Introduction This was the announcement by CNN, Monday, December 30, 2024, 5:21 AM about Former President Jimmy Carter dead at 100: “Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died Sunday at the age of 100. Carter was surrounded by his family’ at his home in Plains, Georgia, in his final moments, the Carter Center said. Tributes are pouring in for the former farmer, lawmaker, humanitarian and Geogia governor who served one term as president from 1977 to 1981. President Joe Biden said Carter ‘stands as a model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose,’ and remembered Carter as a ‘dear friend.’ President-elect Donald Trump said Americans owe the former president ‘a debt of gratitude.’ Carter’s wife of more than 75 years, Rosalynn, died in November 2023 at age 96. The Carter’s were the longest-married presidential couple in US history.” The full obituary for Carter is provided in The Washington Post, Sunday, December 29, 2024, 5:41 PM in the article, “Jimmy Carter, 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 100.” This is a lengthy document that provides so much about Jimmy Carter that I highly recommend you read it. I liked the addition to the title since I think it describes Carter in one sentence, “the tenacious Southerner was turn out of office by disillusioned voters after a single term. But he had a brilliant post-presidential career as a champion of health, peace and democracy.” I appreciate Chip Carter, his son, comments about his father, since they describe more about Carter and his postpresidential career: “my father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” Chip Carter said in a statement, “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” Public observance of his death will be held in Atlanta and Washington, and then there will be a private interment in Plains, Geogia. “President Joe Biden said he ordered a national day of mourning on Jan. 9. Biden issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days at federal building and military installations. There are many buildings all over the country that have their flags at half-staff. A President’s Legacy: Challenges and Triumphs The most important things I can say about Carter is he was the opposite of Trump, since he was a moral, ethical and truly religious man. He taught Sunday school most of his life, and the respect he has worldwide is the reason that so many people in the world have reached out to the family and sent message to our country about how they lost a “dear friend” when Carter died. Beyond the White House: Redefining the Role of an Ex-President Jonathan Alter, who is the MSNBC analyst and the author of “His Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life” writes an article for The Washington Post, December 30, 2024, “Jimmy Carter’s presidency is ripe for a major reappraisal. His time in office is remembered almost exclusively for events that were largely beyond his control.” I appreciate what Alter says about Carter. I was alive during his presidency and know that he was not a “failed president”, and he is considered the greatest ex-president in U.S. History. Alter says, “Carter rejected speaking fees, corporate board memberships and golf in favor of writing 32 books to pay his bills and founding the Carter Center, which has done noble work ‘waging peace, fighting disease, building hope,” as its motto says. The Moral Compass of a Nation Here are other facts from this article: “He was not a weak president. A tough, intense former naval officer beneath the smile, Carter was a political failure but a substantive success.” His presidency is remembered almost exclusively for a series of events that were largely beyond his control: the seizure of 52 American hostages in Iran and the failed rescue missions to free them; the wretched state of the U.S. economy, which resulted largely from disruptions in Middle Eastern oil supplies; and the resumption of the Cold War with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which Soviet documents show had nothing to do with Carter’s perceived weakness.” Carter was known for not handling political challenges well, and Alter describes him as “politically tone-deaf and often ham-handed in his relations with the Democratic establishment. He couldn’t get Ted Kennedy to sign on to his incremental health-care bill—which helped prompt Kennedy to run against him in the 1980 primaries. And he failed to win approval of major welfare, consumer and tax reform bills. But the glass of his presidency was more than half full. In an era when Trump in his first presidency had only two major bills to brag about—criminal-justice reform and the tax cut—it’s easy to forget that Carter and a Democratic Congress put more legislative points on the board than any other postwar president except Lyndon B. Johnson.” Any list that was provided by media coverage is incomplete since his accomplishment were extensive. Here are some of his legislative achievement, which were “the nation’s first comprehensive energy policy, including the first support for renewable energy sources; the doubling of national park land (mostly through the Alaska lands bill) and a string of bills that strengthened environmental and consumer protection; the first civil-service reform in nearly a century; the first major mental health bill—later defunded by President Ronald Reagon; the creation of two new Cabinet departments, Energy and Education, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the deregulation of airline fares, trucking routes, utilities and the price of natural gas; the appointment of five times as many female federal judges as all of Carter’s predecessors combined; and the development of high-tech weaponry (most notably, the B-2 stealth bomber) that helped win the Cold War.” Here are his international accomplishments by Alter: “Internationally, Carter was a visionary. His human rights policy, however, inconsistently applied—set a new standard for how governments treat their own people and helped spur a democratic revolution around the world. The ratification of the Panama Canal treaties, against great odds, prevented a major war in Panama” (Trump talks about eliminating this agreement). “Most memorably, Carter wheedled and cajoled his way to a historic deal between Israel and Egypt at Camp David, which has proved to be the most durable peace treaty since World War II.” “Carter was eventually swamped by events and stomped by Reagon in 1980. But this should not overshadow his achievements. Too often, we remember Carter’s awkward style (such as the cardigan sweater, which was popular at the time) but not his brave decisions (such as the pardoning of draft dodgers, which helped heal the wounds of the Vietnam War).” I greatly appreciate Alter’s contrasting Carter with Reagan. He asks the question, “Who was the ‘better’ president: the one with the vision to put solar panels on the roof of the White House (Carter) or the successor who took them down (Reagon)? Under Reagon, inflation was tamed and the economy revived, assuring his reelection in 1984. But the man who did that was Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker—appointed by Carter in 1979.” Alter ends this article with this statement: “Jimmy Carter’s willingness to peer over the horizon and be unpopular—his moral standards and sense of decency—make his presidency ripe for a major reappraisal.” I think The Conversations article, “Jimmy Carter’s Lasting cold War Legacy,” written by Robert C. Donnelly on May 2, 2019, 6:55 am EDT Updated December 29, 2024, 5:31 EST has information that other media do not provide. The summary of Carter’s challenges as president are factually stated and give us a clear picture of Carter’s exceptional talent as a leader.
