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
Jimmy Carter Republican nominee Ronald Reagan. Polls of historians and political scientists usually rank Carter as an average president, often receiving more positive evaluations for his post-presidential work. In 2012, Carter surpassed Herbert Hoover as the longest-retired president in U.S. history and in 2017 became the first president to mark the 40th anniversary of his inauguration. He is currently the oldest and earliest serving of all living U.S. presidents. He established the Carter Center in 1982 to promote and expand human rights. He has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations. Carter