Carter qualities once appealed to Americans

NEW YORK - Undone in his 1980 re-election bid, Jimmy Carter left the White House tarred as a failure. Yet, curiously, his offenses were hard to distinguish from the qualities that, four years before, had carried him from ``Jimmy Who?&#39;&#39; to the nation&#39;s highest office. <br> <br> Says Carter&#39;s former speech writer, Hendrik Hertzberg: ``He was exactly what the American people always say they want: determined to do the right thing regardless of political consequences, a simple person who doesn&#39;t lie, a modest man. ... That&#39;s what people say they want.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> But as Carter took exile with wife Rosalynn at their Plains, Georgia, home, the American people just couldn&#39;t stand him. <br> <br> Hertzberg is among many witnesses heard from in an eye-opening look at the 39th president and Nobel laureate, which, with all due simplicity, is titled ``Jimmy Carter.&#39;&#39; This ``American Experience&#39;&#39; portrait airs on PBS Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.

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