As I've posted before, I believe Jimmy Carter is a good man who was a lousy president. Some of his weakness was due to his own actions but much of it was due to factors beyond his control. He's often critized for his handling of the economy (double-digit inflation and interest rates, especially from 1978 on), but that was largely beyond his control. When OPEC doubled the price of oil in 1973, that caused a severe economic slowdown that lasted for years. The effects of that were still being felt when the price doubled again in 1978 following the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. What could Carter or anyone else have done about that?

Part of his political weakness was of his own doing. He came to Washington in 1977 saying he didn't owe anyone anything. This was largely true because he didn't get a lot of support from the Washington establishment while running for office (I remember hearing about ABC - Anybody But Carter - during the primaries). Unfortunately for Carter, no one owed him anything either. Despite having a solid Democrat control of both the House and Senate, Carter had a hard time getting his agenda passed.

During the Iranian hostage crisis, he effectively made himself another hostage by boarding himself in the White House. Both at home and abroad, he was seen as weak. The deterioration of the military during his administration (I was in uniform at the time and remember those bleak days very well) led to the failure of the rescue mission at Desert One.

Still, despite all of these weaknesses, I'd grade him as perhaps a C- or D+ as a president. I'd grade him as a solid A as both a man and former president.