BOOK EXCERPT: ‘White House Diary’

On October 26, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter stopped by the Marketplace office for an interview with host Kai Ryssdal. Carter talked about his new book, “White House Diary,” and offered insight into his years as president — touching on topics ranging from his appointment of Paul Volcker to Federal Reserve Chairman, to whether the push for deregulation may have caused our current economic climate.

On the subject of health care, Carter explains why former Sen. Ted Kennedy was able to obstruct his bill: “I had worked out what I wanted to do with health care, which was a very comprehensive program to have catastrophic health care for everybody to start with and then over a four-year period to give universal health care… At the last minute, Ted Kennedy decided that he would not support it and he was able to obstruct the entire bill.”

Read the rest of our interview with former President Jimmy Carter.