Jimmy Carter was and is a great man.

I’ve always said he was the best ex president ever. His work with Habitat, his whole demeanor and dedication to good makes him an incredibly special person.

But you noticed I said ex president.

In the outpouring of love for him I’ve noticed some media depiction of him as being a really good president.

For many of us that was not the case.

Some of his shortcomings were not his fault. But it was a time of high inflation, standing in gas lines with a real fear of not being able to travel. And that he really didn’t have a handle on it. There were other things, the Iran hostage crisis among them, that made of a lack of satisfaction with his performance.

Ironically to me, one of the things that hurt him at the time was the snobby, eastern media control that looked down on him as a southerner, making fun and thinking frankly that he didn’t belong in the White House.

He never lost his humanity and I do think it is safe to say he was a great man if not a great president.