Jimmy Carter’s exemplary life

As a young adult citizen of the United States, I cast my first presidential vote in 1976 for Jimmy Carter, who had risen quickly from relative obscurity to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the White House. A Washington outsider, he became the first in a series of presidents lacking previous experience at the federal level. As such, Carter’s presidency was less than successful, but in the long aftermath he would become the best ex-president Americans have ever had, with the possible exception of Herbert Hoover, another one-term president who devoted his life to humanitarian causes.

During the 1976 campaign, Carter unexpectedly made his religious convictions a matter of public record, claiming to be “born again,” a label taken from John 3:3 and popularly assumed by evangelical Protestants, especially those in the revivalist tradition. Inserting so personal a matter as religious faith into a political campaign was all but unprecedented. Previous presidents were men of faith in varying degrees, but they made no issue of it in public.

Carter also broke new ground by making the defence of human rights a key element of his administration’s foreign policy. Unfortunately, it became difficult to do this with any consistency because in the struggle to contain communism America was allied with countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Shah’s Iran boasting abysmal records on this front.

Moreover, the 39th President proved less than adept at dealing with members of his own Democratic Party in Congress, often assuming that the rightness of a cause should be enough to bring people onside. During a period of high inflation coupled with slow economic growth, Carter’s domestic policies became highly unpopular.

Distinguished service

Yet he scored two big foreign policy successes: the Panama Canal Treaty, which turned over to Panama sovereignty over an artificial waterway crucial to global trade, and the Camp David Accords, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt against rather long odds.

Carter was defeated by his inability to resolve the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 and the growing popularity of the sunny-spirited Ronald Reagan. But during his long post-presidential life, lasting an unprecedented 44 years, Carter distinguished himself in service to the poor and marginalized, particularly through Habitat for Humanity, a global organization which, according to its website, “has helped more than 59 million people achieve strength, stability and independence through safe, decent and affordable shelter.”

I was privileged to see Carter speak in Atlanta in 1991. And I briefly shared a stage with his wife Rosalynn in 1987 when I received my PhD at Notre Dame and she was given an honorary doctorate. Carter will undoubtedly be remembered as a sincere Christian whose term in public office was not entirely successful but who later used his prominence to assist those most in need.