Carter Unsuccessful Re-Election 1980’s Essay

Why was Carter unsuccessful in his attempt to secure re-election in 1980? Jimmy Carter was the first elected President in half a century who failed to win a second term. His election in 1976 was set during the period of time when people had lost their faith in the presidency. After Nixon’s humiliation considering Watergate scandal and Ford’s simplistic and unenthusiastic govern, people were looking for someone outside Washington’s corruption. Carter seemed a perfect decision , governor of a small state, he appealed to people as the best solution. Nevertheless, as they got what they wanted it turned out to be wrong. They got a person from the outside that had no idea how Washington worked. People believed he was error prone and inexperienced. Carter soon became a joke and was criticized by the society that was not willing to give their votes for his re-election. Carter made several crucial mistakes during his power. From the beginning of his presidency he was accused of micro-management. This was one of his strategic errors, he tried to do too much too quickly and paid attention to small details forgetting the big picture and failing to grasp the complexity of the plans that he proposed. It is said that he managed the rota for the White House personally. An NSC member said: â€Å"If Carter saw a problem he wanted to solve it, and there was all there was to it – no prioritizations†. His short sight pushed the voters away. People were not eager to vote for someone who would get absorbed in small things, rather than looking at serious problems like inflation, which Carter had inherited. His other mistake was rejecting all the help, including Congress’s. Carter had originally run on an anti- Washington platform, of course that was the reason he got elected; nevertheless it is hard to run a country when you have tension between the President and Congress. Therefore Carter never developed a solid base of supporters on Capitol Hill. Speaker Tip O’Neil was willing to help, however Carter who said that he had been a governor and knew how to deal with legislation rejected his proposal. Carter’s poor communication with Congress got him nowhere. Carter failed to get cooperation from Congress to pass certain legislations, such as his energy program. Americans understood that a stubborn President wouldn’t bring any good to the country; Carter’s personal loyalties made voters doubt his wisdom and retrieve their votes for someone better. His other failure overshadowed everything that he has done as a president. The â€Å"Billygate† scandal had harmed Carters reputation and even lowered his chances of being re-elected. He won his first election in 1976 because people thought he was unaffected by Washington’s corruption, however this scandal highlighted Carters use of presidential power in his own benefit. Carter’s older brother Billy was a redneck; who, in July 1980, registered as a foreign agent and received a $220,000 loan from the Libyan government. It raised a political storm and later on through the investigation it was revealed that Carter used Billy’s Libyan contacts to free the Iranian hostages. President Carter was accused of nepotism however public decided that he was incompetent rather than corrupt but this scandal cost Carter his popularity rating and votes. Nonetheless, some of the negative events that occurred during Carters presidency were not his fault yet he got the blame. A first example would be the energy crises, which was beyond Carters control. Increase of car use, one harsh winter and poor relationship with Middle East were the reason for it, but still Carter was accused. Carter attempted to propose energy legislation, however Congress changed it beyond recognition. The only conclusion was to raise the price for the fuel but people were unwilling to go that far. Voters were unimpressed by the President’s handling of this situation, which soon got even worse and caused even more dissatisfaction from people. The second example is the economy, which was the problem throughout Carter’s presidency yet was a mere question of luck. He inherited inflation, unemployment and rising aging population. 63 per cent of the Americans believed that inflation was their greatest concern yet Carter was not managing it; only 32 per cent approved of his actions. The unemployment was rising to 8.2 million and businesses feared that Carter’s energy proposal would damage the industry. Carter did not know how to handle these types of situation; being all his life a governor of small Georgia he now faced a major crisis. Carter was at the top and therefore blamed, he was simply unlucky. Yet this blame and dissatisfaction cost him votes. Carter also displeased the voters with the way he handled foreign policy. As a President, Carter decided that it was morally right to give Panama Canal over to Panama. He did it with little resistance, which displeased voters and Congress. His other mistake was accepting 125,000 Cuban refugees who were dissatisfied with Communist regime, although March 1980 Refugee Act said that no more than 19,000 were allowed to enter. It was morally right to let the people in and perhaps he would have been accused if he closed the doors for them, yet politics sometimes tend to forget about moral rules in times of crisis. With inflation and unemployment, new citizens were only burdens and caused further disagreement with Carter’s way of running the country. His final concern that had taken all Carter’s attention until his last day as a President was the 60 American hostages in Iran. Many Americans felt powerless and 50 per cent of them thought Carter was too soft with Iran. Carter had a choice; either to take hostages back with violence or with negotiation. He chose a more diplomatic way not wanting to risk lives, however back than people disapproved of this act. When finally Carter agreed on the rescue mission, helicopters that were sent into Iran failed. Eight Americans died, one helicopter was lost in sand storm another failed and set the others on fire. Technical and weather problems were not Carter’s fault yet his failed rescue mission caused Carter’s defeat and helped Republican to use the hostage crisis for votes. The final reason for Carters defeat was his opposition. Ronald Reagan was underestimated by Carter, yet adored by the people. The way he presented himself was the way a true President had to be. His lighthearted jokes and charisma made him come across warmer to voters than Carter. Reagan’s rhetorical question â€Å"is America better off than it was four years ago?† was highly effective and the polls showed that he won the debate. Back in 1980, people believed that Carter was one of the worst presidents they had, yet as the years past people began to justify his acts. He was not great but he did what he could, he was just unlucky. His failures were because Washington was unknown to him and he did things how he usually used to do the back in his state. His big mistake was â€Å"Billygate† and economical crisis, which was not under his control. Reagan compared to Carter presented a true picture of successful presidency. Unfortunately Carter was not what people wanted and some of his failed actions cost him his re-election.