May 21, 2007 10:48 am US/Eastern
Jimmy Carter To Bush: Never Mind
WASHINGTON (CBS News) ―
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday his remarks were "careless or misinterpreted" when he said the Bush administration has been the "worst in history" for its impact around the world.
Speaking on NBC's "Today," Mr. Carter appeared to retreat from a statement he made to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in which he said: "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." The comment was in a story published in the newspaper Saturday.
Mr. Carter said Monday that when he made the comment, he was responding to a question comparing the Bush administration's foreign policy to that of Richard Nixon.
"I think this administration's foreign policy compared to president Nixon's was much worse," Mr. Carter said. But he said he did not mean to call it the worst in history.
"No, that's not what I wanted to say. I wasn't comparing this administration with other administrations back through history but just with President Nixon."
Deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto, with Mr. Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, said Monday: "I think it just highlights the importance of being careful in choosing your words. I'll just leave it at that."
The White House on Sunday dismissed Mr. Carter as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism. In response, Carter said: "Well, I don't claim to have any relevancy. I have a completely unofficial capacity. The only thing I lead is the Carter Center."
After the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story appeared, Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo had confirmed his comments to The Associated Press.
"The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me," the newspaper quoted Carter as saying.
During a speech in March at George Washington University, Carter made similarly strong statements against the Bush administration's foreign policy record, CBSNews.com's Jennifer Hoar reported.
"Since (Bill) Clinton left office, over the last six years, not one single day [has been devoted to] overtures to peace agreements," Carter said. "The current policy is leading to an immoral outcome."
In his comments Monday, Mr. Carter said he has not been timid about sharing his opinions directly with the president and other world leaders, but said he has been careful not to level personal criticism against Mr. Bush.
In the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette interview Mr. Carter came down hard on the Iraq war.
"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said. "But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies."
Mr. Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Mr. Bush for having "zero peace talks" in Israel. Mr. Carter also said the administration "abandoned or directly refuted" every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents.
Mr. Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone.
"The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion," Mr. Carter said. "As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
