by wj
(We're way overdue for a new Open Thread. So here it is.)
Earlier this week, I saw a number of articles commemorating the 75 wedding anniversary of Jimmy and Roseland Carter. Which put me in mind of what Carter's legacy will likely be. He was, to my mind, an average President. (Or, if you are not a fan, a mediocre one -- not great but not horrible.) But he is, without real question, the greatest ex-president of my lifetime. Not even close.
Which also recalls the other great ex-President: Herbert Hoover. Also not a particularly good President, but the greatest ex-President from at least the middle of the 19th century until Carter. (Maybe longer; I'm not enough of a historian to judge further back.) If you doubt that, look up, for example, the Hoover Commission. And consider that other efforts to reorganize government at the state level (for example in California) have gotten labeled "Little Hoover Commissions."
What it comes down to is, being President, and doing the job well, requires one set of skills. But doing something worthwhile after being President requires a rather different set of skills. There's some overlap (e.g. ability to organize groups of people), but a lot more difference. And also, being an effective President is, to some extent, dependent of what kind of Congress one is blessed/cursed with.
As noted, open thread.
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