By James J. Devine
George F. Will has been one of this country’s most erudite, widely read and influential columnists since 1974, and although I frequently disagree with his conservative opinion, I usually respect his views so I was shocked by his shameless character attack the late President Jimmy Carter.
The disgraceful corruption of Richard Nixon made an outsider like Jimmy Carter seem more attractive to the national electorate, but George Will’s assertion that “Jimmy Carter made Ronald Reagan necessary” is not only intellectually lazy but fundamentally ignores the real consequences of Reagan’s presidency, both for the United States and the world.
To claim that Reagan was a necessary antidote to Carter is a convenient fiction that relies on a selective memory of history. It glosses over Reagan’s disastrous policies, reckless rhetoric, and the far-reaching negative effects his presidency had on the nation and the globe.
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones,” and it might be called heroic that President Jimmy Carter continued to do so much that was good in the decades after his political life had ended.
But, ‘lend me your ears’ that I may bury President Carter, not merely praise him.
First, let’s dismantle the idea that Reagan was “necessary.” This argument presupposes that Carter’s presidency, though flawed, created a vacuum that could only be filled by Reagan. But to claim necessity is to miss a critical point: the forces that led to Reagan’s rise were not the inevitable result of Carter’s failures; rather, they were the consequence of a deliberate and highly successful campaign by greedy corporate interests, the military-industrial complex, and conservative elites to shift the political discourse far to the right.
The necessity of Reagan was not the result of Carter’s policies but of a decades-long process of ideological capture that co-opted the Republican Party and manipulated the national conversation toward an extreme version of conservatism.
Now, let’s talk about Reagan’s actual record. To label Reagan as wise or even effective is to ignore the lasting damage he inflicted on both the American economy and its standing in the world. Reagan’s economic policies—often referred to as “Reaganomics”—were nothing short of disastrous.
The centerpiece of his economic agenda was the massive reduction of taxes for the wealthy, under the false premise that such tax cuts would “trickle down” to benefit the broader population. Instead, the rich grew richer, and the middle class stagnated, as working Americans saw their wages languish or decline while the nation’s wealth became even more concentrated at the top.
Reaganomics turned millionaires into billionaires but set back working-class Americans so much that the middle class shrank from 60 percent of the United States population to just 40 percent. The economic inequality and political instability that resulted from the Reagan era may ultimately destroy our republic (See more on this at DemocratsFor.US).
Reagan’s policies led to an explosion of deficits and national debt, a consequence of tax cuts for the wealthy and increased military spending. By the time Reagan left office, the U.S. was running record deficits, and the national debt had more than tripled, putting the nation on a perilous fiscal path that continues to have long-term ramifications today. Reagan’s claims of fiscal responsibility were an illusion, and the reckless economic policies he championed have left a legacy of inequality that persists in the present day.
Beyond the domestic failures, Reagan’s foreign policy was nothing short of catastrophic. There is compelling evidence that he betrayed the nation by enticing Iran to prolong the captivity of 52 American hostages rather than cede a political advantage to his beleaguered opponent in the 1980 election. He escalated the Cold War, engaging in dangerous brinksmanship with the Soviet Union, at one point pushing the world to the edge of nuclear war.
His administration’s support for brutal dictatorships in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East—often under the guise of combating communism—led to human rights abuses, the destabilization of entire regions, and the prolongation of violent conflicts that continue to haunt the world today. Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein, Chilean tyrant Augusto Pinochet, El Salvador President José Napoleón Duarte, the barbaric military junta of Argentina, the Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and rebels in Nicaragua who flooded the US with drugs are among the monsters Reagan courted as friends and provided weapons.
The Iran-Contra affair, in which Reagan’s administration secretly facilitated the illegal sale of arms to Iran in exchange for funding paramilitary death squads in Central America, is just one more example of the moral bankruptcy that defined his foreign policy.
Reagan’s approach to global affairs also contributed to a dangerous disregard for diplomacy and negotiation in favor of saber-rattling and unchecked military spending. The defense buildup, far from making the world safer, exacerbated tensions and did little to curb the nuclear arms race. The mythical notion that Reagan’s aggressive rhetoric helped bring the Soviet Union to its knees is a gross oversimplification of a complex geopolitical landscape, which ignores the myriad other factors—including the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, the visionary leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev, and the peaceful, negotiated approach of countries like Finland and Sweden—that contributed far more to the end of the Cold War than Reagan’s bellicosity.
And let’s not forget about the fundamental flaws in Reagan’s worldview: his romanticized vision of America as an untouchable, invincible power on the world stage was dangerous and blind to the realities of global interdependence.
His refusal to recognize the interconnectedness of global economic, social, and political systems—exemplified by his insistence on tax cuts and deregulation while ignoring the growing environmental crises and rising global inequalities—left a generation of Americans impoverished and ill-prepared to grapple with the 21st century’s complex challenges.
In sum, the notion that Reagan was “necessary” is a historical fiction, a comforting myth invented to justify the recklessness of his presidency. Reagan was not necessary—he was unwise, driven by ideology rather than pragmatism, and his policies were disastrous both for the American people and for the global community. His presidency set the stage for a more divided, unequal, and militarized world. The claim that Reagan was a corrective to Carter is a tragic misunderstanding of both men’s legacies, and it is time we confront the reality that Reagan’s tenure marked the beginning of a darker era for the United States and for global relations.
Reagan was a deeply flawed president whose policies set the stage for greater inequality, global instability, and moral decay. His tenure marked the beginning of a dangerous era for both the U.S. and the world, making his presidency a tragic prelude to a dystopian Trump dictatorship.
As a candidate for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter called for a government “as honest and decent and fair and competent and truthful and idealistic as are the American people.”
Carter sincerely believed in the goodness of both our government and of people, and that inspired the best in people. His untiring efforts as a former president included five decades advocating for peace, democracy, human rights, fair elections and public health around the world. That earned him the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize and set a towering example that we would be much better off if more politicians dared to match.
George Will should be ashamed to tarnish the memory of President Jimmy Carter, especially with such vulgar lies.