The only way you could say that by withholding details of negotiations with the Ayatollah was "lying" would be to accuse Carter of a "lie by ommision". That's harsh, (to say the least). I mean, it's not like he went to the media and said, "We will never negotiate with terrorists" and then secretly traded arms for hostages and profits to divert to yet more terrorists.
Would Carter have been "lying" if some one in the White House Press Corps had said, "Are you negotiating with the Ayatollah" and Carter replied, "I cannot, for security reasons, go into that."? You seem to be saying he would, I think not.
And Physicist/Engineer? Wow! Imagine a politician telling that big a whopper during a campaign!