RUMPOLE AND THE OUTLIER

 As August enters the second half, Rumpole repairs to Europe, where the temperatures are cooler (so we are not in Italy or Southern France) and shall remain here until Labor Day. Posting will be infrequent, but consistent. Should one of our robed readers say or do something natural (read ....umm what's a nice way to say "dumb?") we will be on it like a Prosecutor on POTUS 45. 

The dog days of August see Rumpole perfecting his EU citizenship, sipping cool ales whilst seated at a café as the sun sets around ten p.m., people watching.

And reading.

Currently we are reading “The Outlier”, a new biography of the 39th President of the United States- James Earl Carter. We were bemused to learn that the author of the book- Kai Bird, was also the co-author of American Prometheus- the subject of which- Robert Oppenheimer is now all the rage at the cinema. 

The introduction of The Outlier informs us that it is time for historians to revisit and re-assess the Carter administration. For example- (all quotes are from the book):

“He anticipated an end to the cold war and proclaimed an end to our ‘inordinate fear of communism.’”.

“Seatbelts and airbags would become mandatory [during the Carter administration] and save tens of thousands of lives a year”;

“He placed millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness under federal protection…”;

“He tended to think that he was the smartest fellow in the room, and he often was”;

“He talked about climate change before it was ever fashionable. He was a premature environmentalist”;

“He deregulated the airline industry and opened up air travel to millions of middle-class Americans”;  Future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bryer helped write the airline deregulation act;

“No president since Johnson had more legislative victories in his first year of office”;

"He created the Department of Energy"; 

"He deregulated the energy industry allowing for the creation years later of fracking technology that allowed the US to become a leader in the export of natural gas".

"His energy policies reduction importation of foreign oil by 40% over four years".

Fun fact: Carter appointed over sixty consumer advocates to positions in the government, including several “Nader Raider” activists who worked with Ralph Nader, including the heads of the EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

 One starling fact: Before assuming office, there were eight female federal judges (1.4%); twenty African American Judges (3.5%); and five Hispanic judges (0.9%). In four years, Carter appointed forty-one female judges, thirty-seven African American judges, and sixteen Hispanic judges. Carter appointed more minorities to the federal bench than all previous presidents combined.

And of course, there were the Camp David Acords and peace between Israel and Egypt- a peace that has held over forty years. 

All in all, it is a refreshing look at a presidency that should not be simply defined as a failure.