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Jimmy Carter Became Liberal When? It wasn't 1984 When did Jimmy Carter become a liberal hater of America? The Powerline guys point out that he graduated from the Naval Academy and served honorably as a naval officer. They point to a Frontpage Magazine article for evidence that he became a liberal in 1984. Soviet diplomatic accounts and material from the archives show that in January 1984 former President Jimmy Carter dropped by Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin's residence for a private meeting. Carter expressed his concern about and opposition to Reagan's defense buildup. He boldly told Dobrynin that Moscow would be better off with someone else in the White House. If Reagan won, he warned, "There would not be a single agreement on arms control, especially on nuclear arms, as long as Reagan remained in power." Using the Russians to influence the presidential election was nothing new for Carter. Schweizer reveals Russian documents that show that in the waning days of the 1980 campaign, the Carter White House dispatched businessman Armand Hammer to the Soviet Embassy. Hammer was a longtime Soviet-phile, and he explained to the Soviet ambassador that Carter was "clearly alarmed" at the prospect of losing to Reagan. Hammer pleaded with the Russians for help. He asked if the Kremlin could expand Jewish emigration to bolster Carter's standing in the polls. "Carter won't forget that service if he is elected," Hammer told Dobrynin.
In Georgia, the Governor and Lt. Governor do not run as a ticket - they don't even have to be members of the same party. In 1970, while Georgians elected Carter governor, they also insured themselves against any residual liberalism he may have had by electing former Governor Lester Maddox as Lt. Governor. (Don't believe the racist tag that was put on Maddox, he was a far, far, far more complex man and political figure than that - I've written about him and his strange appointment to the Governor's Office before here.) The Lt. Governor, through committe chair appointments, runs the Georgia State Senate, and Maddox frustrated Carter throughout the term by blocking Carter's proposals in Senate committee.
Thus, when Carter decided to run for president in 1976, he had little in the way of a negative record to run away from Maddox had stopped him from showing his true colors.
Jimmy Carter was a leftist long before he left Plains, Georgia. Update - Burton Terrace points out that Carter is now a shill for the average dictator. See why here.
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Jimmy Carter was a leftist far, far before 1984. As a native Georgian, I watched his career for many years before he gained national attention. He rose in Georgia politics in the 60s as a State Senator who styled himself as a Southern Kennedy - he looked sort of like Bobby at the time - same kind of body build and same kind of longish hair, interesting large family led by his mother. Carter was widely regarded as a liberal when he ran for governor in 1966. He finished third in the Democratic primary (it was the first of the eight opportunities I took to vote against him), in what went on to be one of the