Jimmy Carter: The highs and lows of his presidency

Former President Jimmy Carter — who died in his hometown of Plains, Ga., on Sunday — was reviled by Republicans and ridiculed by essentially everyone else after he left office in 1981.

But in recent years, Carter’s one-term presidency has been reevaluated, and a more balanced view of his time in office has emerged.

Here are the highs and lows of the time in office of the nation’s 39th president.

High: The Panama Canal Treaty

Panamanian resentment of a U.S. presence was destabilizing Central America in the 1960s and 1970s, a threat to U.S. soldiers stationed there, and hurtful to the United States' status in the region.

Meanwhile, Republicans like former California Gov. Ronald Reagan — before he ran for president in 1980 — were criticizing Carter for negotiating a treaty to give the territory back to Panama.

Carter was criticized by Republicans for pushing the treaty through, but got the deal done.

Low: Inflation

Carter took office in 1977 with inflation cooling down to around 6%, down from a very problematic 12% a few years earlier. But then in 1979, it took off again, taking the price of goods and borrowing along with it.

By the end of 1979, inflation was at 13%, and by 1980, interest rates for a car or home loan were around 19%. It was a brutal burden on the middle class and working poor, and Carter could not get it under control.

Carter’s appointment of Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve, in 1979, is credited with bringing down inflation over the next few years. However, high inflation was one reason American voters were ready to switch presidents in 1980.

High: The Camp David Middle East peace deal

In the fall of 1978, Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin together at Camp David, in the hills of northern Maryland. Their two countries had gone to war twice in the previous decade, and Egypt did not recognize Israel’s right to exist.

For 13 days in September 1978, Carter kept the leaders of Israel and Egypt at Camp David, even as the American president’s own domestic challenges mounted. At the end of this time, through dogged persistence, Carter managed to get Sadat and Begin to sign a peace agreement that has endured to this day, nearly half a century later.

Low: The energy crisis and the ‘malaise’ speech

In addition to high prices for groceries and bank loans, foreign conflicts created a strain on the U.S. oil supply, and Americans grew panicky about their ability to fill up their cars. They stocked up on so much gas that filling stations ran out. Lines of cars formed. Rationing plans were implemented. People got angry and even violent. There were shootings, and stabbings, and even a mass riot in Levittown, Pa., in late June of 1979.

Carter, in early July, disappeared inside the presidential retreat at Camp David. He took meetings with all kinds of American leaders and citizens for 10 days, and then gave a speech to the nation on July 15, 1979, which was initially hailed by pundits as a stroke of brilliance.

But Carter squandered his momentum when he asked for the resignations of his entire Cabinet two days after the speech and accepted five of them. Carter’s advisers told him it would be a show of strength, but instead it was interpreted as a sign of panic. Carter’s address came to be known as the “malaise” speech, even though he’d never uttered the word.

High: Diversifying the federal judiciary

Carter was from the Deep South, and had run a campaign for Georgia governor in 1970 that appealed to white supremacist factions in that state. But once in office, he increased the racial diversity of Georgia’s government workforce.

And as president, Carter greatly increased the number of women and minorities in federal judgeships. It has been hailed in recent years as one of his greatest accomplishments.

Low: The Iran hostage crisis

On Nov. 4, 1979, supporters of Iran’s Islamist government in Tehran seized the U.S. Embassy and took more than 50 Americans hostage. Carter resisted the impulse to go to war with Iran, and tried to resolve the crisis peacefully.

He did eventually authorize a military attempt to rescue the hostages in April of 1980, but that backfired: A U.S. military helicopter collided with a U.S. transport plane during the operation, killing eight American soldiers and injuring four others.

Carter was unable to get most of the hostages released during his presidency (13 were released during his time in office), despite his frantic efforts after he lost the 1980 election to Reagan. The hostages were released minutes after Reagan was inaugurated, thanks in large part to the efforts of Carter and his administration.

High: Fighting for human rights

For all the critiques of Carter as weak, he increased the U.S. defense budget. This is one reason Carter has been credited by top defense officials with hastening the demise of the Soviet Union, because its attempts to keep pace put the communist regime on the road to insolvency.

The other reason some give Carter credit for helping to bring down the Soviet Union is that he made human rights the centerpiece of his foreign policy. This challenged “the legitimacy of the Soviet government,” according to Robert Gates, who served as defense secretary for President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush. Carter’s focus on human rights also greatly improved U.S. prestige abroad.

Low: The ‘killer rabbit’

In the spring of 1979, Carter told White House press secretary Jody Powell a story about how, several days before, he’d swatted an animal away from his canoe while fishing in a pond on his farm in Georgia. Months later, Powell passed the story on to a reporter with the Associated Press, who wrote what Powell called a “lighthearted” piece about the encounter.

But the Washington Post turned it into a front-page scandal of sorts, headlining its article “President attacked by rabbit.” The major TV networks ran with the story as well. And although no photo of the incident was provided at the time (it was released years later), the silly incident helped solidify the caricature of a weak president.