Carter I am sure had no personal opinion about any Amtrak train, and most likely did not have any opinion about the details of what Amtrak does, or even what Amtrak does at all. It was a budget decision that was made by the Congress and the Carter administration who were faced with a pretty grim economic situation. Been there and lived through that. It was the then Amtrak administration who decided what to cut and what not to cut.
The original plan presented by the FRA was much more draconian. It also included the Crescent, the SWC, the Pioneer, the San Joaquins, the Hiawathas and the Eagle. The proposal was to replace the SWC by the Desert Wind. The outcome was that the SWC stayed and the Desert Wind was added. The Pioneer was saved by Bob Packwood. The Eagle survivied due to some regional considerations since its removal would have removed all service from several states. Those were grim days.
Brock Adams was the Amtrak boss then. Much to the chagrin of many, even back then, nothing was cut in the Northeast, though the Champion did go bye bye, as did the National Limited, to be replaced by the Pennsylvanian, preserving its eastern end. And of course the famous Hilltopper which was a weird train to start with. But the Colonial, which was an anemic 3 car train to Newport News was not on any hit list.
Of course within two years of the 79 mayhem, the Cardinal was briefly cut, as were several other trains. Only the Cardinal got immediately restored. During the Carter administration the following trains were added to assuage various parties:
- 1977: Seattle - Salt Lake City Pioneer
- Fifth San Diegan
- 1978: Sixth San Diegan
- Washington-Philadelphia Chesapeake
- 1980: Second San Joaquin
- Philadelphia - Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian
- Portland - Eugene Willamette Valley
- Chicago - East Peoria Prairie Marksman
- Chicago - Indianapolis Hoosier
- Kansas City - St. Louis Mules
- Seventh San Diegan