Creating that perception is part of the president’s job though. One of the president’s roles is as a figurehead and they set the tone for the country. Setting an overwhelmingly bad tone across an entire nation that was so bad I even know about despite being born after the man even was president is awful.

So yes I’d say depressing and embarrassing hundreds of millions of people probably had a negative effect on the nation.

I can see it on the older generation’s faces when they talk about Carter. It’s a sad face on otherwise cheerful people.

I’m not going to gaslight them into believing he was actually great and they just didn’t know it.