To Push a Nation Beyond Itself

By Hugh Sidey

The President/Hugh Sidey

There have been moments along the difficult presidential journey of Jimmy Carter when he seemed close to fulfilling his own prophecy that he could "achieve greatness." He recognized the gravity of the energy problem early. He had the courage to see the peril of inflation and change his course. In the glades of Camp David, when his goodness, his determination and his sincerity brought Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat together for peace, Carter seemed ready to move beyond historical inhibitions.

His sudden decision to normalize relations with China was another bold stroke beyond convention. His skillful orchestration of the Vienna summit, his firm but tender treatment of the ailing Leonid Brezhnev, appeared to signal that he was now trained and toughened and on the brink of stepping out of mediocrity.

But last week, as he had before, Carter seemed to falter and slip back, hesitant and uncertain about how to lead this nation into a future that grows darker each day. The chilling conclusion was echoed even in the ranks of his friends and supporters: he may not be up to the challenge. It is plain that he has mastered the details of the problems, come to appreciate the role of Congress, learned better the realities of a dangerous world. But taking that knowledge and fashioning from it a call to peaceful arms eludes him. A growing number of both politicians and scholars believe that because of the energy and economic crises, this nation needs a kind of revolution in thought and way of life. The principal executive of such an effort of inspiration and organization must be the President. Yet the size of the challenge and the power he has at his command seem too great for his comprehension-- or use.

The American people are coming to the same conclusion about Jimmy Carter. Richard Scammon, an expert in the analysis of public opinion, finds the Harris and Gallup polls that show Carter now running behind Republicans Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford "the worst thing that has happened in his presidency." Ratings of "approval" often rise and fall. But when specific choices are being made this early in the political season, Scammon believes that the problem of an incumbent reaches beyond politics to the popular perception of the man.

If history is a guide, there really is no one who can tell Carter how he should lead. It must come from within him. That is the worry. He has little sense of history, nor has he proved himself to be an imaginative man. These may be fatal flaws.

Nobody has yet explained satisfactorily why Abraham Lincoln innately understood that the most important task before him was to preserve the Union, not to free the slaves; that meeting the first challenge would allow him better to combat the second. "The essence of [Franklin] Roosevelt's presidency," wrote Historian Clinton Rossiter, "was his airy eagerness to meet the age head on." Roosevelt understood the reserve of U.S. courage in the time of Depression better than the people themselves did. He calculated the productive potential of America before World War II more accurately than did the leaders of industry. Franklin Roosevelt "anticipated history," said his friend Winston Churchill. Thus, within ten days after Roosevelt received the letter from Albert Einstein warning about the possible development of an atomic bomb, the U.S. rushed toward the Manhattan Project over the resistance of its own military leaders. The commanders were countered by a message sent out through Aide "Pa" Watson: "But the boss wants it, boys."

And one night after hearing a despondent litany of the money ($40 billion) and time (ten years) it would take to go to the moon, with no guarantee of beating the Soviets, John F. Kennedy, 43, pushed his chair back from the table, walked into the Oval Office with a deep frown on his face and in five minutes sent a message out with Aide Ted Sorensen: "We are going to the moon."

We will celebrate the tenth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" next week. Carter would do well to ponder what it takes to push this country beyond itself, where lie great risks but greater rewards.

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