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 USS Jimmy Carter USS "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23) is the third and final , nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine in the United States Navy. She is named for Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States; and as of her naming, Carter was the only President to have qualified in submarines, having served as an Officer for Communications, Sonar, Electronics, Weapons, and Supply while on board . "Jimmy Carter" is one of the few ships of the United States Navy (and only the third submarine) to have been named for a person who was alive at the time of the ship's naming,