Jimmy Carter pardoned Nixon because Carter was the bigger person and he believed that forgiveness is the most powerful act one can perform against their attacker.
What Carter forgot was, he’s supposed to represent the people who voted for him, and the voters weren’t, and didn’t care to be, the bigger person; they wanted accountability and didn’t place such abstract values on the act of forgiveness.
It was a good personal decision to make, but as a presidential decision, I find it lacking.
Jimmy Carter pardoned Nixon because Carter was the bigger person and he believed that forgiveness is the most powerful act one can perform against their attacker.
What Carter forgot was, he’s supposed to represent the people who voted for him, and the voters weren’t, and didn’t care to be, the bigger person; they wanted accountability and didn’t place such abstract values on the act of forgiveness.
It was a good personal decision to make, but as a presidential decision, I find it lacking.
Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon which may have been one of the reasons Ford lost to Carter the next election.