Americans tried honesty and found it not to their liking. The Nixon-Agnew administration was so corrupt that the nation briefly toyed with the idea of clean governance. But when faced with a choice between a straight shooter like Jimmy Carter and a showman like Ronald Reagan, they chose the entertainer.
Reagan’s presidency ushered in an era of dishonesty, from the Iran-Contra scandal to the criminal pardons issued by his successor, George H.W. Bush. Then, of course, Bill Clinton showed us that Democrats, too, could be dishonest..
When a straight shooter like Al Gore came along, Americans rejected him, instead opting for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, whose fabrications led to the disastrous Iraq War. Barack Obama, with his integrity and thoughtfulness, seemed like an anomaly—a rare honest president who managed to win reelection.
But by the end of Obama’s term, America seemed ready to return full-force to dishonesty, electing Donald Trump, a figure whose corruption and chaos were on full display. Even after narrowly rejecting him in 2020, they doubled down on deceit and brought him back in 2024, despite knowing the depth of his depravity.
As Andy Borowitz frames it:
As we remember Jimmy Carter, let’s also take a moment to remember what a ginormous dick Ronald Reagan was.
On October 28, 1980, the two men faced off in a televised debate, in which Reagan delivered his zinger for the ages, “There you go again.”
But Reagan’s knockout punch was hardly as spontaneous as it appeared. He had rehearsed it ahead of time, knowing exactly what Carter planned to say. How did he know? His campaign had stolen a copy of Carter’s debate briefing book.
When Americans elected Carter in 1976, they chose a man who pledged never to lie to them. He was a refreshing response to the cesspool of Republican lying typified by Watergate. By electing Reagan in 1980, Americans returned to the cesspool.
Forty-four years later, we find ourselves back in that cesspool yet again—and looking for an honest person like Jimmy Carter to lead us someplace better.