Where did Carter say that the first thing he would do in the event of a terrorist attack would be to retaliate?

That is a real heck of a quote.

The radical right wing has worked assidiously over the half century to push the meaning of "strong on defense" in the direction of more and more extreme actual actions.

That shifting grounds makes is absurd to equate being "strong on defense" in the mid 1970's and the turn of the century.