Looking back on the Carter era from a present day perspective, it is astonishing to see how on point both of them were not only for THAT time, but for THIS time in America as well. One example for each.

Jimmy Carter was a nuclear engineer for the Navy and understood a great deal about energy. Despite that background and presumed bias towards nuclear power, his administration made significant efforts to boost SOLAR energy, to the point of having solar cells installed on the White House to demonstrate a committment to lessening American depdendence certainly on MIDEAST oil (thereby funding many of the world's biggest problems) but ANY oil in general.

Rosalynn Carter was instrumental in opening public dialogue about mental health (following the equally valuable work Betty Ford did for drug addiction) and was key to getting a major funding package enacted in 1980 to expand mental health resources at the community level across the country.

Within a year of taking office, Ronald Reagan decimated the mental health spending approved in 1980 and had the solar panels removed and served as big oil's lap dog for eight years. What are the biggest problems facing America right now? Global warming from fossil fuels, terrorism funded in large part by oil money flowing into authoritarian and/or fundamentalist regimes and a US population struggling with addictions often stemming from lower-level, unaddressed mental health issues, while enjoying unfettered access to automatic assault weapons.

The trajectory of the United States would be arguably, exponentially better had Carter been re-elected in 1980.


WTH