Jimmy Carter several rounds of question-and-answer before movie critic Gene Shalit correctly guessed he was a governor. In May 1973, Carter warned the Democratic Party against politicizing the Watergate scandal, the occurrence of which he attributed to President Richard Nixon exercising isolation from Americans and secrecy in his decision making. On December 12, 1974, Carter announced his candidacy for President of the United States at National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His speech contained themes of domestic inequality, optimism, and change. When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries, he was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians; his name
Presidency of Jimmy Carter as a below-average president. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Carter as the 26th best president. A 2017 C-Span poll of historians also ranked Carter as the 26th best president. Some critics have compared Carter to Herbert Hoover, who was similarly a "hardworking but uninspiring technocrat." Robert A. Strong writes: Jimmy Carter is much more highly regarded today than when he lost his bid for reelection in 1980. He has produced an exemplary post-presidency, and today there is an increased appreciation for the enormity of the task he took on in