Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter by E. Stanly Godbold Jr

Author:E. Stanly Godbold, Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty Three

The Agony of Defeat

In the seclusion of Hickory Lodge at Camp David, with Rosalynn intently observing, Carter laboriously rehearsed for his debate with Reagan. To play the role of Reagan, Pat Caddell had chosen his friend Sam Popkin. Popkin, a political science professor from California, set up a podium, lights, and every other detail exactly like they would be in the auditorium where Carter would face Reagan on October 28. Popkin, in his late thirties, rumpled and wearing glasses, did not look like Reagan, but he had studied Reagan carefully and determined that Reagan had no more than twenty or thirty set paragraphs. Popkin did not try to imitate Reagan the genial guy, but he concentrated on what Reagan would say and how he would say it. Privately, Popkin later confessed that it had been emotionally draining to look the president in the eye, tell him he had failed, brought the United States to its knees, and humiliated the country. Nervous not only because Rosalynn was watching, but also because he wondered if the Secret Service guards might hit him “in the knee,” Popkin nevertheless led the president through several intense rehearsal sessions.

A good student, Carter improved with practice, but he had a hard time refraining from interrupting, keeping his composure, and not revealing his anger. He mastered the lesson, however, and was prepared to keep calm and focused during the debate. His tutor noted that by the end of the grueling sessions, Carter was “handling things” well, as “you would expect from a man of that intelligence and demeanor.” Adept at defending his record, Carter thought he was ready to debate Reagan in Cleveland.1

On the eve of the debate, October 25, the polls showed Carter leading Reagan by 45% to 42%, but a third party candidate, John B. Anderson, claimed 8% of those polled.2 Refusing to leave the race, Anderson organized the independent National Unity Party, chose a Democrat, the popular former Democratic governor of Wisconsin and former ambassador to Mexico Patrick Lucey as his running mate, and developed a platform that favored support for research in universities, environmental protection, ratification of the ERA, and a woman’s right to have an abortion. He opposed Carter’s reinstatement of the military draft, but he strongly supported US military strength and the NATO alliance against the Soviet Union.3 The son of an immigrant father who had been willing to make sacrifices in order to give his family a better future, Anderson appealed to moderate “Rockefeller” Republicans and liberal Democrats, especially college students, who had supported Ted Kennedy.

In early September, the League of Women Voters, which determined the eligibility of candidates to participate in debates, decided that Anderson was qualified. Carter refused to debate him, because he found it difficult to take his candidacy seriously. Reagan did debate Anderson in Baltimore on September 21, an event Carter found “really depressing,” because Anderson “helped himself with liberals” while Reagan seemed to be “ineffectual.”4 By early October, Anderson’s following declined but still remained numerous enough that he might be a spoiler in a tight race between Reagan and Carter.

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