I admired him then and voted for him in the first presidential election in which I was able to vote, in 1980. I admire him now. I don't appreciate the extent to which he is (and was!) vilified. His speech of July 15, 1979 was Oracle-like in it's appreciation of things yet to come.
the speech
President Carter is an extremely intelligent man who was the first Democrat rolled over in a presidential election by the GOP using their now trademarked personal destruction method of getting elected. This man, who articulated an intelligent energy strategy but was made fun of by those who now purport to tell us how our country should proceed seems, now, to have seen then what is yet to come.
As others have mentioned (probably here and certainly on other sites), President Carter gave a speech on July 15, 1979. I just want to refer to two paragraphs. Here's one:
We know the strength of America. We are strong. We can regain our unity. We can regain our confidence. We are the heirs of generations who survived threats much more powerful and awesome than those that challenge us now. Our fathers and mothers were strong men and women who shaped a new society during the Great Depression, who fought world wars, and who carved out a new charter of peace for the world.
I think, in spite of the extent to which the GOP has 'peed in the well' of American political life, those words still hold true, particularly for a candidate like Senator Obama and for a President like he could be.
Here's another paragraph:
We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure.
Again, those words have meaning right now. It's as if twenty-eight years and 49 weeks ago, President Carter cast his eyes into the future time of June 2008 onto George Bush, Dick Cheney, ExxonMobile, Royal Dutch Shell and BP and said, "Guys, don't do it. Don't pursue that mistaken idea of freedom, call it what you may. Whether you say it's a production sharing agreement, an Oil Law or whatever you still are assuming the right to grasp for yourselves some advantage over others. Don't do it."
If only they could hear his voice and would listen.