Jan.17

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10 Short Stories about Jimmy Carter, Part IV

We doubt that, within our lifetimes, there will be another passing quite like Jimmy Carter's. He was the most popular politician in America on the day he died, and someone respected by partisans on both sides of the aisle. Hence our rather extensive coverage of his passing.

Here, in case anyone would like to look back, are the first three sets of stories about Carter and his life and times:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III

And now, the fourth and final set, focused on his life in general, and on his post-presidential years:

1. The Gipper: In the second part of this series, we noted that, on his inauguration, Carter had the grace to compliment outgoing president (and rival) Gerald Ford. Not all presidents are so gracious, at least not these days.
   
   After Carter left office, he was on the receiving end of the same sort of gracious verbiage several times, courtesy of his successor (and rival) Ronald Reagan. For example, at the dedication of the Carter Presidential Center, Reagan delivered an effusive speech that included this observation:

   For myself, I can pay you no higher honor than to simply say this: You gave yourself to your country, gracing the White House with your passionate intellect and commitment. Now you have become a permanent part of that grand old house, so right in tradition, that belongs to us all.

   When Reagan passed away, the Carters returned the favor:

   Rosalynn and I join millions of people around the world who mourn the loss of President Reagan. He was a formidable political campaigner, who provided an inspirational voice to America when our people were searching for a clear message of hope and confidence. He had unshakeable beliefs and was able to express them effectively, both in America and abroad. During the past 10 years, Rosalynn and I have often conveyed to Nancy Reagan our friendship and admiration for her own great service, not only to her husband but to our nation. We extend our condolences to the entire Reagan family during this time of grief.

   Sometimes, it's nice to be able to put politics aside.
   
   
2. The Gospel According to Jimmy: It's not a secret that Carter, though he regarded himself as an evangelical Christian, was very critical of elements within the evangelical movement that he found, well, un-Christian. It's worth going into some detail, however. To start, the former president felt that many evangelicals had fallen into a form of idol worship. In an interview, he declared:

   Except during my childhood, when I was probably influenced by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel depiction of God with a flowing white beard, I have never tried to project the Creator in any kind of human likeness. The vociferous debates about whether God is male or female seem ridiculous to me. I think of God as an omnipotent and omniscient presence, a spirit that permeates the universe, the essence of truth, nature, being, and life. To me, these are profound and indescribable concepts that seem to be trivialized when expressed in words.

   Carter was also critical of anti-evolution elements in right-wing evangelicalism. He had this to say after the Georgia legislature passed a bill limiting the teaching of evolutionary theory in the state's classrooms:

   The existing and long-standing use of the word "evolution" in our state's textbooks has not adversely affected Georgians' belief in the omnipotence of God as creator of the universe. There can be no incompatibility between Christian faith and proven facts concerning geology, biology, and astronomy. There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat Earth in order to defend our religious faith.

   And the former president was also concerned about the extent to which Christianity in particular, and religion in general, were being used to subjugate women: "I have become convinced that the most serious and unaddressed worldwide challenge is the deprivation and abuse of women and girls, largely caused by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts."
   
   
3. Bernie Bro?: Although Carter won all of his elections as a moderate Democrat, in his post-presidency he came to embrace a much leftier political program. He advocated for a higher minimum wage, less stringent drug laws and a reduction of the prison population, protections for abortion access, tighter regulation of corporations, and more government management of the financial sector. That sounds a fair bit like the platform of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and indeed, Sanders got Carter's primary vote in 2016.
   
   
4. Favorite President: If we gave you a second to think about it, you could probably guess the name of Carter's favorite president. You should be thinking "Democrat," although we already revealed that Carter had reservations about Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, and he generally did not care for presidents with less-than-solid moral fiber, which also excludes Lyndon B. Johnson. He was not terribly likely to embrace the racist Democrats of the 19th century, which means we're now down to just a few possibilities. Choose the Southerner from among those, and you've hit the bullseye.
   
   Yep, Carter's favorite president was Harry S. Truman. In an interview with The Guardian, he explained:

   My favorite president, and the one I admired most, was Harry Truman. When Truman left office... He didn't serve on corporate boards. He didn't make speeches around the world for a lot of money. I thought he was the greatest president of this century. He was always the one that I mentioned when I was asked that question, never anyone else. I thought about him often when I was in the White House. He was involved deeply in many of the issues that I had to address [and] I felt that he was down-to-earth. He was honest. He told the truth even when it was painful. He didn't try to shift blame for disappointments or failures to other people. He was courageous, and he never ducked an important issue because it might cost him a few points in the public opinion poll. Also, I felt kind of a kinship with him. We both came from a kind of community that was similar in some ways, and we went back home after the election and the service in the White House.

   Carter could obviously be describing himself there.
   
   
5. Favorite Poet: Carter's love of poetry is well known. He was the first (and, to date, only) president to hold a "poets' summit" at the White House. And he was the first (and, to date, only) ex-president to publish a volume of poetry. However, while you might have guessed Carter's favorite president, you aren't too likely to guess his favorite poet. Not because the poet is obscure, but because his themes (and his lifestyle) don't seem terribly Carter-like. It is... Dylan Thomas.
   
