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with The passing of former President Jimmy Carter At 100, we can now take the full measure of the man. The legacy of the 39th President is a role model for all of us, regardless of party, ideology, worldview, or position in life. Quite simply, Jimmy Carter lived a heroic life, and for many he represents everything that is right in public service. His life was well lived.
I say this as a fellow Democrat who disagreed with Carter over his policies in the Middle East and in countries like Venezuela. But I say this not to criticize the former president, but rather to underscore his unwavering commitment to principles, integrity, and tirelessly doing what he believes is the right thing.
Jimmy Carter is remembered for his integrity and dedication to humanity
Carter's life reads like a storybook. He was a military leader and hero, a successful farmer and businessman, and a governor who was a civil rights pioneer. He did all this while understanding the concerns of those now known as America's extreme “MAGA” voters. Perhaps his greatest achievement was winning the presidency in 1976 on a simple platform to convince the American people that he was an outsider, a new face, someone who, as he put it, “would never lie to you.”
Jimmy Carter, Democratic presidential candidate, and his wife, Rosalynn, share a moment aboard his campaign plane
His one term in the White House saw a number of significant successes as well as well-documented failures. He was the most successful in the Middle East by signing the Camp David Accords. He restored the Panama Canal and signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. Its most notable failures were the economic crisis that gave birth to the term “stagflation,” and of course the Iranian hostage crisis and the failed rescue attempt. His tenure also witnessed an energy crisis that burdened Americans with skyrocketing gas prices and long lines at the gas pumps.
It is also important to know that Carter was a man of faith and God. He was private in his religious beliefs but was also compassionate and committed in the most humble of ways. He taught Sunday school in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, before and after his presidency with little public interest or awareness.
Carter's marriage to Rosalynn was a model for us all. It has been a partnership that has lasted 77 years, seemingly without pressures or disagreements but with a shared commitment to the private and public values they each share and a desire to advance their worldview and values.
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But perhaps it is important to note that Carter's greatest accomplishment, after losing in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980, was the establishment of the Carter Center, dedicated to promoting world peace. He was able to continue working on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. He conducted peace negotiations around the world, helped oversee controversial elections and political change, as well as working to eradicate the scourge of highly contagious and contagious diseases.
(LR) Amy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, and Jimmy Carter pose for portraits in Plains, Georgia, during the presidential campaign in the fall of 1976. (Guy Delort/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
This post-presidential model was and continues to be the thing that paved the way for what others, including former President Bill Clinton, did post-presidency. After leaving the White House, Carter catalyzed a period of judicial and outlaw activism, which led to him receiving the Presidential Medal in 1999 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
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But when I think about President Carter's life, perhaps his most momentous final decision, to go into a nursing home in February of 2023, sends a powerful and profound message about end-of-life care and the decisions we will all inevitably have to make.
By embracing the final chapter of his life with such grace and dignity, the former Carter did something I thought was nearly impossible: he raised his profile and served as a role model for us all, while providing a degree of leadership and service that, I think it's fair to say, was unparalleled in life. American political and civil society.
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