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It seems more certain that Carter will make good on his promise of a more modest presidential style. He plans to wear a blue business suit to his-Inaugural, instead of the customary morning clothes, and, when no formal guests are expected, to don jeans from time to time while working in the White House. He may also continue to stay overnight occasionally in private homes as he travels the U.S. He wants to minimize the use of Air Force One and to ride in an armored Ford LTD instead of the bigger and fancier Continental limousine most Presidents have used.
Whenever he can, Carter will return to Plains. The change that sweeps over him when he gets home is actually physical. As he strides the fields that he knew as a boy, his shoulders slump as though he were carrying buckets of water, and he walks with the weary, plodding stride of a plowman.
His first important act after the Inaugural will be to pardon all Viet Nam draft resisters. Then he will turn his attention to the major goals for his Administration, which he discusses in depth with TIME in an exclusive interview (see page 23). An analysis of the nation's problems and Carter's policies:
THE ECONOMY. Though Carter has decided that the economy needs both a tax cut and more spending for job-creating programs, focused on areas of chronic unemployment, he has not yet determined the size of the package. But it will probably be about $20 billion, mostly in tax cuts for individuals. He also may invite corporate and labor leaders to the White House and urge voluntary restraint, without setting numerical guidelines, on wage and price increases.
With tax-cut and spending stimuli, the economy is expected to grow in 1977 at a moderate rate of just under 5%, moving up to a fairly brisk 6% or so in the latter part of the year. At that pace, unemployment would drop from the current 8.1% to just under 7% at year's end. That would still be far above Carter's ultimate goal—he hopes to cut unemployment to 6½% in 1977 and to 4½% by 1980. But the economy would certainly be moving fairly well and starting to generate the extra tax revenues that Carter says he will need to finance his package of social benefits.
GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION. While Carter can look ahead to fairly good times in the economy, he faces a tough time fulfilling his promise to reorganize the Government and reduce the bureaucracy. As a start, he plans to ask Congress for a somewhat stronger version of the power to make limited changes—subject to veto by the Hill—that was granted to every President from Truman to Nixon. Says Carter: "I don't desire to abolish or create entire departments or to eliminate any members of the Cabinet without going to Congress for permanent legislation. But I've got to have the authority to transfer programs back and forth and to consolidate the control of programs under one entity in the Government." He is already considering plans—which he can carry out without