Jefferson Cowie

That's exactly right. When we think about decades, I think it can be a little misleading, especially when it comes to something like the 70s, because I see the 70s less as a period of 10 years than I do a break between epochs.

That's exactly right. When we think about decades, I think it can be a little misleading, especially when it comes to something like the 70s, because I see the 70s less as a period of 10 years than I do a break between epochs.

That's exactly right. When we think about decades, I think it can be a little misleading, especially when it comes to something like the 70s, because I see the 70s less as a period of 10 years than I do a break between epochs.

You have a sort of post-war era of relative affluence, a shared affluence, and rising expectations, and then the 70s are a period of rupture, and then we have sort of the birth of the Reagan era, free market, neoliberal kind of new consensus.

You have a sort of post-war era of relative affluence, a shared affluence, and rising expectations, and then the 70s are a period of rupture, and then we have sort of the birth of the Reagan era, free market, neoliberal kind of new consensus.

You have a sort of post-war era of relative affluence, a shared affluence, and rising expectations, and then the 70s are a period of rupture, and then we have sort of the birth of the Reagan era, free market, neoliberal kind of new consensus.

Right, so I think that's a really powerful way to think about it, that the 1970s are sort of half post-60s and half pre-80s. And Carter is that sort of hinge right there in the center of that. And when Carter runs for the presidency, you know, his tagline is, I'm not going to lie to you.

Right, so I think that's a really powerful way to think about it, that the 1970s are sort of half post-60s and half pre-80s. And Carter is that sort of hinge right there in the center of that. And when Carter runs for the presidency, you know, his tagline is, I'm not going to lie to you.

Right, so I think that's a really powerful way to think about it, that the 1970s are sort of half post-60s and half pre-80s. And Carter is that sort of hinge right there in the center of that. And when Carter runs for the presidency, you know, his tagline is, I'm not going to lie to you.

You know, that's the kind of salve that the American people are looking for at that particular juncture after the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and the failures in Vietnam and the Church Committee in the mid-70s, which revealed all the shenanigans that the Americans had been up to abroad.

You know, that's the kind of salve that the American people are looking for at that particular juncture after the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and the failures in Vietnam and the Church Committee in the mid-70s, which revealed all the shenanigans that the Americans had been up to abroad.

You know, that's the kind of salve that the American people are looking for at that particular juncture after the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and the failures in Vietnam and the Church Committee in the mid-70s, which revealed all the shenanigans that the Americans had been up to abroad.

So you have this earnest guy coming from the rural South, and the South is sort of on the rise as a Sunbelt creation. And I think he becomes a sort of repository of a certain kind of political virtue.

So you have this earnest guy coming from the rural South, and the South is sort of on the rise as a Sunbelt creation. And I think he becomes a sort of repository of a certain kind of political virtue.

So you have this earnest guy coming from the rural South, and the South is sort of on the rise as a Sunbelt creation. And I think he becomes a sort of repository of a certain kind of political virtue.

He's a complete outsider, and that's what's refreshing about him. It's not just that he's from the South. He's just completely outside the beltway, right? He just has no connections, which ends up becoming one of his failures, is that he doesn't really know how to run Washington.

He's a complete outsider, and that's what's refreshing about him. It's not just that he's from the South. He's just completely outside the beltway, right? He just has no connections, which ends up becoming one of his failures, is that he doesn't really know how to run Washington.

He's a complete outsider, and that's what's refreshing about him. It's not just that he's from the South. He's just completely outside the beltway, right? He just has no connections, which ends up becoming one of his failures, is that he doesn't really know how to run Washington.

Carter runs just when George Wallace, who is this kind of, you know, this segregationist, snarling governor of Alabama, getting tremendous traction in 68 and 72. And so the South becomes really important. There's this sort of political churn there, and Carter emerges as somebody who could win the South as a racial progressive.

Carter runs just when George Wallace, who is this kind of, you know, this segregationist, snarling governor of Alabama, getting tremendous traction in 68 and 72. And so the South becomes really important. There's this sort of political churn there, and Carter emerges as somebody who could win the South as a racial progressive.