NFL
By: Greg Rector
The nation’s 39th President James Earl Carter is about to pass on from this earth according to his grandson. Jimmy Carter might not have been a great President. Those four years from 1977 to 1981 were years that were tough on every American but no one had a harder time than President Carter. Jimmy Carter has lived a remarkable life for his 98 years on this earth.
This X below though stands out most to me when speaking about President Jimmy Carter. His 77 years of marriage with Rosalynn Carter has been a love story told often and we have been so fortunate to witness this incredible couple for these many years.
"Former President Carter and wife Mrs. Rosalynn Carter quickly kissed on a Habitat for Humanity build site when they thought no one noticed …"
Married for 77 years.
May they be surrounded by love at this time. pic.twitter.com/BwX3Dmwbx3— Rebecca (@myfabulousfind1) August 20, 2023
Governor Carter Runs For The White House
I remember the 1976 Presidential election quite well. I grew up watching Watergate and saw the decline of the economic status of so many people after the Arab oil embargo crippled the economy. Governor Carter ran against 16 different Democratic candidates. When he was confronted with the “Jimmy Who? “question he answered quite succinctly “My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president.”
He started running early Carter declared his intention to run for the Presidency in January of 1974 and was able to travel over 50,000 miles and he had met many voters in visiting 37 states and delivering over 200 speeches. With no other candidate out there Jimmy Carter seized the attention of the voters. So much so that he won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and was well on his way to winning the Democratic nomination for the Presidency.
“What Carter had that his opponents did not was the acceptance and support of elite sectors of the mass communications media. It was their favorable coverage of Carter and his campaign that gave him an edge, propelling him rocket-like to the top of the opinion polls. This helped Carter win key primary election victories, enabling him to rise from an obscure public figure to President-elect in the short space of 9 months.”
At the convention, Jimmy Carter selected Senator Walter Mondale as his Vice President choice and they would go on to win a narrow victory over President Gerald Ford. Carter and Ford had three Presidential debates for the first time since President Kennedy had beaten Richard M Nixon in 1960 since Presidential debates happened.
President Jimmy Carter
When Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the President on January 20th, 1977 the country was tired of stagflation from Watergate and there was a malaise towards the economy. This would come back to haunt President Carter in the later part of his one term in office.
President Carter pardoned every Vietnam War draft evader as he promised he would do in his campaign. This led to a belief that Democrats were soft on military service which was far from the truth. President Jimmy Carter had served in the United States Navy during his service he was involved in the Chalk River case where a nuclear reactor went down Jimmy Carter wore protective gear and went into the reactor to get it to shut down.
In 1952 Jimmy Carter was a young Navy lieutenant w rare experience in nuclear reactors. So when a Canadian nuclear reactor malfunctioned & was melting down, he volunteered to help despite risks. He endured 90 sec exposure & turned off the valve. #hero https://t.co/pK6gRprgM7 pic.twitter.com/cSQ37CbUbF
— Mia Farrow 🏳️🌈 🌻🇺🇸💙 (@MiaFarrow) August 20, 2023
President Jimmy Carter went to Washington D.C. with a completely false sense of how Congress worked. This was his undoing and caused him to be challenged by Senator Ted Kennedy for renomination in 1980. After the first two years of his Presidency, he found out how rough Congress could be.
Foreign Affairs
President Jimmy Carter of course sought his place on the world stage like every other President. This is where he succeeded far more than he was able to on his domestic agenda. We all know about the Camp David Accord with Egypt and Israel.
Things turned on President Jimmy Carter though when the Iran hostage crisis took place. After the failed attempt to get the hostages President Jimmy Carter’s time in office was coming to a swift end.
Post Presidency
No former President has had a larger role nor has reached as many people as President Jimmy Carter. Since founding “The Carter Center” in 1982 the Center has been involved with issues ranging from getting rid of the guinea worm disease to ensuring elections have been free and fair in many countries.
However, it’s been the work on Habitat For Humanity and seeing the former President with his wife working beside him. We all just witnessed last month that the Carters celebrate their 77th year of marriage on July 7th of this year. What an amazing couple the Carters have been.
We have seen President Jimmy Carter battle and defeat brain cancer in 2015.
Farewell President Carter
Whenever the day does come when the nation’s longest-lived President passes from this earth, take a moment out of your busy day and sit down and appreciate what this man accomplished in his life. Those people he and Rosalynn Carter helped are all better off as the world has been by their presence.
Of all the lessons he has taught us one stands out to me the most. “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.”
Farewell President Jimmy Carter, you will be missed by millions all over the globe. You may not be remembered for your four years in the nation’s highest office, but you will be remembered for living such an extraordinary life outside of the White House.
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