A Liberal Lives In Wisconsin

       Jimmy Carter often called marrying his wife, Rosalynn, his "biggest accomplishment." Perhaps, therefore, it comes as no surprise that Carter made advancing the rights of women a priority of his administration. 1977 was the last year in American history in which every member of the Senate was a man; a quarter of senators are now women, and, perhaps someday, the number will grow to be the 51:49 ratio it deserves to be.      When Carter appointed 262 federal judges from 1977 to 1981, he made sure a record number of them were people of color as well as women, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1980.       On October 31st, 1978, Carter signed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as a direct response to the Supreme Court ruling General Electric Company vs. Gilbert , a 1976 abomination of justice that ruled pregnancy-related firings did not constitute sex discrimination. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act t...

     On October 26th, 1994, Bill Clinton became the second president (after Jimmy Carter) to help make the Middle East more stable for Israel and the United States. While the former had negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel, Clinton was able to negotiate peace between Israel and Jordan. The agreement, often referred to as, simply, the "Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty," ended the state of war that had existed between the two nations since Israel was founded in 1948.       It also prevented the nations from being used as military staging grounds for other nations, created mutual cooperation in tourism and trade, established diplomatic relations, settled land and water disputes, and secured the support of Jordan as one of America's permanent, stable allies in the region.      The agreement remains in effect today. Clinton would later try to replicate his success with the 2000 Camp David Summit between Israel and Palestine in July of that yea...

     Jimmy Carter set a record during his time in the White House when he appointed 262 federal judges. While Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, with 383 and 378, respectively, lead the count in total federal justices appointed, Jimmy Carter set the record for the most judges appointed in a single term, appointing them at a rate of over one a week.      Most of this came with the Omnibus Judgeship Act of 1978, which allowed for the appointment of 172 new judges. In crafting this bill, President Carter ensured the emphasis was on appointing judges of color as well as women, which he was able to do. The law was signed on October 20th of that year. During his tenure, he was one of few chief executives to never appoint a Supreme Court justice. However, he did appoint Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to federal judicial positions; both would later be appointed to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton.      Carter established a precedent of presiden...