While Carter is widely regarded as having been a poor president, his four years in office are not without significant achievements.  The Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, the SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (albeit at the cost of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China) top the list.  Carter, of course, also placed great emphasis on human rights during his four years in office, but not without some negative consequences.

There is much, however, on the other side of the scale.  On the domestic front there was the energy crisis, stagflation, and “Malaise.” 

During his first six months in office Carter cut the Defense budget by $6 Billion dollars, ordered the unilateral withdrawal of nuclear weapons from South Korea, and announced his intention to reduce US troop presence there.  In 1978, he was forced to reverse himself on troop withdrawals when new intelligence revealed the US had significantly underestimated the North Korean threat.

Most remembered are the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis and the failed rescue attempt.  Carter came across to most Americans as inept in dealing with Iran and weak as the Commander in Chief.  The failed rescue attempt and the death of eight servicemen fell on his shoulders.

Carter’s humanitarian work following his presidency, however, won him much praise.  In 1982, he established the Carter Center in Atlanta to advance human rights and alleviate unnecessary human suffering.  He’s been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism.  More than one commentator in those early years after he left office described him as a better ex-president than a president.

Again, with President Carter you must look at both sides of the scale.  In 1994 his meeting with North Korea President Kim Il Sung resulted in the Agreed Framework under which North Korea agreed to stop processing nuclear fuel in exchange for normalized relations, oil deliveries and two light water reactors.  North Korea violated the agreement straight away and today has nuclear weapons.  The agreement was a disaster and his involvement was ill-advised.

In 2004 Carter observed the Venezuela Presidential recall election and endorsed it.  He called on Venezuelans to respect its results despite the opposition party's claim of widespread fraud and credible exit polls indicating that Hugo Chávez should have lost by 20 percent.  Chávez remains in power, to the increasing detriment of the United States..

In his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, published in November 2006, Carter states that "Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land,” and he declares that Israel's current policies in the Palestinian territories constitute, "a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land, but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights."

Many believe Carter’s statements reveal a deep-seated anti-Israel bias, and that bias is at the root of his meeting with Khaled Meshaal.  That may or may not be true.  Until Carter reveals that he has "bias in his heart,” we can’t know for sure.

Pope Benedict XVI is not above criticism or without his faults.  He may be Pope, but he’s still a human being.  And there remains significant anti-Catholic bias among many Americans rooted in the history of the Catholic Church.  Last week, at least, two octogenarians stood in stark contrast to each other.  Benedict demonstrated how productive human beings can still be when they’re over eighty.  Jimmy Carter demonstrated that there comes a time, for some, when they should retire from public life while they still have some prestige left.