January 20, 1977: Jimmy Carter is inaugurated

[Minstrel Boy]

President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter walk down Pennsylvania Avenue:



From Carter's inaugural speech:

You have given me a great responsibility--to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are. Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust. Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.

Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the right.

...

Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our Nation, for we know that if we despise our own government we have no future. We recall in special times when we have stood briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times no prize was beyond our grasp.

But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. We cannot afford to drift. We reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality of life for any person. Our Government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.

...

We have learned that "more" is not necessarily "better," that even our great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future. So, together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/carter.htm

From The Washington Post:

"The last attempt to downscale the balls came in the post-Watergate era of Jimmy Carter. The entire inauguration was anti-glitz; Carter renamed the balls "parties," declared that no ticket could cost more than $25, and served pretzels and peanuts. It was a resounding public relations disaster. It took -- who else? -- a former actor to bring panache back to the event. Ronald Reagan...."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63420-2001Jan15_2.html

[MsTryska]

1. So this assface rolls down the ave in what is for all practical purposes

the pope-mobile, and we're the elitists?


he doens't want catch our cooties apparently.

[wicket]

2. God bless Jimmy Carter

n/t

[Historic NY]

6. Amen.................n/t

[Jo March]

3. Jimmy Carter = class

* = ass

[fob]

15. Seconded

[Feathered Fish]

4. I wonder how things would be different

if Jimmy Carter was elected to a second term? We would probably all be in a much better frame of mind.

[Minstrel Boy]

9. And that was another one they stole.

Real History Archive: The October Surprise

[Feathered Fish]

13. Thanks

That site is comprehensive. I have a feeling I'll be stuck there for a while.

[diamond14]

5. President William J. Clinton ALSO walked Pennsylvania Avenue

[seemslikeadream]

7. Thanks MB

[grumpy old fart]

8. Now that was a true Christian President.....

Not like the Talibush faux Christian war mongering, lying, homophobic, ethnocentric, pompous a-hole being sworn in today......

[wicket]

10. Not only did he talk the talk...

....but he walked the walk too. President Carter had the deeds to back it up and I'm sure there is a special place in heaven waiting for him :love: Bless him.

[Minstrel Boy]

11. "if we despise our own government we have no future"

From Carter's inaugural address.

heavy sigh

[WI_DEM]

12. He was the common man who made an uncommon president

he is one of us. God Bless him.

[Minstrel Boy]

14. A kick for the last genuine Democratic President. n/t

[hedgehog]

16. It was a wonderful start, but to me he sold out too many times

Instead of standing and fighting, he kept caving to the Establishment guys who knew better than the "hick from the sticks". The shakers and movers who went on to form the DLC just played him. It was a terrible waste of a good man. I can't help but feel that Mondale helped drag him down. Jimmy lost me when he reinstituted the Selective Service. He's the reason that all boys have to sign up when they turn 18 just in case we need to roll out the draft overnight.

Get ready to flame me - but at least Jummy didn't cave as fasat as Bill Clinton. All in all, Clintin was probably the best republican president we ever had. So-called welfare reform, NAFTA, such unwavering support for gays in the military etc. etc.

[Minstrel Boy]

17. Actually I agree with much of that.

And I was rooting for Ted when he challenged in 1980.

It's Carter's great start I want to celebrate, especially today.

[hedgehog]

18. I rooted for Ted, too

He's made a lot of mistakes in his personal life, but he's borne burdens that would destroy most people. Blessings on him and Jimmy both for a long, healthy & productive old age

[Bouncy Ball]

19. OMG I REMEMBER that day

and seeing that on TV. I was only seven. My mother cried, she loved him and voted for him.

[hedgehog]

21. After the nightmare of Nixon, Jimmy was a new start.

Nixon set the tone for later imperialists like Reagan & the Bushes. You haven't lived if you haven't seen a picture of the comic opera outfits he dressed the White House guards in.

[Az_lefty]

20. I remember that day.

I loved it, a real class act.

[madinmaryland]

22. He is one of the greatest men to be President. n/t