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Of all the presidents I've seen in my lifetime, I think President Carter might be the only one who felt genuine and didn't exhibit narcissism.

kelseyfrog 2y ago
[dead]
- afavour 2y ago
  If the post “Jimmy Carter has died” belongs on HN then I see no reason why OP’s comment does not.
christianqchung 2y ago
Jimmy Carter feels very likely to be the last "normal person" who will ever be elected president. That doesn't absolve his presidency of mistakes obviously, but if you run through the list of presidents since him, the vibes point to that for me.
- JojoFatsani 2y ago
  Normal people are not as humble and generous with their time as Carter.
_yb2s 2y ago
I think our culture needs some general awareness and “antibodies” against Narcissism, and emotional manipulation in general. People seem generally unaware of, and as a result easily manipulated and controlled by people with these behaviors. I only became conscious of it after reading a book about communication where I learned how emotional manipulation worked- and then realized I was in a relationship with someone doing this to me, and had been completely oblivious for years. Once I understood how it works, I can easily spot people including politicians using these quite simple manipulation techniques, and I feel quite stupid for not figuring it out on my own at a younger age.
- pizza 2y ago
  What's the book?!
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    “When I say no I feel guilty” which is about assertive communication, which is essentially the opposite of emotionally manipulative communication. Also the blogger “The Last Psychiatrist” has good information on Narcissism.
- newaccountman2 2y ago
  > I think our culture needs some general awareness and “antibodies” against Narcissism, and emotional manipulation in general. This would be diametrically opposed to American culture lol
heresie-dabord 2y ago
You have seen many things in your lifetime, friend, from representatives of the genuine goodness of the US (Mr Carter, Mr Biden) to the corruption of the information society and the dismantlement of democratic principles.
LorenDB 2y ago
I may be speaking out of turn here as somebody born in this century, but after reading the book The Man I Knew I have held a high regard for George H. W. Bush. He, like Carter, was a great human who really cared about others. Again, for all I know, he could have presented himself differently during his term in office, but after his term was up, his life seems genuine to me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648822-the-man-i-knew https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648822-the-man-i-knew
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  in the last century, I think HW bush would get a solid top 3 placement (a bit hard to top FDR). He seemed to be one of the last conservative presidents that seemed to be trying to do the right things. And kicked out for doing so. No one likes it when "the right thing" raises their taxes.
sangnoir 2y ago
> I think President Carter might be the only one who felt genuine and didn't exhibit narcissism. He was the opposite of narcissistic, he was honest to a fault, telling the truth even when it was unflattering to his public image: he freely admitted - and without direct prompting - in a Playboy interview that he had looked at a lot of women (other than his wife) with lust[1]. 1. WARNING - site is on a Playboy domain - you may not want to open this on a work computer or have any anti-NSFW mononitoring of your browser activity. https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-jimmy-carter/ https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-jimmy-carter/

kelseyfrog 2y ago

[dead]

afavour 2y ago
If the post “Jimmy Carter has died” belongs on HN then I see no reason why OP’s comment does not.

christianqchung 2y ago

Jimmy Carter feels very likely to be the last "normal person" who will ever be elected president. That doesn't absolve his presidency of mistakes obviously, but if you run through the list of presidents since him, the vibes point to that for me.

JojoFatsani 2y ago
Normal people are not as humble and generous with their time as Carter.

_yb2s 2y ago

I think our culture needs some general awareness and “antibodies” against Narcissism, and emotional manipulation in general. People seem generally unaware of, and as a result easily manipulated and controlled by people with these behaviors. I only became conscious of it after reading a book about communication where I learned how emotional manipulation worked- and then realized I was in a relationship with someone doing this to me, and had been completely oblivious for years. Once I understood how it works, I can easily spot people including politicians using these quite simple manipulation techniques, and I feel quite stupid for not figuring it out on my own at a younger age.

pizza 2y ago
What's the book?!
- _yb2s 2y ago
  “When I say no I feel guilty” which is about assertive communication, which is essentially the opposite of emotionally manipulative communication. Also the blogger “The Last Psychiatrist” has good information on Narcissism.
newaccountman2 2y ago
> I think our culture needs some general awareness and “antibodies” against Narcissism, and emotional manipulation in general. This would be diametrically opposed to American culture lol

heresie-dabord 2y ago

You have seen many things in your lifetime, friend, from representatives of the genuine goodness of the US (Mr Carter, Mr Biden) to the corruption of the information society and the dismantlement of democratic principles.

LorenDB 2y ago

I may be speaking out of turn here as somebody born in this century, but after reading the book The Man I Knew I have held a high regard for George H. W. Bush. He, like Carter, was a great human who really cared about others. Again, for all I know, he could have presented himself differently during his term in office, but after his term was up, his life seems genuine to me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648822-the-man-i-knew https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648822-the-man-i-knew

johnnyanmac 2y ago
in the last century, I think HW bush would get a solid top 3 placement (a bit hard to top FDR). He seemed to be one of the last conservative presidents that seemed to be trying to do the right things. And kicked out for doing so. No one likes it when "the right thing" raises their taxes.

sangnoir 2y ago

> I think President Carter might be the only one who felt genuine and didn't exhibit narcissism. He was the opposite of narcissistic, he was honest to a fault, telling the truth even when it was unflattering to his public image: he freely admitted - and without direct prompting - in a Playboy interview that he had looked at a lot of women (other than his wife) with lust[1]. 1. WARNING - site is on a Playboy domain - you may not want to open this on a work computer or have any anti-NSFW mononitoring of your browser activity. https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-jimmy-carter/ https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-jimmy-carter/