And to add to what Scott in South Texas just said, Putin's Russia seems to be bringing back the Cold War and Soviet-style foreign policy while we're busy in Iraq and other places involved in the "War on Terror."

Pres. Carter was probably the nicest person to sit in the whitehouse. Unfortunately, being nice does not translate into being a good leader. His term was mediocre at best. After reading some posts here, it is easy to see why the latest poll showed Fox news viewers were only 2 degrees above incompetent. Ronnie lowered our taxes from 70% to 28%? You folks must make a lot more than I ever did, because I never paid 70%.

IMHO We as gas guzzelers will never reform until it is financially necessary so bring on the high prices. That is the only way to make the average fuel consumer get out of his gas guzzeling SUV. No amount of Presidential or Congressional influence will do it. Although, the 55mph law did help. Hmmm! Now I wonder who did that 55mph thing.

Amy if you honestly think all Reagan did was stand by a podium and ask that the wall be torn down then quite honestly you are the one living in a fantasy world. If you are unable to comprehend what history has recorded then that's something else all together. Unlike you I can accept what's real and what's not despite my political affiliation. I never said Carter was a bad person or didn't accomplish anything good. Carter has accomplished a lot of good namely Habitat for Humanity I've had the privilege of working on several Habitat homes and Carter's heart I believe for the most part is in the right place even though the end results don't often correlate with what he was trying to do. I just think that he was a terrible President and in his book (which I’ve read) I feel that he distorted some of the facts history has already recorded and there was to me an underlying state of anti-Semitism. The difference between people like you and me is very simple, you see only what you want in people because you have a hate for the other side, doesn't matter how great the accomplishment you already have a pre-determined mindset which is obvious by your take on Reagan. I on the other hand am willing to give the majority of people a chance regardless of their political beliefs unlike liberals who ask that we do as they say not as they do, hence the moniker Thank God I'm not a liberal weenie. That being said there are liberals I that I like even though we disagree on a great many things. I have many liberal friends who I refer to as liberal weenies and they respond in kind conservative weenie. We have great debates but I think the biggest difference I’ve noticed is that if one of our leaders has accomplished something good we don’t try to water it down and dilute it we both recognize the good (and defiantly the bad) that can come from both sides. The point is we have history that clearly defines what has already happened we can choose to ignore it (and be ignorant to what’s actually happened in our world) or we can choose to acknowledge it (and have a greater understanding of what’s actually going on in our world). I form my opinions based on what we already know what history has shown as actual events or happenings and the outcome it produced. I don’t look at what I want to believe or wish was true just because I don’t always agree with the other side or think I'm right when history says I'm not.

Jimmy Carter may not have been the greatest president this country has ever seen but he surely has made up for any presidential shortcomings after he left office. Just wish he would quit coming up with his off the wall statements though.

Jimmy Carter is not a moron. Did you see his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004? Wow, very biting and very accurate critique of the bone-headedness of the Geo. W. Bush Presidency. Carter may not have been a good, effective President, but he's certainly not a moron. I think his proposal on breaking the country up into regions that get to "take turn" going first makes a lot of sense. Why should we feel obligated to have the primaries fall the same way forever? Just because that's the way we've always done it? Well, that reason is not good enough. Kudos to Carter for having the guts to say it in Iowa.

Carter probably has a lot to thank in regards to Iowa being the first state to hold a primary as it helped launch the southern farmer/politician/nuclear submarine captain/govenor on his way to the Presidency. Left with an economy that was demolished by the Vietnam War, Carter rapidly "earned" a bad name - which he furthered by making some weak foriegn policy decisions (that were moral above practicle, as opposed to the current amoral and impracticle). I don't generally comment on these forums as I see lots of people bad-mouthing others instead of trying to make any kind of valid point. The 'ease' of negativity is alive and well.

Peeps, you give WI a bad name.

Hey Peeps, lighten up. Your praise of Reagan is a little exaggerated and over the top. Reagan was a good President. No doubt. But, so was Bill Clinton; so was John Kennedy and so was Lyndon Johnson. Reagan deserves a lot of credit for what he did, but be careful. Looking back with nostalgia has a way of allowing our minds to recall things as being more grand and wonderful than they actually were.

Mr.Thank God, and what did Reagan specifically do that caused the Soviet Union to crumble? I mean, besides coexisting in the same time period as Gorbechav.

Dogbreth - glad to be out of that liberal hell-hole.

I remember Jimmy Carter. All the people out of work, brought to his knees by Iran. Me sitting in a gas line at 6 in the morning once a week to fill up my gas tank based on the last number of my license plate.Not exactly the brightest star on the planet. To bring him back reminds me of the days when it took a man like Ronald Wilson Reagan to save the country from idiots like Jimmy peanut. Bill Conton taught me a lot about how to use your power to seduce a woman in the oval office. Also, what kind of cigar to use and the definition of the word "is".

