Presidency of Jimmy Carter taken on the eve of the election showed a close race, Reagan won a decisive victory. In polls of historians and political scientists, Carter is usually ranked as a below-average president. Carter was elected as the Governor of Georgia in 1970, and during his four years in office he earned a reputation as a progressive, racially moderate Southern governor. Observing George McGovern's success in the 1972 Democratic primaries, Carter came to believe that he could win the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination by running as an outsider unconnected to establishment politicians in Washington, D.C. Despite scant backing from party leaders, McGovern
USS Jimmy Carter allow her to keep station over selected targets in odd currents. Past submarines outfitted this way were used to tap undersea cables and to intercept communications of foreign countries. Intelligence experts speculate that the MMP may find use in similar missions as an underwater splicing chamber for optical fiber cables. On 19 November 2004 "Jimmy Carter" completed alpha sea trials, her first voyage in the open seas. On 22 December, Electric Boat delivered "Jimmy Carter" to the US Navy, and she was commissioned 19 February 2005 at NSB New London. "Jimmy Carter" began a transit from NSB New London to