Irish Examiner view: History will remember Jimmy Carter kindly 

Global circumstances may have conspired against Carter while he was in office, making him a somewhat unlucky incumbent, but his zeal as an ex-president more than made up for any deficiencies

FILE - U.S. President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd while walking with his wife, Rosalynn, and their daughter, Amy, along Pennsylvania Avenue. The Carters elected to walk the parade route from the Capitol to the White House following his inauguration in Washington, Jan. 20, 1977. Carter announced his campaign for the presidency in December 1974. At that point he had never met an American president. He later said part of what nudged him into the race was meeting several candidates ahead of the 1972 campaign and concluding that he was talented as they were. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)

History will probably be kinder to Jimmy Carter than the American electorate was when he lost decisively to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election in US.

Carter’s bid for a second term in the White House was thoroughly rejected by voters and the man who came from nowhere to win in 1976 was derided as not having the vigour to protect America, not to mention the free world.