As people around the United States reflect on Jimmy Carter, one speech keeps coming up, a speech delivered on July 15, 1979.
Known as both the "malaise speech" and "Crisis of Confidence," the speech looks at the state of the nation as Carter is seeing it through the eyes of an array of citizens he'd traveled to speak with.
"I promised you a president who is not isolated from the people, who feels your pain, and who shares your dreams and who draws his strength and his wisdom from you."
– From a speech by Carter on July 15, 1979
For those too young to remember, the nation was having some struggles in the summer of 1979. Here's how Carter talked about that--and his response--in the early paragraphs of his speech:
It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper -- deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. And I realize more than ever that as president I need your help. So I decided to reach out and listen to the voices of America.
Carter then quotes a variety of these voices, including remarks from people who criticized him, as well as others talking about what they need from government.
After recounting these conversations, Carter then makes the observations that earned his speech its name:
The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.
Four decades too soon?
Writing last year about Carter's speech for The New York Times, David French observed:
Read the speech now, and you’ll see its truth and its depth. But, ironically, it’s an address better suited to our time than to its own. Jimmy Carter’s greatest speech was delivered four decades too soon.
In particular, French cites the sections of this speech that address frustration with government, lack of faith in our institutions, and a fear that the future does not hold promise. Carter urges Americans to look within themselves and challenges each individual to do something.
Ohio University professor Kevin Mattson has written a book about the speech and talked with NPR about its role in defining Carter and his presidency. At the Carter Library, Mattson went through notes sent to the president after the speech and reports:
One person said, I'm going to ride my moped to work. I'm not going to ride my car. Another person talked about using a bicycle to get to work. People talked about keeping their thermostats lower than they usually would. I think that the speech hit people because it was a desire for citizen activity, at least in part, to solve the problem. And so he does quite well. He gets the biggest bump that he has had for quite some time.
The malaise post-speech
Carter did see positive opinions of his presidency go up significantly in the days following the speech. But soon after, he fired his cabinet and opinions shifted.
His opponents in the presidential race, Ted Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, recast Carter's words as an attempt to blame the American people for the nation's problems.
Still, Professor Mattson says Carter viewed the speech as a success. "He said it was his best speech. He felt like he nailed it," says Mattson.
LEARN MORE
Find the full text of President Carter's speech here.
Find an interview here with historian Kevin Mattson, who's written a book about Carter and the speech.
Read how David French is among those who think Carter's speech provides insights into present day problems.
