Tuesday, October 19, 2010

the last book I ever read: Jimmy Carter's White House Diary (part one)


I am done, finished, yea verily I have completed reading all 537 pages (I am not counting the index because I didn't read the index) of Jimmy Carter's White House Diary. and for the next few days I will be posting excerpts of interest.

SPOILER ALERT!!! 1980 wasn't a great year for our 39th President.

March 5, 1977
“Reverend James Baker from South Carolina, immediately after he talked to me, called his sister-in-law and was so excited that he died, unfortunately. I called his wife to express my regrets.”

May 21, 1977
“During the afternoon I met with Major General [John] Singlaub about his statement that if we withdrew troops from South Korea a war would result. He denied making the statement. He said he was just quoting from Korean officials. Then he said that the reporter was not given authority to quote him. I don’t think he was telling the truth, but I felt sorry for him. He emphasized over and over that he was not disloyal, that he’d meant no insubordination. So instead of reprimanding him I just told him that we would transfer him out of Korea.”

February 13, 1978
“We had a regular cabinet meeting and discussed the coal strike, which could create some serious problems if it’s not handled soon. The production of coal has dropped by 60 percent, and by early April we could have at least 5 million people unemployed. We also had a discussion about whether the percentage of incompetent lawyers was 20 percent or 50 percent. I personally sided with Chief Justice Burger, who chose the higher number.”

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