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Americans divided over Jimmy Carter’s legacy, new poll suggests

Fewer than 30% of those surveyed thought Carter would go down in history as an above-average president.

Jimmy Carter
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter seen during a press conference at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, on Oct. 22, 2012. Credit: Yoav Ari Dudkevitch/Flash90.

Experts told JNS that while the late former President Jimmy Carter might be remembered well, Jews don’t think very fondly of the author of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. New polls from both YouGov and The Economist suggest that many don’t think he will have a positive legacy.

Just 9% of respondents polled between Dec. 29—the day Carter died—and Dec. 31 said that Carter will go down in history as an “outstanding” president, with 20% saying he will be remembered as “above average.”

More than a quarter (27%) said Carter would have an “average” legacy, and 9% said he would have a “poor” one. Some 15% were unsure.

Nearly one in five Democrats (18%) said that he had an “outstanding legacy,” compared to 28% of Republicans who said that he had a “poor” legacy and 16% of Republicans who said he was “below average.”

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