We didn’t exactly “bounce back” from Carter - not even Reagan was able to fix Carter’s F-ups.
Carter ensured that Iran fall to the Islamists, that Islamists would view the US as impotent against assymetrical attacks, that the Panama Canal would leave US control, that the ChiComs could always have the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip, that Sandinistas gain power in Nicaragua, that Robert Mugabe gain power in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, etc etc etc. We still haven’t recovered from the Carter debacle, and Carter never got a chance to appoint a Supreme Court justice, while Obama/Hillary would get a chance to appoint 1-3.
Bingo, we wouldnt be fighting in Iraq if Iran was still an ally w US naval bases, the CIA was decimated, Carter was a horrific disaster to this country and our allies.