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Comment by WalterBright | Hacker News Reader

If Carter was making bad decisions because Koch told him to, then that still makes Carter a bad President.

Firstly, The Koch brothers are fiercely republican and were not making decisions through Carter. Secondly, I said pre-Koch.

Btw, the oil price controls were a Nixon initiative, continued by Ford. Carter did not invent them, he just didn't remove them.

Reagan was the beneficiary of the collapse of the OPEC price war internationally.

Funny how the OPEC price war collapsed the day Reagan took office and repealed those damned price and allocation controls.

Something Carter could have done at any time. But he didn't. Reagan did.

> he just didn't remove them

That's right, for 4 years he didn't. He gets the blame for it for those 4 years.

I’m trying to square how only [15% of oil price controls](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/29/us/president-abolishes-la...) remained when Reagan single handedly saved the day. Seems like Carter spent 4 years doing the hard work and Reagan was able to capitalize on the last bit, which as the article states, Carter would have accomplished by spring.

But Carter did not do it. You don't get credit for things you didn't do. There was no need for delay, as Reagan amply demonstrated.

Remember, Reagan did it on his first day in office. Carter could have done it the day before.

If you lived through that transition (I did) it was wonderful to have the gas lines disappear overnight and never return. Thank you, Reagan!

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