The correct answer is D. The president that failed to get many of his initiatives passed because he was a political outsider unfamiliar with the ways Congress works was Jimmy Carter.
Explanation:
Carter carried out a successful electoral campaign defining himself as a "stranger in Washington," in which he criticized President Gerald Ford and the United States Congress, controlled by the Democrats. As president, he continued with this line: his refusal to play with the "Washington rules" contributed to a difficult relationship between the Carter administration and Congress.
During the first 100 days of his presidency, Carter sent a letter to Congress, proposing the rejection of several projects. Carter's plan was rejected, which produced a feeling of bitterness in the Carter administration.
A few months after starting his term, and thinking that he had the support of about 74 congressmen, Carter published a "black list" of 19 projects that, according to Carter, involved a "barrel" of public spending, stating that he would veto any initiative legislation that includes any project on this list.
This list met with opposition from the leader of the Democratic party. Carter had included a bill for rivers and ports as unnecessary and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill, thought it inadvisable for the president to interfere in matters that had traditionally been part of the sphere of competence of Congress. After these events, Carter was even more weakened and had to sign a bill that contained projects on his blacklist.
Later, Congress refused to approve the main provisions of its consumer protection law and its labor reform package and Carter vetoed a package of public works qualifying them as "inflationary," since it contained what he considered unnecessary expenditures. The leaders of the Congress perceived that the public support to the legislative initiative of Carter was weak, and they took advantage of it. After tearing down the consumer protection bill, they transformed their tax plan into nothing more than special interest expenses, after which Carter referred to the Congress Tax Committee as "a wolf pack."
