Jimmy Carter on Homeland Security President of the U.S., 1977-1981

Declined to keep "nuclear football" at home in Georgia

Even conservatives deplore parts of the Patriot Act

To legalize such abuses of civil liberties, the Patriot Act was hurriedly enacted, with a number of temporary provisions scheduled to expire in 2005. The president has called for the law to be expanded and made permanent, but even the conservative "patriots" have deplored such provisions as authorization for federal agents to search people's homes and businesses secretly, to confiscate property without any deadline or without giving notice that the intrusion has taken place, and to collect without notice personal information on American citizens, including their medical histories, books checked out of libraries, and goods they purchase. The government can now seize an entire database--all the medical records of a hospital or all the files of an immigration group--when it is investigating a single person.

Military budget of $400B is more than rest of world combined

Greatly strengthened our military forces

OpEd: Pressure to democratize Iran caused Shah's overthrow

"The United States has adopted a new policy, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. This strategy requires the same persistence and energy idealism we have shown before. And it will yield the same results."

"Yield the same results"? Is Bush aware that when Jimmy Carter pressured the shah to democratize, the shah was overthrown and Iran fell to the Ayatollah? Can the president believe that by hectoring and destabilizing autocracies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, we are made more secure? Previous popular revolts in the Arab world gave us and the world Nasser, Khadafi, Assad, Saddam, and the Ba'ath Party.

US is sole superpower, but world is a more dangerous place

Canceled B-1 & neutron bomb; approved MX & cruise missile

Steady increase in defense to offset 37% drop since 1969

CARTER: In the 8 years before I became President, had its own military strength decreased. Seven out of eight years, the budget commitments for defense went down, 37% in all. Since I've been in office, we've had a steady, carefully planned, methodical but very effective increase in our commitment for defense.

REAGAN: We were in a war that wound down during those 8 years, which of course made a change in military spending because of turning from war to peace. Gerald Ford left a 5-year projected plan for a military buildup to restore our defenses, and President Carter's administration reduced that by 38%.

CARTER: I think, habitually, Governor Reagan has advocated the injection of military forces into troubled areas, when I and my predecessors--both Democrats and Republicans--have advocated resolving those troubles and those difficult areas of the world peacefully, diplomatically, and through negotiation.

SALT II is result of 7 years of bipartisan negotiations

REAGAN: The SALT II treaty negotiations [began after] Mr. Carter had canceled the B-1 bomber, delayed the Trident submarine, and whatever other things that might have been done. The Soviet Union knew we had gone forward with unilateral concessions.

CARTER: There is a disturbing pattern in the attitude of Mr. Reagan: He has never supported any of those arms control agreements--the limited test ban, SALT I, nor the antiballistic missile treaty, nor the Vladivostok Treaty negotiated with the Soviet Union by President Ford--and now he wants to throw into the wastebasket a treaty to control nuclear weapons, negotiated over a 7-year period, by myself and my two Republican predecessors.

Urged deployment of neutron bombs in NATO's Europe

The ER weapon's destructive force would come not from the relatively small explosion but from intense radiation, which enabled it to kill enemy troops with a minimum of damage to surrounding structures. This very characteristic of killing with radiation made the weapon seem particularly frightening to the public.

Although I had agreed to go ahead with the project if our NATO allies concurred, I was troubled over the advisability of trying to force neutron weapons on our allies.

Because of the limited range of the proposed neutron weapons, they would not be used in Great Britain in any event, but some of the shells or missile warheads could be stored in the British Isles for use on the Continent.

B-1 bomber was a gross waste of money

Even after thorough study of the issue during the spring of 1977 with the help of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deciding what to do about the B-1 bomber was still difficult for all of us--not because of the merits of the case, but because of the necessity to prevail against supporters of the B-1 once my decision was made. If I had had absolute power, the answer would have been simple: do not build it, because it would be a gross waste of money. My problem was that I would have to win the argument not merely in the Oval Office, but also in the public arena--indirectly with the American people, and then directly with a majority of Congress. As I studied the arguments, I also spent a lot of time working with key members of Congress and the news media, trying to present the facts to the public.

Opposed Vietnam, but very late

Eliminate all nuclear weapons from this earth

The world is still engaged in a massive armaments race designed to insure continuing equivalent strength among potential adversaries. We pledge perseverance and wisdom in our efforts to limit the world’s armaments to those necessary for each nation’s domestic safety. We will move this year a step toward our ultimate goal--the elimination of all nuclear weapons from this earth.

We urge all other people to join us, for success can mean life instead of death.

Would pardon draft evaders outright to heal nation

FORD: The amnesty program I recommended would give all draft evaders the opportunity to earn their good record back. We gave them ample time. I am against- an across-the-board pardon of draft evaders or military deserters.

CARTER: Pardon means that what you did, whether it's right or wrong, you're forgiven for it. I advocate a pardon for draft evaders. I think now is the time to heal our country after the Vietnam War and I think that what the people are concerned about is not the pardon or the amnesty of those who evaded the draft, but whether or not our crime system is--is fair.

Punish CIA operatives involved in illegal activities

Defense is most wasteful agency in federal government