For all the crap Carter had to put up from the Republicans - the Carters have been really good people all these years.
I was raised by committed Democrats in the 1980s, and even they taught me that Carter was a bad President. A lot of Democrats were slow to forgive him for failing to keep Reagan out of the WH.
I think with the passage of time we came to appreciate that he was handed a set of insoluble challenges and that he was a principled man truly motivated by a calling to serve. That latter thing may have been a liability when he assumed the better of others too often, for example when dealing with Iran, or trying to motivate people to wear sweaters inside during winter.
But I will confess my eyes were opened by the scene in the movie "Miracle" that includes a speech by him. It was the first time I'd ever heard him be truly motivational and inspiring. Part of me would like to have that in the White House again. The other part of me realizes that I am mature enough to recognize that politicians will probably all disappoint me.
Carter's biggest failing was in asking Americans to band together to become stronger as a country and to face huge problems that were coming in the future. America never forgave him that transgression.
The more I think about it, the more Trump really lines up with Jimmy Carter on a lot of things.
They both were "outsiders" in their respective primaries.
They both won their presidencies by about 3 states. (Carter won by a 2 state margin OH and WI with a margin of about 46k votes total)
Carter won back the South for the democrats one last time before they shifted back to being straight GOP states.
They both really had no idea how Washington worked or how to get things done.
They both refused to engage with the legislature.
They both got little to nothing done in their 4 years.