Bush Could Learn From Carter
Call it a hunch, but I bet that George W. Bush doesn’t like my old boss, Jimmy Carter, very much. That doesn’t mean, however, that Bush can’t learn something important from Carter.
Defeated for reelection in 1980, Jimmy Carter left office with an approval rating of only 34%. Yet a CNN-Opinion Research poll released just two weeks ago showed that 64% of Americans now approve of the way Carter performed as President! A possible explanation of this turnaround can be found in how Jimmy Carter has managed his post-presidency.
After leaving office, Carter returned to Plains, Georgia to reflect on his time in the Oval Office, to write his memoirs, and to contemplate his future. In the process of thinking about the “what next?” question, I believe Carter came to understand that how he performed as an ex-President would shape the way history viewed his Presidency.
By employing his legendary intelligence, drive and discipline----qualities that helped propel him into office in the first place---Carter set about to use his status as a former American President to continue to make a positive difference in the world. His efforts to address poverty, disease and hunger in undeveloped countries have been relentless. His attempts to promote democratic values, free elections, peace and reconciliation have taken him to the most remote and dangerous places on earth. Along the way, Jimmy Carter has also found the time to write and speak in a manner--- and to an extent (he is the author of over 20 books!)---that helped describe and explain his Presidency, the principles upon which it was built, and his world view.
In the past several weeks, the departing President Bush and his team of operatives, led by “the architect” Karl Rove, have undertaken an elaborate “legacy project” that they hope will repair Bush’s shattered reputation with the American public. It is impossible to know, today, whether or not this latest campaign will help shape future evaluations, but as a short term strategy it has been a complete bust: a CBS/New York Times poll released on January 16 showed Bush’s approval rating stands at an historic low of 22%! The public is saying, in effect, “Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!”
Going forward, although perhaps temporarily uncomfortable, George Bush should ignore Karl Rove’s advice and instead heed Jimmy Carter’s example. In that regard, he might think about focusing his ex-Presidency on three things that many Americans---including some of us who have been critics and opponents---admire about Bush and his time in office:
• Reforming and improving American public education,
• Spreading democracy to people around the world;
• Combating AIDS in Africa.
As in the Carter model, Bush’s future endeavors will have to be sincere, genuine and consistent with his history as President; these things cannot be faked. It means sticking to a game plan even when no one is paying attention. It involves a huge amount of drudge work---raising money, hiring a staff, building an institution. It requires boldness and controversy. It demands energy, discipline, and determination.
It is entirely possible---although it won’t be easy---for George Bush to redeem himself, and to gain a measure of positive historical reviews, by having an active, strategic, successful and rewarding retirement. Bush might be able to accomplish in his post-presidency, through example and exhortation, some of what he tried to do while in office. At a minimum, like chicken soup, it can’t hurt.