How was the economy during Jimmy Carter?

Answer 1

Worse than it is today, but not by much. For those of us who lived through that time, today's economy is a grim reminder of those days. Double digit inflation & unemployment, and overall lack of faith in anything by all Americans was pretty widespread. I still remember attending one of the inaugural balls here in D.C. - I was 16.

It should be noted that the times were one of low overall self-esteem for the entire nation. We were still recovering from Vietnam (I joined the Navy in '79 - morale was low, pay sucked, nothing worked, and you couldn't get parts to fix them), Watergate was still fresh in the minds of Americans, OPEC oil embargoes caused gas rationing (LONG lines at gas stations, gas tank siphoning, etc.), and Carter's family embarrassments (his brother Billy), administration scandals (Ed Meese), and his tendency to micromanage military affairs and impotent foreign policy (Iran hostages, Desert One) didn't help much. Adding to that was the fact that he spent a lot of time on the Camp David Accords, which ultimately led to the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Though it ultimately cost Egyptian President Anwar Sadat his life, the treaty still stands 31 years later.

One common tactic by Presidents is when domestic issues are in the tank is to drum up or try to focus the country's attention on foreign policy issues, and that's what Carter did with the Mideast negotiations. The current administration's policies here in D.C. are very reminiscent of those days (too reminiscent). It took President Reagan most of his first term to turn the economy around, and until recently, his changes had seen the U.S. economy expanding years later.