Jimmy Carter Wrong About Blaming Ted Kennedy Over Health Care

There was bound to be blow-back from the “60 Minutes” segment last night where President Jimmy Carter made statements against Senator Kennedy on the issue of health care.  A very well-written and researched response was posted on History News Network.  (HNN is a wonderful source for news and comment.)

I was a bit stunned by the anger that still lingers in Jimmy Carter.  I really felt that he had let it go, and that his books (many which are on my shelves) reflected a more serene and evened out life.  The interview that aired last night on CBS was not Carter’s best performance, and that makes me sad. 

Jimmy Carter is bright, and one of the best ex-presidents this nation has had.  He need not linger on the past.  I also add that I very much liked the foreign policy achievements Carter made while in office, and applaud him for the Panama Canal treaty and Middle East peace treaty. 

After losing the White House Carter made a grand example of what can happen after a personal defeat.  By going on national TV and airing the past did not serve him well.

Here is a small section of the larger article from HNN.

Throughout the 1970s, Ted Kennedy campaigned for comprehensive national health insurance (NHI)—a single payer, compulsory system open to all.  It was much like the “public option” touted by liberals in 2009-10.  Kennedy’s backing was personal:  he saw healthcare reform as his contribution to his family’s legacy.  Medical treatment was a civil right.  Kennedy often pointed out that “We are the only industrialized nation in the world outside [apartheid] South Africa that does not have universal, comprehensive healthcare insurance.  And here, as well as in South Africa, black people are sick twice as often; they receive less care; they die younger; and sooner.”

But the NHI proposal did not start or end with Ted Kennedy. The multi-million member Campaign for National Health Insurance (CNHI) was bankrolled by the AFL-CIO and managed by the United Auto Workers union.  So convinced was labor of the popularity of reform that they refused to endorse any healthcare package other than NHI.  In 1975, Kennedy pulled out of negotiations with Gerald Ford over a compromise bill because the CNHI denounced it.  Polls showed that the Democrats would recapture the presidency in 1976, so why, they asked, accept a tepid Republican offer?  Wait a year or so and the Democrats could put together their own.  The CNHI didn’t count on Jimmy Carter being the nominee.