Peeps, we have a similar background. My father was with the Corp of Engineers and my grandfather was a railroad engineer. The arguments were very entertaining. Dad thought we should all work for a living, save our money, have no debt and be personally responsible (Republican). Granddad thought we should give it all away to the needy and worshipped Roosevelt, the union and WPA (Democrat). I will add that Granddad worked for the railroad in its heyday and was living large. I thought Dad had the better argument hence my political leanings. Mom voted for Democrats because she wanted to cancel Dad's vote and that was also not a good argument. Through the years I have watched the conventions closely and can honestly say that Democrats are a mostly vindictive backbiting sort and Republicans try to keep it clean. I see no reason to change since the parties have not changed. This venue is a reinforcement of that opinion since most of the name-calling and vicious insults are done by the left leaning contributors. When that changes I may reconsider.

Well Peeps, the way you describe feeling while Reagan was President is how I felt when Clinton was in the White House. Interesting, isn't it? My father was a Rockefeller type Republican. My mother perpetually mourned the defeat of Wendel Wilkie and later nursed an inexplicable hatred of JFK. I grew up during the corrupt Nixon years and consequently identified with Democrats from that time forward. The first President I voted for, however, was Ford, because I liked him and I didn't trust Carter's big smile. I grew to love Jimmy Carter, though, because I agreed with his values: primarily, he resisted starting a war with Iran over the hostages against the wishes of stupider Americans. Then came the Reagan years. He seemed to believe that his job was to enrich the top 1% while perfecting a smug chuckle. I didn't like him. Then I supported Tsongas in the Democratic primary that Clinton, another big smile Southerner I didn't trust, won. Suddenly, bada bing! we had a President who had Carter's values and Roosevelt's smarts. The economy boomed, opportunities grew, I had a President who worked for all the people, not just the rich, and who was tough without being stupid. Sadly...you know the rest....eight years of the worst President in American history and I have no idea who to support next, but I'm leaning towards Edwards or Obama.

Amy Here's a statement from Gorbachev during a session of the Politburo in October 1986, days before he traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland to offer Reagan a groundbreaking disarmament plan, including a 50 percent reduction in nuclear arsenals. "[W]e will be pulled into an arms race that is beyond our capabilities, and we will lose it because we are at the limit of our capabilities. … If the new round [of an arms race] begins, the pressures on our economy will be unbelievable". How did we get there you ask? Simple Reagan's strategy was to start an arms race he knew that a capitalist society (like the US) had the power to overwhelm a socialist communist regime. At the end of the day the USSR just couldn't compete with American ingenuity and the fact that we had more to spend because of the capitalist society we lived in. Reagan simply put bankrupted the Soviet Union effectively ending the Cold War with out firing a shot. But Amy that’s just the tip of the ice-burg there is so much more to what Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Margaret Thatcher did as a unified front to help bring down this regime. I don’t know if you were old enough to remember any of this but the USSR was a real threat to not only the US but the world. Their goal was world domination in the form of communist rule. I really don’t have much more time for a history lesson I would say if you’re really interested in learning the truth go to the library or look it up online. Make sure you look at the documented facts not a journalist’s opinion they will usually state that it’s an opinion before they try to discredit Reagan. The truth is out there but you need to ask yourself if you’re willing to accept it. I don’t expect nor do I wish to change your political affiliation I would just hope that you are willing to accept Reagan for what he was…one of the greatest American Presidents (and there is a list of others Lincoln, Washington, Kennedy, Roosevelt no name a few) that we’ve ever had. Try to understand without partisanship some of his remarkable accomplishments. Not sure if you were aware of this but after Reagan won the Presidency for the first time in 1980 he didn’t want to leave California and Rancho Del Cielo, he was very aware of the gravity of holding the office of President he knew how difficult the journey was going to be. He had enough money that he could have stayed away and led a comfortable life away from politics at his ranch but he knew America needed change at the time we were a lost nation. Nancy had to get the Secret Service get him to leave, I don’t know about you but with all of the power hungry politicians we have in our country that spoke volumes to me about what a great man he truly was any one of our leaders today would have (and have been) in the White House while the chair in the Oval Office was still warm. We were lucky to have him lead our nation and he couldn’t have come at a better time in our history.

Amy the best thing Clinton did was leave Reagan's economic policies in place Clinton inhereted a great economy from the Reagan years. BTW I supported getting our fellow citizens out of Iran while Carter stood by and did nothing as soon as Reagan took office they handed us back our people...well most of them just not the ones they killed on Carter's watch. If that makes me a 'stupider' American for wanting my fellow citizens to be safe then I'll gladly take on that title. FYI I'm not in the top 1% never was not even close but he made a difference in my life after Carter was out and about 2 years into Reagans Presidency I had a better job my interest rate on my home went down when we refinanced oh and I didn't have to wait in line for gas. Amazing what 'stupider' Americans can do when they vote in the right guy.

Amy - It's amazing how two people can view the same person so differently. Guess we're all just products of our environment. Hell, I had no choice. My 5th grade class picture shows me wearing a "Nixon '72" button (election day that year coincided with picture day). My dad stuck the button on my shirt that morning before school and told me NOT to take it off.

