Jan.10

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Reader Reflections on Jimmy Carter, Part III

Yesterday was the Washington memorial service for Jimmy Carter. Because people want the deceased's body to be present for these things, Carter's remains were transported from his home in Plains, GA, to Washington, DC. And then, they were taken right back to his home in Plains for interment. So, his body traveled roughly 2,000 miles despite the fact that he was buried about 200 feet from where he died.

Most readers will probably know what happened at the memorial service, but just in case, here are the big "storylines": (1) Joe Biden gave a very nice eulogy for his predecessor; (2) Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff were noticeably chilly with the President, and did not speak to him during the service; (3) Barack Obama and George W. Bush palled around a bit, engaging in some horseplay; (4) Mike Pence coldly shook Donald Trump's hand; (5) Other than Pence, pretty much everyone else in the front rows pointedly ignored Trump; (6) The only living "front row" attendees who did not actually attend were former first lady Michelle Obama and former VP Dick Cheney.

We still have 20 more short stories about Carter, but there was not time to write them all up, plus the news. We also have a large supply of reader comments on Carter that we would like to run. So, we're going to run some of those today, and probably every day next week. We'll also do the last two sets of Carter stories next week. For now, today's reader comments:

• P.S. in Seattle, WA: Habitat for Humanity holds thousands of build projects all over the world each year. For 35 years, they had one called the "Jimmy Carter Work Project" ("JCWP")—later, the "Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project." Not only did the presidential couple lend their names to this build, they showed up and worked alongside the other volunteers.
  
  My wife and I worked at the JCWP that was held in Brooklyn in September 2000. We volunteers stayed in the Harlem YMCA and were assigned a room on the 10th floor, as were the Carters and their security detail. We saw Jimmy and Rosalynn both at the YMCA and at the build site.
  
  Exactly one year later, 9/11 took place. Eleven days after the attacks, our son was born, and we had to select a name. In the emotional period after 9/11, we couldn't help but recall our joyful time in New York one year earlier. As for the baby names on our 3x5 cards, the one that kept floating to the top was "Carter," and that's the name we gave our boy.
  
  
• E.A. in Okemos, MI: The Carter/Ford election is the first election I have any real memory of. I was 10 years old in 1976. I was also in Cub Scouts. And I had to make a car for our annual Pinewood Derby race. My cars never won the speed contest, but they usually scored high marks for the creative and design category. This year was no exception:
  
  
  
  I'm sure my Dad had some input into my choice of design, but I was the one who made the car (except perhaps for using the power saw... I'm sure my Mom wouldn't have allowed that!). Looking back, perhaps I should not have mixed politics and Cub Scouts together, but it was a different time and I don't remember any negative reactions, just some chuckles... and a first place in the design category!
  
  
• P.C. in Vero Beach, FL: With all the well-deserved and positive stories about Jimmy Carter, a person younger than 60 might be wondering how the heck this guy ever lost to a third-rate actor who probably committed treason during the campaign? Well, there were reasons.
  
  Inflation was a plague during the Carter years. The average annual rates of inflation during his term were 6.7%, 9.0%, 13.3% and 12.5%. It only went down during the final year because that is when the recession began. So you had someone running for president while there was around 13% inflation and growing, a recession in progress, but most of all, with an incumbent who seemed to have no idea at all how to handle it. His solution to inflation was to lecture the American people on how it was their fault (the "malaise" speech). Compare this to today's inflation rate of 3.4% and booming economy that still got the Democrats kicked out of most public offices this past year, and you can only imagine the feeling of the electorate going into the 1980 election.
  
  Add on to this the Iranian hostage crisis, where the country looked answerless and powerless. Climaxing with Operation Eagle Claw, a failed rescue attempt that left eight dead American soldiers and a pile of smoking American helicopters and airplanes in the desert, thus making the country look impotent and incompetent. It's true that no American soldiers died in combat during the Carter years, but American soldiers did die, in a way that made us look weak and ineffective.
  
  Even without Ronald Reagan's treasonous negotiations with the Iranian government, Jimmy Carter had no chance. Perhaps not all these problems were self-inflicted, but some were, and we all know where the buck stops.
  
  As a low-information 20-something voter of the era, I now make my most embarrassing admission of my lifetime: I did not vote for Jimmy Carter in 1980. I did vote, let's just leave it at that. It is the only time in my life that I did not vote for the Democratic nominee for president, and it's the only vote I truly regret.
  
  Reagan won and governed by demonizing the poor, wrecking unions, cutting rich people's taxes while embracing big deficits. His actions worked—if people had no money, they couldn't spend it, so inflation dropped to 3.2% by 1983. His legacy is the destruction of the middle class while normalizing the huge national debt which one day may be the largest problem the country has ever faced. To a lesser extent, that is also the legacy of Jimmy Carter, who was unable to lead the country through a very difficult time.
  
  
• A.J.C. in Williamsburg, VA: My parents moved to Georgia in 1970, when my dad got a job with Dow Chemical. They voted for Jimmy Carter for governor, and took their three daughters to see his inaugural parade. I was two, and sat on my Dad's shoulders. Gov Carter saw me perched there and called "Hey sweet thing!" to me as he passed. I don't remember this event, but it's one of those stories that I heard many times in my youth. Dow moved dad to their Williamsburg office about a year later.
  
  In 1980, when I was 11, the 6th grade gifted students were asked to run a mock election for our elementary school, and I was chosen to be "President Carter's running mate, Walter Mondale." I gave a speech in front of the whole school and everything! This launched my lifelong interest in politics. Like the real election, our elementary school ticket lost. Thus, it also launched my lifelong understanding that I had chosen a party of underdogs. Not that this knowledge made 2000, 2016 or 2024 any easier.
  
  These two childhood experiences made Jimmy Carter one of my heroes. His post-presidency work, informed by his faith, strengthened my faith and inspired me to help others. He was a truly great man who remained humble for his entire life. We would all do well to emulate him.
  
  
• K.G. in Atlanta, GA: Back in 1998 or so, my girlfriend worked in HR at Sprint, one of a number of companies involved in the Welfare to Work program. There was a meeting of HR people from multiple companies, and Rosalynn Carter was leading the effort. She spoke to the group about getting the word out using TV ads, PSA, billboards, etc. After she spoke for a while, Jimmy (sitting next to her) raised his hand and said, "Excuse meh... am I the only one heah that doesn't know what a PSA is?"
  
  Imagine that kind of humility from the next occupant of the Oval Office.
  
  
• P.L. in Morelia, Mexico: Having served for 42 years in Mexico as an evangelical minister, I have been around long enough to observe the far right's takeover of the white evangelical majority—first with concern, then indignation, and finally with disgust. During this long and sad process, it was always a comfort to know that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were around to present to the world an alternative image of evangelicals, and the gospel message that they so faithfully personified.
  
  It is deeply saddening to not be able to think of any other person with the character and, yes, fame, to show the world that we are not all in the same tragic boat. Of course, the evangelical progressive tradition is still alive, but we have lost our best representatives for now.

More next week! (Z)