Month: January 2025

That famous quote, spoken by the ghost of Jacob Marley in Charles Dickens’ immortal classic, “A Christmas Carol” is especially poignant with the passing of former President Jimmy Carter over the holidays, and memorials this week in Georgia, Washington, and across the country.  It was his guiding principle before, during, and after his time in the White House.  It defined his role in leadership, his sense of honesty and his overall character.  Whether sitting in the Oval Office, teaching Sunday School, building homes for the needy, highlighting the dangers of parasitic diseases, or working to preserve election integrity abroad, he was a role model for all of us.  His engaging, infectious smile calmed a nation emerging from the turmoil of Watergate.

Rising to the highest office in the land, Mr. Carter pledged “I will never lie to you.”  And he didn’t.  His honest, straightforward approach got him elected, but many have also called it a stumbling block in Washington, where “spin”, denial, and deception are too often the currency of government.  Carter’s administration was overshadowed by inflation, high gasoline prices and rationing, long lines at the gas station, and the Iran hostage situation and its failed rescue attempt. We tend to forget the pictures of a smiling Carter shaking hands with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.  Brokering an agreement that included peace between Egypt and Israel that included a proposal for self-governing powers for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and guidelines for more collaborative partnerships in the Middle East. Visionary, even if they haven’t seen long term success, undermined by “digging in” and a renewal of ancient feuds. None-the-less, core beliefs underscored that for which Jimmy Carter was known. And, for which he would later win a Nobel Peace Prize, one of only two US presidents in this century to do so, and the first since Woodrow Wilson.  He also turned Americans’ attention to Africa, the “forgotten” continent, struggling to overcome elite minority rule, the last vestiges of colonialism, extreme poverty and hunger, and rampant disease.

Wearing a cardigan sweater, he urged Americans to conserve energy, to turn the heat down. His message presaged a warning of global climate change, for which Vice President Al Gore later also won a peace prize, and built the foundations for a steady shift away from fossil fuels that continues to this day, up to the reelection of . . . . .  Ironically, that’s a platform on which Elon Musk later built his empire of electric cars.

Mr. Carter’s strong defense of, and fierce advocacy for human rights laid another foundation – one that saw authoritarian governments in Eastern Europe in the 1980’s and 1990’s start to crumble and democratic activists’ voices begin to be heard.  Coalitions that had existed behind the “iron curtain” for much of the 20^th century, and that had been considered immutable were starting to lose their stranglehold on power.  Much of that groundwork, for which President Carter never was and never will be credited, can be laid to his unwavering belief in what was right and what wasn’t. 

I remember the Carter years.  My wife and I were married in 1977 and relocated in 1978.  I remember with appalling clarity when gasoline hit $1.00 per gallon.  When we could only buy gasoline on odd or even days, and we waited in long lines.  I got my first teaching job and we moved from Southwestern New Hampshire to Nashua.  Our rent doubled, and I was paid the princely sum of $5,800 per year. Much like today, people voted with their wallets in 1980, and assumed that the president had complete control of the economy, so it was had to be his fault.  Into office marched the Republicans, because Ronald Reagan was a take-charge guy, and he’d fix the problems. Swept into office on the twin themes of lowering taxes and deregulation. Sound familiar? And so, Jimmy Carter left office perceived as weak and ineffectual, the simple, honest man from Georgia for whom the Oval Office was just too much. The Presidency is like that.  Vietnam overshadowed Lyndon Johnson’s term, and we have tended to forget the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, the Voting Rights Act, and Medicare.  Fortunately, historical record takes a broader, more balanced view.  

History will review his legacy – in fact, it has already begun.  Not unlike President Biden today, we can’t say Carter’s single term of office was without consequence, didn’t have real accomplishments, and didn’t chart a path forward.  Time and objectivity often reward those who chose to do what was right rather than what was popular. Those that perceived “weakness” in Jimmy Carter have seriously underestimated the power of his warm smile and gentle Georgia drawl.  Behind them lay a steely determination to make the world better.

Mr. President, your spirit of humanity is alive in many people, and we’ll remember you for the good you did.  Images of swinging a hammer for Habitat for Humanity, sitting next to Nelson Mandela while each of you holds an HIV-baby in South Africa, teaching Sunday School classes in Plains.  You and Rosalyn – a couple working in harmony. Traveling the globe in service to democracy, in service to people in need.  Yes, Mr. Carter.  Much more than peanut farming, “mankind” was your business, and your life’s work.  Goodbye and thank you.