It's true there were lines in both administrations. The price spikes in the late 70's and early 80's (Carter's time) are still the highs.
I found this interesting reminisce of Carter.
He remembers sitting in the Oval Office as President, spinning the globe until his finger found Moscow, trying to feel what Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev felt: the frozen ocean to the north; no ocean at all to the east, south and west; two enemies, NATO and China, on his flanks. "It helped me to understand Brezhnev," he says, "just like it helps me now before I go see Kim Il Sung or President al-Bashir of Sudan. The difference is, I can do it with much more ease now, because it almost works against you to think that way as President. A President isn't in a position to sacrifice his country's interests and commit the act of selfless love. It's like what [theologian] Reinhold Niebuhr said: The highest calling of a human being is unselfish love--to love without being loved back, without any self-interest . . . but the highest calling of a society is justice. It wouldn't have been possible as President to exercise unselfish love. I couldn't make that sacrifice as the leader of a nation. But as an individual, in my role now, I can do it."
Yeah, sure, just an individual. |
