . . .
The word that best describes Carter is too vulgar for Ricochet, so “unpleasant narcissist” will have to do. Every citizen of the U.S. paid for Carter’s ostentatious virtue, and we’re still paying.
I wondered if someone would challenge that. He left the Navy when his father died, and indeed took on the family business. Unlike Trump, he didn’t file bankruptcy either.
Trump brought three businesses to the bankruptcy court. Most of his money, by the way, was made licensing his name. A lot of the hotels that bear his name were sold, and he no longer owns.
Obviously, he’s still rich, but he’s not as good a businessman as he likes to brag he is.
Got to appreciate Orwell, the writer.
Sorry. The media and Democrats loved to describe him this way. But it is inaccurate.
Jimmy Carter was not a nuclear physicist. He served as a surface warfare officer on a nuclear-powered submarine in the US Navy.
One of our friends, an Air Force veteran, was a Secret Service Agent for Jimmy Carter during his presidency. She had very unkind things to say about his personality that she had to deal with on the job.
He was not a Surface Warfare Officer, he was a Submarine Officer and served as such aboard two non-nuclear boats, the USS Pomfret SS-391 and the USS Barracuda while she was designated SSK-1. Slated to join the pre-construction USS Seawolf SSN-575, he was transferred to the inactive reserve on humanitarian grounds following the death of his father and never served aboard a nuke boat.
Right. He started a 6 month course about nuclear submarines, but didn’t finish it because of the death of his father.
I had no idea about any of this. I hate the media and everybody else that is responsible.
I have to disagree. I believe Trump is a good businessman. He’s not afraid to take risks, which by their nature, can fail. Selling products based on name recognition is nothing new. I’m one of the few people who actually liked Billy Beer . . .
I know people like to make fun of Trump wine, but the winery still exists, run by Eric. And look at how Trump is capitalizing on the “Fight! Fight! Fight!” theme . . .
Aside: I should come out with a line of Stad products, starting with Stad Beer. I borrowed this slogan from an old beer commercial:
Stad Beer – If you want a beer real bad, we have a real bad beer!
Apparently, Surface Warfare Officer and service on the Sea Wolf are more misrepresentations of his duties and experience.
But still – not a nuclear physicist.
Wonder how they would describe Paul Tibbets (pilot of the Enola Gay)?