Carter's Big Health Care Villain: Ted Kennedy

Former president blasts his former political rival in interview, book
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 16, 2010 6:43 PM CDT
Carter's Big Health Care Villain: Ted Kennedy
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks at the Carter Center Tuesday in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

For a man with the Nobel Peace Prize on his mantel, Jimmy Carter sure can hold a grudge. In an interview with 60 Minutes airing Sunday, he goes after Ted Kennedy—who challenged the incumbent president for the Democratic nomination in 1980—on two fronts, reports the Boston Globe:

  • Health care: He says the nation would have "comprehensive health care" today had Kennedy not blocked Carter's compromise bill back then by insisting on national health insurance. "It was his fault. Ted Kennedy killed the bill." (An entry from his new book White House Diary condemns Kennedy's "irresponsible and abusive attitude" over the measure.

  • The 1980 race: Carter presents Kennedy's decision to challenge him for the nomination as a personal vendetta: "He did not want to see me have a major success in that realm of life." Carter beat Kennedy but then lost to Ronald Reagan.
To see what else Carter's been up to lately, click here.
(More Jimmy Carter stories.)

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