[jyl]

Carter was a good and thoughtful man who got bushwhacked by OPEC and a revolution in Iran.

He also didn't get his message in sync with the American psyche. Americans like to take the offensive, to attack rather than defend. Energy conservation could be sold as an attack on OPEC or as a defense against OPEC.

He made plenty of other mistakes too. In the end, his Presidency was not a successful one, but at least you might say he was handed his crises rather than going out and creating them.

His work post-Presidency has earned him a lot of respect, in my view.