Jimmy Carter, the Washington Monthly, and the Future of Liberalism
The Washington Monthly is often at its best in times of liberal despair. Charlie Peters founded the publication at just such a moment—in 1969, in the early months of Richard Nixon’s presidency, as the New Frontier and Great Society ended, and the McCarthy-era redbaiter hated by liberals made an impossible political comeback. (Sound familiar?) The Monthly is thriving right now, in this perilous moment, as Jimmy Carter’s century of service ends and Donald Trump’s comeback culminates in his swearing-in as the 47th president of the United States. But we need your contributions to keep going.
Peters, a former West Virginia state legislator, founded the Monthly amid Nixonian darkness, believing that government could help Americans do great things. A World War II veteran, FDR lover, GI bill beneficiary, and JFK appointee, he knew from his life experience, including as a founder of the Peace Corps, that government is not the enemy. But as he saw with LBJ, it could go off the rails, whether sinking into the Vietnam quagmire or running amok through failed programs and misplaced altruism. “Criminals Belong in Jail” was an early Monthly cover story—an unremarkable truism but, at the time, heresy for a liberal to say. As Nixon took office, Peters wanted a magazine about making government work, skewering conservative misanthropy, and saving liberalism from itself.
Peters encouraged journalists to do the same because he had worked in politics and government. Monthly alums are the rare journalistic tribe who have often worked in government, often at the highest levels. Two Washington Monthly contributing editors—James Fallows and the late Walter Shapiro, who we lost this year—were White House speechwriters in the Carter administration, as was Chris Matthews, the author, historian, broadcaster, and our contributing writer. Jon Meacham was a biographer and friend of George H.W. Bush and a friend and ally of Joe Biden during his presidency. Steven Waldman helped run AmeriCorps. Taylor Branch ran the George McGovern campaign in Texas with a fellow named Bill Clinton before becoming the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Martin Luther King. I had two stints in government, working on independent commissions investigating civil rights and the financial crisis.
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Paul Glastris, the editor-in-chief of this magazine, took over from Peters after serving as a speechwriter toward the end of Bill Clinton’s administration, penning addresses on everything from education policy and American engagement in Europe, where he had been a correspondent during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Liberalism was in another crisis as Glastris took the helm. Clinton may have left behind peace, prosperity, and surpluses, but George W. Bush was in office; the country, barreling blind toward Baghdad and the Democrats, lost again. The Monthly was full of ideas, often championing tried-and-true liberal solutions that had fallen out of fashion even among Democrats, like VA health care, sensible regulation, and vigorous antitrust enforcement. Some of those new-old positions put Glastris’s Washington Monthly at odds with the deregulatory zeal of the Carter years when laissez-faire came to the airline industry and energy prices. But being willing to reassess one’s positions has always been a hallmark of the Monthly, and, hopefully, anyone who isn’t a lemming.
The Washington Monthly has always operated on a slim financial margin. Finances always feel like a high-wire act around here, and this is especially true now. That’s why we need your help. We can’t do our investigative reporting without your help. We can’t be a fount of new ideas for reviving liberalism without your donations. Do it now. As Jimmy Carter’s body takes the long journey from Plains, Georgia, to lie in state in Washington and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are ready to take office, this is a vital and essential time to donate to the Monthly.
It’s entirely tax deductible. For $50 or more, you’ll receive a complimentary subscription to the magazine’s print edition.
All the best,
Matthew Cooper
Executive Editor-Digital
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