Looking back, Americans today see the former president Jimmy Carter more positively than at the end of the mandate.
when Carter left office in 1981the public was divided in the assessment of his presidency and negative in his personal vision of him. Although the public regarded him as intelligent and caring, Carter suffered from a perceived lack of leadership ability, a deficiency that was especially noticeable in contrast to his Republican successor in the Oval Office, Ronald Reagan. Carter’s public approval declined as the US faced a series of economic challenges, including high inflation, high unemployment, and the 1979 energy crisis, as well as international challenges, notably the hostage crisis of Iran which began towards the end of his term. Although Carter’s failure to release hostages during his tenure looms large in the public discourse when looking back on his one term in office, polls show that it was the president’s low approval rating for doing in the face of the country’s economic challenges which ultimately could have played a role. key role in determining the outcome of his failed re-election bid.
In August 2021, before Carter entered hospice care, CBS News asked Americans to look back on Carter’s presidency and give him a net positive rating of how he handled his job. At 44%, his approval rating was the same as when he left in January 1981, but far fewer Americans gave him negative marks in 2021 than 40 years earlier. And while many younger Americans don’t have an opinion, most Americans over 50, those old enough to remember Carter’s presidency, say they approve of how he handled his job as president.
More recently, the Gallup organization asked Americans how they viewed former presidents and how they did their jobs. In June 2023, a few months after its publication Carter was receiving hospital care — 57% of Americans said they approved of how he handled his job as president.
Personal opinion of Jimmy Carter
Carter’s views personally have also improved over the years.
When Carter lost the presidency in November 1980, more voters had an unfavorable opinion of him (49%) than a favorable opinion (39%).
But in 1994, a majority of Americans said they viewed the former president favorably. When CBS News last asked about Jimmy Carter in 2021, Americans still viewed him favorably. While most younger Americans did not have an opinion either way, most Americans over fifty had a favorable opinion of him.
Job rating of President Carter while in office
Carter began his presidency with a high job approval rating, but quickly began to decline, as did assessments of his handling of the economy. Although Carter was the beneficiary of an initial rallying effect after the seizure of the US embassy in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 (his approval rating up more than 20 points in January 1980), this initial surge in public approval would not be the last, and Carter entered the fall 1980 election season with an approval rating of only the 36%
Carter received his lowest job approval rating in July 1979 at the height of the energy crisis (and just before his famous “crisis of confidence” or “malaise” speech). At the time, CBS News reported that only 26% of Americans said they approved of how he was handling his job as president, a low reached again in August 1980). This low approval rating for a president would not be reached again until the end of George W. Bush’s second term.
The 1976 presidential election
Carter headed into the final stretch of the 1976 presidential election with a slight lead over Republican President Gerald Ford. Although voters thought Ford was more of a leader, they chose Jimmy Carter as the candidate who cared more about people like them.
Economic concerns also played a role in Carter’s victory in 1976. In a national poll conducted by CBS just after the 1976 election, Americans cited unemployment and the high cost of living as the two most important problems facing the United States. When asked in November 1976 which presidential candidate they thought would have the best chance of doing a better job with the nation’s economy, more Americans chose Carter than Ford.
The Carter Presidency: Early Optimism
As Carter was about to enter the Oval Office in January 1977, seven in 10 Americans said they were optimistic about the next four years with Carter as president. Although few Americans believed it would be able to curb inflation, most believed it would restore confidence in government, make it more efficient, and reduce unemployment.
In Carter’s 100 days in April 1977, the first approval rating recorded by CBS for President Carter was 64%, the highest of his presidency (Gallup recorded a 75% approval rating a month earlier, in March 1977). Carter received net positive ratings for both his handling of the economy and foreign policy (although many Americans were unsure). Most Americans also said they liked the way he got things done: 52 percent of Americans liked his “informal” leadership style.
Economic challenges and energy crisis
Although the economy was an issue that helped Carter get elected, public confidence in his ability to handle the country’s economic problems waned as inflation and interest rates continued to rise , and by April 1978, most Americans disapproved of how Carter was handling the national economy. . Trust reached its lowest point during the energy crisis of 1979. In July 1979, 70% of Americans said they disapproved of the way Carter was handling the energy problem, and only 15% approved of how he was managing the economy in general.
Foreign policy and the Iran hostage crisis
Americans also had reservations about Carter’s handling of foreign policy in general, especially the Iran hostage crisis. Carter’s approval rating on foreign policy never exceeded 50%, and fell sharply as the hostage crisis continued into 1980, reaching a low of 18% in August of that year.
Americans rallied behind Carter at the start of the hostage crisis, and his overall approval rating rose to 52% in January 1980 (the first time in more than a year that his overall approval exceeded 50%), but support for his handling of the situation declined as the crisis remained unresolved, reaching its lowest point in June 1980.
The 1980 presidential election
Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan 51% to 41%, with third-party candidate John Anderson winning 7% of the vote.
Carter suffered from a perceived lack of leadership compared to Reagan. In a CBS News poll conducted a month before the election, registered voters were twice as likely to describe Ronald Reagan as a strong leader than they were to describe Carter that way. Carter fared better when voters assessed his intellect (more voters believed Carter understood the complicated issues facing a president than Ronald Reagan), but more voters said it was Reagan than Carter who offered a vision for the country and who had clear positions on the issues.
How much did the hostage crisis hurt Jimmy Carter?
Although Carter received low marks for his handling of the Iran crisis while in office, it was largely economic concerns that seemed to have been on the minds of voters when they elected Ronald Reagan in 1980. In the 1980 CBS News exit poll, far more voters cited economic factors such as inflation and the economy, jobs and unemployment, and balancing the federal budget as the issues that most affected the his choice for the presidency. Only 13 percent of all voters—and only 7 percent of those who voted for Ronald Reagan—specifically cited the crisis in Iran as an important factor in determining their vote choice.
After the hostages were released in January 1981—and after Carter had already lost his bid for reelection and left office—the public’s view of Carter’s handling of the Iran hostage crisis it was very positive. In January 1981, 55% of Americans said they approved of his handling of the American hostage problem in Iran. And while it was too late to help his re-election bid, many Americans seem to have given him credit for finally freeing the hostages. In January 1981, the Harris poll reported that 67% of Americans rated Carter as “excellent” or “fairly good” when it came to finally working out the deal to remove the hostages.
