Admiral Jimmy Carter, USN?

What if instead of leaving the navy and entering politics Jimmy Carter had decided to stay in the United States Navy? Might have have risen to the top and become CNO?
 
Hmm. Carter quit the Navy because of his father's death; push that back and maybe he'll be too invested in the Navy to leave.

If he did succeed in making CNO, it would probably be in the early or mid-'80s, perhaps replacing Thomas Hayward or James Watkins.

I think it's not impossible for him to make CNO - Frank Kelso, a fellow nuclear submariner who joined the Navy in '53, made CNO in 1990.
 
No. Carter was and is too much of a micromanager / bureaucrat, to say nothing of his tiresome moralizing. The former wouldn't go over too well with the uppermost echelons, and the latter would be a decided career limiter. He would--quite deservedly so, I might add--wind up a statistic of the Peter Principle. Frankly, I think he'd have been lucky to get the two stars of a rear admiral, never mind the third star of a vice admiral--and forget anything more.
 
Having talked with Naval officers that served with Carter the conclusin that I am left with is that there was little chance that he would ever reach flag rank. He would never achieve any important station in the nave for the reason that the previous poster have mentioned.
 
I agree CNO is unlikely, but I just wondered what others might think. At best perhaps that Carter might achieve is commanding a DESRON, or a desk job ashore. At worst he might be lucky to reach Commander, or Captain.

Perhaps the biggest change to the world would be someone else in the Oval Office if Carter stays in the navy.
 
I could see him eventually being Rickovers number 2 man with his micormanaging and moralising. He would maybe reach a sub squardron command or even group command but then could see him going into the engineering side of the USN's nuclear program as a manager. Rickover micro managed his side of the house and looked for that at times in his subordinates.
 
Top