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 National Historic Site not open to the public. The Carters returned to Plains in 1981. The former President and First Lady Rosalynn Carter pursue many of the goals of his administration through the Carter Center in Atlanta, which has programs to alleviate human suffering and to promote human rights and world peace. When they are in Plains, Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, which is open to the public. The former Plains High School, which both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter attended, now serves as the park's visitor center and museum. It features a classroom, principal's office, and auditorium which have been