God Bless Jimmy Carter

 

               

                                    Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrating with family on his 97th birthday

Yesterday marked the birthday of a remarkable American leader, one who has never received the credit for his integrity and determination to make the world a better place. Former president Jimmy Carter turned 97 yesterday with Rosalynn, his wife of 75 years, by his side. Carter grew up in segregated Georgia with a father who was as racist as most others in the community. His mother, Lillian, has a far more inclusvie view of race relations and the world. Her influence and that of a Black nanny meant that Carter had a determination to address the racial divide when he was governor of Georgia, and when he ran for the Democratic presidential ticket he had more Black staffers than the other candidates combined, even though some of them were seen as more liberal. 

Jimmy Carter was the first president in the 20th century to walk to his inauguration, symbolic of his commitment to be a leader amidst the people. 

The United States was not engaged in any war during Carter's tenure and he negotiated a historical peace agreement between Egypt and Israel through what is often called the Camp David Accords of 1978.Carter was progressive in his environmental policies and doubled the area of national parks. As Carter came into office he promised never to lie to the American people or to mislead them. He obviously didn't grasp the nature of politics. 

                                               The Carters Walking to Jimmy's Inauguration

His presidency foundered over what was perceived as his indecisive response to the hostage taking of Americans in Iran and the disastrous rescue mission which resulted in the deaths of US soldiers. Even though the hostages were brought home at the end of his first term, he had already been overwhelmingly defeated by Ronald Reagan.

Jimmy Carter was and is a person of deep Christian faith which has served as his moral and ethical compass throughout his political career and the rest of his life. He was a Southern Baptist into his seventies but left in 2000 because of rigid attitudes in the denomination regarding the leadership of women. Carter taught an adult Sunday School class into his nineties and it was so popular that participants were required to sign up in advance.

Carter has said that “To me, ‘faith’ is not just a noun but also a verb,” and I have always been impressed by the involvement of both Carters in the work of Habitat for Humanity, an organization which is now world-wide building homes for those who would not be able to afford one otherwise. The owners are expected to invest "sweat equity" in the construction and the Carters have worked on scores of projects themselves, as well as being ambassadors. 

We watched a documentary earlier this week about Jimmy Carter and Ruth, my wife, observed  that Muhammed Ali got eight hours on PBS while the former president got one. Good point! The documentary didn't delve into Carter's role as a peace-making diplomat during "retirement", and definitely shied away from his controversial  book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid: 

The ultimate purpose of my book is to present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion and to help restart peace talks (now absent for six years) that can lead to permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors

God bless Jimmy Carter for his courage and his faith, and may history be kinder to him. 

                                       Jimmy Carter with Anwar Sadat and Menachim Begin at Camp David