The Verdict Thus Far

TIME asked several Washington watchers from the campuses, business and other fields for their assessments of President Carter's performance to date. Their replies:

C. VANN WOODWARD, Yale historian. Complicated Carter undoubtedly is--and elusive as well. When he did choose a label for himself, however, it was that of "populist.'' In its Southern origins, populism struck roots in the best democratic tradition. Carter had legitimate claims in blood and heritage to that tradition. I would like to believe he will stick to it. If he does, the populist dogma --illustrated by automatic voter registration and overthrow of the Electoral College--may well be put to unprecedented tests.

The past three months, however, have not been altogether reassuring. The most disturbing slips from the true faith have been concessions to the privileged that gladden hearts in Wall Street and business, constituencies that true populists can never hope to win. Given more time and experience, he may compensate for those defections. He does not seem to be a slow learner.

GEORGE REEDY, Lyndon Johnson's press secretary. Carter has succeeded in giving Americans the impression they are getting their Government back. He has become our first real television President. People always said that about Kennedy, but they were wrong. Kennedy was a man of words. I don't think Carter does very well with words. That fireside chat he held wearing a sweater was more than a stunt. It said a lot of things to a lot of people: we'll have to dress more warmly from now on, use less fuel and just be colder in general. He could have made 15 speeches and not made the point as well.

As with the tax rebate, I have the feeling he sometimes buys ideas too quickly. On the other hand, I haven't seen anything yet that is terribly innovative. This does not bother me--what's new is not necessarily what's good. The problem is that many people voted for him because they thought he would be innovative. Ford did a great job restoring integrity to the White House, but he did not break the feeling of aloofness. Carter has done that. Now I would like to know what he's going to do with it. My evaluation: still mixed.

ALAN GREENSPAN, chief economic adviser in the Ford Administration; member of TIME'S Board of Economists. At first I was concerned that Carter would foster programs that would reverse much of the progress that President Ford had made in defusing the inflationary bias in our economy. Now, although I can scarcely say that all of my concerns have been stilled, I view the President a good deal more positively. His campaign commitments to achieve a balanced budget by fiscal year 1981 appeared to be little more than rhetoric--and, indeed, they may end up that way. But now they sound a little more convincing. Certainly his dropping of the $50 rebate--a bad idea to begin with--is evidence that he may be willing to take those tough actions that are essential if we are to rein in federal spending. However, the real tests still lie ahead.

ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER Jr., historian. Carter seems to me still something of a mystery. He is plainly a man of acute intelligence, strong character, agreeable manner and considerable conviction of his own rectitude. But I have no clear understanding yet of the direction in which he would like to lead the country, especially in domestic affairs. His background seemingly inclines him to be a manager rather than an innovator. Maybe the times demand more than just good middle management.

He has offered no serious program against either unemployment or inflation. His appointments seem very good. So do his impulses in foreign policy--especially the control of nuclear weapons and the support of human rights. But I have the impression that these remain impulses rather than thought-through policies. One has the feeling, for example, that no one looked at the new SALT proposals from the Soviet viewpoint and asked why Moscow should be expected to accept a deal so manifestly to American advantage. As for human rights, this is really a campaign, not a policy. One does not feel that the Administration has worked out its implications or decided how far to run with it. Nevertheless, it is refreshing. So far, the good far outweighs the harm.

VERNON JORDAN, executive director of the National Urban League. My view of Carter in January--shared by most black people--was hopeful. Today, my opinion of him is high. He has established a definite profile for his Administration; he has introduced important new approaches such as concern for human rights and a hard-nosed energy policy, and has used the symbolic powers of his office to project concern for people's problems. But he has not yet followed with substantive programs.

On the positive side, I would count the amnesty and the proposal to create jobs for young people as being important. On the debit side, I would count his excessive concern for conservative opinion in forming economic policy. His plan did not begin to fulfill his promise to work toward full employment.

OTTO ECKSTEIN, Harvard economist; member of TIME's Board of Economists. The results so far have been mediocre at best. A Democratic President, working with a Democratic Congress, might have brought the country a new day of enlightenment.

Before the election I believed that with a President and Congress of the same party there was a greater chance of generating effective economic policy. I am sorry to say that has not been the case. Carter is righting with Congress the same way Ford did, and he has ended up being saddled with a stimulus package that is unbalanced. There is virtually nothing in it for the middle class. The only across-the-board benefit would have been the $50 rebate. Carter spent a lot of political capital in trying to get it, and then lost face by abandoning it. It hasn't been an auspicious beginning.

HENRY FORD II, automaker and early Carter supporter. He's done a very good job, and I'm glad to see he cut that $50 proposal out. The most important problem he's got right now is inflation. I am concerned that we might get a tax on cars to promote efficient fuel usage because that could be bad for our industry: it takes the decisions on pricing from us and gives them to Government. We already have laws on fuel economy and [exhaust] emissions, and we can meet them. We're 100% better on emissions now than we were in 1974, and that's not bad.

On human rights, he has got to take a stand, but I think it has got to take into consideration the political consequences. If he continues to talk too loud and too long and too strong about it, it can do more harm than good. Some of these countries have been our friends.

TOM HAYDEN, writer and 1960s antiwar leader. Carter is a blend, he's balancing. One day he's open, conducting a people's diplomacy, and the next day he's defending secret payments to King Hussein. The best thing he's done is to appoint Andrew Young to the United Nations. There are also a number of people at the secondary level who represent a modest success on the part of the civil rights or peace movements of the past 15 years--a certain acceptance of views now being built into the system.

The worst thing he's done is the SALT package. [With the SALT impasse,] it looks to me like we are on the edge of the most costly and depressing spiral of the arms race. I haven't felt this frustrated since the beginning of the Viet Nam War. If the Democratic leaders of the Congress are unable to come up with a creative alternative to the cold war --after Viet Nam, the CIA revelations and Watergate--who the hell will? To me, this is like where I came in.

MARGARET CHASE SMITH, former Republican Senator from Maine. Overall, I'm most impressed. When he was inaugurated, I was troubled by his Messiah posture and his sanctimonious criticism of others while avoiding very adroitly taking a clear stand on major issues. Increasingly, I have come to judge him by his actions rather than his words --and his actions are far superior.

The best thing that he has done is to face up to reality and unpleasant facts like the energy crisis. He must be given low marks on congressional relations. I hope this is more from ignorance and lack of experience than from claimed stubbornness and arrogance. But the chief negative aspect of his performance thus far is the uncertainty and instability of some of his decisions and pronouncements. The prime example is the tax rebate, which he so emphatically emphasized--and then, overnight, dropped. It reminds me of the partisan campaign criticism against Gerald Ford for first opposing a tax cut and later proposing one.

JERRY BROWN, California's Democratic Governor. Carter is off to a very good start. I am pleased with the initiatives he has taken and his willingness to speak out. We're only in April, but during his period in office so far, Carter has shown clarity of thought and decisiveness of action. He is a breath of fresh air after the stagnation of the previous years.

The country needs a sense of purpose and a commitment to a minimum philosophical objective; otherwise there will be no chance of gaining ideological initiatives. I'd say the momentum Carter is providing in achieving this is good.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.