   Carter acquired an interest in Thomas' work in the mid-1950s, reading volumes of the poet's work during times when business was slow. And the first Thomas composition he read, the one that hooked Carter for life, was "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London." The former president admitted that he did not understand the verse at first, but it made him think. Ultimately, Carter paid five different visits to Thomas' stomping grounds in Wales, in 1982, 1986, 1988, 1995 and 2008. The 1986 trip just so happened to coincide with Ronald Reagan's decision to bomb Libya, with the result that a sizable American military contingent tracked down the peanut farmer, as he was fishing on Clywedog Reservoir, to make sure he was not targeted for retaliation.
   
   Carter did not make it to Wales while he was president, but he did visit Westminster Abbey, including poets' corner. Although Thomas is not interred there, Carter was nonetheless disappointed that there was no cenotaph honoring the Welshman. Shortly thereafter, the Brits rectified the problem:
   
   
   
   
6. The West Wing: Carter took inspiration from Harry S. Truman and Dylan Thomas. In turn, actor Martin Sheen took inspiration from Carter. Sheen is a well-known liberal activist, and volunteered for the Carter presidential campaign as a (fairly) young man. When the actor was cast as President Jed Bartlet on the television show The West Wing, he based his portrayal substantially on the 39th president.
   
   
7. You Can't Keep a Good Man Down: In this series, we're mostly trying to highlight lesser-known parts of Carter's story. That said, we don't think we can completely overlook his work for Habitat for Humanity, as widely known as it may be. So, we will share a photo from 2019. While working on a project, Carter suffered a pretty bad fall. And the next day... he showed up for work, with a big bandage and a black eye:
   
   
   
   Let us keep in mind that on the day this picture was taken, the man was 95 years old.
   
   
8. Guinea Worm: One of the main projects of the Carter Center was endeavoring to eradicate Guinea worm disease. It launched its anti-Guinea-worm campaign in 1986, when the disease was endemic in nearly every African country, and there were 3.5 million infections worldwide. A quarter of a century later, Carter said: "I'm still determined to outlive the last Guinea worm."
   
   So, did he achieve his goal? Maybe not by the letter, but certainly by the sprit. There is no remaining country in which the Guinea worm is endemic, and in 2023, the last year for which there are statistics, there were only 13 reported cases. Very soon, it will become the second disease to be completely eradicated by humans, after smallpox.
   
   
9. ILYTG: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter knew each other for a very long time. How long? Well, recall that we noted, in the first part of this series, that Lillian Carter was a nurse at the local hospital. Like Jimmy, Rosalynn was born at that hospital. And, on Aug. 21, 1927, Lillian took 3-year-old Jimmy to visit 3-day-old Rosalynn. So, Jimmy knew his wife for 96 years and 89 days of her 96 years and 92 day life.
   
   Despite their childhood acquaintance, things did not turn romantic until Jimmy was home on break from the Naval Academy. He spontaneously canceled a date with another woman and asked young Eleanor Rosalynn Smith to a movie. Neither of them remembered what movie it was, unfortunately, but Jimmy nonetheless decided that night that Rosalynn was the one he wanted to marry. It took her a little longer to come around, but they were finally wedded on July 7, 1946, and remained together for more than 77 years. That is the longest presidential marriage, of course, outdistancing the 73 years that #2 George H.W. and Barbara Bush were together. The closest living competition is the Clintons, who would need to remain married for a mere 29 more years to take the top spot on the list. Can Bill hold on to age 107, and Hillary to age 106?
   
   From his parents, Jimmy borrowed the phrase "I love you the goodest" and the acronym "ILYTG." He presented Rosalynn with a compact engraved with that acronym as a gift during the Christmas before their wedding:
   
   
   
   Both spouses used the phrase frequently, and it was well known to reporters covering the Carter family.
   
   Of course, a 77-year marriage is not always going to be sunshine and roses. Both of the Carters agreed that the single greatest trial they faced was... when they wrote a book together. Rosalynn lamented the "ugly letters back and forth on the word processor," while Jimmy concurred "It was breaking up our marriage." This will happen when you have two strong-minded people. They did finish the book, however, which was published in 1987 under the title Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life.
   
   
10. The World's Most Exclusive Club: It does not happen too often that five (or six) presidents are all alive at the same time. It's even rarer for five of them to get together in the same place. Here is the second-most recent occasion when five presidents were photographed together:
    
    
    
    This was at a 2017 benefit for victims of Hurricane Harvey. Within the next year, Carter stopped traveling, and Bush 41 died, bringing a temporary end to five-president photos.
    
    The most recent occasion on which five presidents were photographed together, of course, was a little over a week ago:
    
    
    
    
There will be another five-president conclave on Monday, and then, given that certain members of the club are not terribly popular with other members of the club, there may not be another one again for a long time.

And there you have it. It took a couple of weeks and nearly 20,000 words, but that's our best effort at memorializing James Earl Carter. Rest in peace, Mr. President. (Z)