I also think that Jimmy Carter was basically a good man at heart, he was just not good presidential material. In my opinion most of his foreign policy failures were the result of his religious beliefs. Like most good Southern Baptists he believes in Premillennialism. Basically, that belief posits that Jesus will return, defeat the forces of evil, and set up His throne in Jerusalem, from which He will reign for 1,000 years. Because of that, the nation of Israel is very important to Carter and others of that belief, both politically and religiously. One of the things Carter wanted to do was stave off the battle of Armageddon. Peace between Israel and its neighbors would do that, according to premillennial thinking. All that, and, after all, he was/is a politician. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to be successful at both being a good person and being a politician.