Bernie Ward: "Best ex-President we ever had was Jimmy Carter."

[Bozita]

I agree.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I do too

quite the gentleman

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Yep

oddly enough, Herbert Hoover was a great ex-President, too.

[Poll_Blind]

3. Agree. There's been alot of severe criticism of him recently for his..

..latest book but, ok, even if you agree with the criticism he has done so much in other areas. Working to help the homeless, working to help struggling democracies in under-developed countries, working with the OAS (IIRC) to make sure fair voting takes place in small countries who need a helping hand to ensure the democratic process isn't subverted.

  In short, even if you don't like his opinions in the new book, even that is just one of a number of impressive facets that this guy has. And all with a humble, plain-spoken demeanor and a real sense of caring.

HE REALLY, ACTUALLY CARES. He could be off golfing 24/7, ya know?

PB

[LeighAnn]

4. My old boss used to say that

He had a patronage job with the public works department that allowed him a lot of time to sit around (pardon the expression) bloviating about politics and history and what-not. If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times:

"Best ex-President we ever had was Jimmy Carter. Didn't do a damn thing when he was President, but he's the best ex-president ever."

Ima write a book about that guy, once his mother passes away. :P

[lvx35]

5. Yep, I think his energy policy ideas have been vindicated.

Now that we are looking at this nightmare of dependence on the middle east.

[sandnsea]

6. He was a good President too

First victim of the right wing machine.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. Silly hyperbole.

Carter was probably the best President to hold the office between 63 and 93, arguably (but probably not) the best between 61 and 2006.

But he clearly wasn't the best ever - he's up against competition like the Roosevelts, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Wilson, Truman etc.

"Best" (and worst) is a massively overused word. There is a perfectly acceptable phrase "very good" in the English language, but nearly all (all except one, in fact) very good presidents were not the best ever.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. It's the "ex-" bit that's being talked about

That is, after he left the presidency, he's done a lot of good work. I think there is a real case for him deserving the accolade.