"This venue is a reinforcement of that opinion since most of the name-calling and vicious insults are done by the left leaning contributors." You need to start reading ALL the postings, because what you say is simply not true. May I point out the "Thank God I'm not a liberal weenie" clown? or "Liberal hell-hole"?

Lee, I qualified that remark. I did not say all. Now I will really date myself by saying the decisive moment in my political sway came during the Stevenson-Kefauver vs Eisenhower-Nixon election run in 1956. I was just a pup then and probably listened to every word. There was a very distinct difference in how those campaigns were conducted.

Well Mark, I agreed with Carter's decision not to take military action against Iran, which would have resulted in the deaths of those hostages and a whole lot of Iranians. If one's objective is to save the hostages, then wouldn't you agree that an action that would result in getting them killed would be "stupid?" Khomeni waited till after the election to release the hostages to spite Carter, and because there was no longer a point to holding them. Nothing Reagan did resulted in that outcome.

We might be on to something. Seems like one of the major political influences come from an admired family member.

Maybe releasing the hostages - in part - was to spite Carter, but more likely the reason was they knew Reagan would bomb them back into the stone age.

Doesn't anyone remember the failed attempt under the Carter administration at rescuing the hostages? It was a miserable failure with helicopter crashes in the desert and participants dead and Iran still uses our left behind helicopters in their navy. Nobody every dreamed that there would be a sand storm in the desert - daa! This was one of the primary reasons Carter was not reelected.

Peeps finally I understand -- Daddy stuck a Bush button on your shirt and told you not to take it off -- just joking, not trying to be mean. By the way here is what Wikipedia says about the Iranian hostage release; no mention of Ronald Reagan. "The Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981, were brokered by the Algerian government between the USA and Iran to resolve the situation that arose by the capture of American citizens in the American embassy in Tehran. By this accord the American citizens were set free. The US chief negotiator was then Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher."

Good point, Peeps. Then Reagan, et al paid Saddam Hussein to use chemical weapons on the Iranians for the next eight years.

Well said Peeps that is all those people understand and luckily unlike Carter and apparently Amy it's what Reagan knew as well. The Iranian's knew Carter was weak and they took advantage of him. Amy's trying to rationalize hatred...I guess we're trying to do the same with her hatred for the right can't be done she'll never agree that Reagan was a great President because she and others on the left are too blinded by hatred. So even though I know they don't wish America ill will they do empathize with our enemy because they all have something in common they all have a blind hate despite what history tells us.

I agree with Peeps Amy you can justify it any way you want but it's obvious Carter was never going to figure it out Iran knew that and Reagan knew that. Especially because before Reagan even got into the Wwhite House he said he wouldn't stand for them holding our citizens hostage. Iran knew they were screwed once Reagan took oath. Do you really think they gave a d--n about Carter? If they did why didn't they release the hostages to him in the first place.

Florida Fox, I remember that the military planned the rescue attempt, executed it according the their plan, and then experienced disastrous results (what Clauswitz called "friction"). Carter was blamed, but I don't recall hearing or reading anywhere that he specified the details of the plan.

Thanks, FlA Fox. As it happens, I was in strong agreement with a lot of what you posted here, except the comment I commented on, and the notion that Jimmy Carter controls the weather in Iran. That was simply a tragedy.

Scott: O.K., you're right: I was using the generic term "Russia", when the more accutate label I should have used was USSR(CCCP): didn't think anyone would notice.

Well, just as today we blame the President for all military errors, they blamed Carter for the failure of that mission. History is bound to repeat itself.

Lee, Carter didn't control the weather. The planners failed to include that possible event in their planning. What I said was Carter got blamed for the failure of the mission. Much like our current administration is blamed for mission failures.

Not so fast Florida Fox. Presidents ought to be held accountable for policy decisions but its ridiculous to blame them for one single mission failure. Bush's policies have caused the lose of many helicopters, and pilots, and service people and made us look weak in the eyes of our enemies. Carter resisted the pressure to bomb Iran, thus saving the lives of an untold number of people. Reagan bolstered Saddam Hussein, in a policy that he should be judged by.

You know what I remember? The gas lines were before 1976, the year Carter was elected. I know this because I was in college when we had the gas lines, and it was before 1976.

Yeah Amy we should judge Reagan for helping to fund Iraq & Afgan to help them in their fight against the former Soviet Union. As I've said before no one knew how much of a threat we faced until 9-11. What Reagan did was stop the single greatest threat (of that time) to America and the world and as such he is judged by that. Carter well even the Democrats know he was a lousy President so nuff said. Amy if you think any different you are simply dillusional.

Reagan was a fantasist, playing President and riding the winds of his time. Jimmy Carter was too awake for the American people. Many people prefer fantasy over reality. Carter tried to get Americans to grapple with reality but they preferred to believe in Rambo, Dynasty and Donald Trump. Carter has spent his career monitoring elections in fledgling democracies, grabbling with issues regarding the middleeast, and spearheading the eradication of diseases in Africa. He has engaged in life rather than floating above the world like a Macy's Day balloon. If you prefer your Reagan fantasy, fine for you, I admire people who make an effort in the real world.

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