The Urgent Relevance of Jimmy Carter

When It Comes to True Leadership, Character Always Matters Most

On Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, Donald Trump used the occasion to make a snide remark about our 39th president. He said that because in his view Joe Biden was the worst president ever, Jimmy Carter must now be happy to have been relieved of that dubious distinction.

Of course, when historians were asked recently to assess America’s presidents, it was Trump who ranked last. Biden’s presidency and Carter’s were both dramatically more successful by every metric save one than Trump’s first term. That one metric is that both Carter and Biden were denied second terms and Trump, as we know, was in November returned to office.

To some, Trump no doubt included, that re-election is proof that in the eyes of the American people Carter was somehow less than our twice-impeached, repeatedly disgraced once and future president.

Nothing could be further from the truth, of course.

Indeed, that which distinguishes Carter not just from Trump but from in differing degrees from all the other presidents we have seen in our lifetimes was the quality of his character. That is not to say that others who have served in our highest political office in the past half century or so were not worthy individuals or people of good character, but no one was so defined by his innate goodness as a human being as was Carter. Further, no one was as committed to being guided by principle or values than the former Georgia governor.

It is not simply that Carter, who died this weekend, was a man of faith who taught Sunday school until his very last years. Personally, I’m skeptical of public displays of religiosity and I believe that keeping church and state separate is vitally important to having a just and tolerant government. It is rather, how Carter lived, what he focused on, and the example he set that distinguishes him. This is best illustrated by his post-presidency when whether working for Habitat for Humanity or in his community or seeking to bring attention to the suffering of disenfranchised groups around the world, Carter was almost universally seen as the best ex-president in our history.

But as president, Carter also distinguished himself. He ran and won in the wake of the taint of the Nixon Era by arguing that the country needed “a president as good as its people.” His achievements were significant from the Camp David Accords to the normalization of relations of China to negotiating the return of control of the Panama Canal to the people of Panama, his actions had lasting consequences. (It is a bitter irony that Trump, in many ways the polar opposite of Carter when it comes to character, is now threatening to reclaim control of the canal as part of his posturing regarding the rising influence of China.) Carter sought to raise awareness of the threat of climate change and he sought to heal the wounds of Vietnam by pardoning draft evaders (again, see the contrast with Trump who has said he will pardon insurrectionists.)

While Carter struggled to cope with a “stagflationary” economy, it was he who appointed Paul Volcker to be Fed chairman, thus setting in motion the hard steps necessary to foster a recovery for which Ronald Reagan would later claim credit. Carter also suffered the misfortune of being in office during a global energy crisis and of being in the White House when U.S. embassy staff were taken hostage during the Iranian revolution. Without minimizing his errors in offering shelter, for example, to the Shah of Iran, Carter did try to undertake a rescue of the hostages and later negotiations for their release were, according to credible reports, later undermined by back channel conversations between the Reagan campaign and Tehran.

Carter was criticized for being a poor communicator and was ultimately defeated by Ronald Reagan, a movie star who offered charisma that outshined that of Carter. But Carter was much more effective as president than contemporary accounts allowed and gradually over time, his accomplishments have become better appreciated.

The recognition Carter achieved after his presidency, especially through the work of the Carter Center, ultimately resulted in his winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But in many respects, it was Carter’s courage in seeking to address challenges worldwide from North Korea to the Israel-Palestine conflict that won him special and well-deserved kudos.

Personally, Carter represents the beginning of my life in the world of politics and policy. When I was in college, I managed to finagle a ticket to Democratic National Convention in 1976 at which he was nominated for the presidency. When I later joined the staff of New York Congressman Stephen Solarz, my first official trip to the White House was with Solarz for a meeting with Carter’s brilliant national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski…a man who I was later privileged to call a friend. I even attended one of Carter’s inaugural addresses during my time on Solarz’s staff.

At the time, I was underwhelmed by Carter and I remained ambivalent for many years. Two things ultimately changed my view. One, after my own time working during the Clinton Administration, I began to be a historian of sorts of how the White House worked—especially in matters of national security—and the more people with whom I spoke from the Carter era, the more impressed with his intelligence, attention to detail and substance I became. Also, while I initially reacted reflexively and strongly against his description of how Israel was treating the Palestinian people as “apartheid,” upon further reflection and in the light of subsequent events, I realized he had been courageous and was exactly right.

He has been derided for advocating for human rights by those who think such soft niceties should not color a “realist” view of our foreign policy. But needless to say, after a lifetime of watching governments in action and immersing myself in history, I realize that the progress of civilization will be measured by the degree to which we work to create a global society that is increasingly shaped by our aspirations beginning with the fundamental recognition that every human on this planet deserves to be treated with respect and that the purpose of government is to guarantee that is the case and to lift up all of us rather than serving only the few with the most power or the fewest scruples.

In politics as in life, the best people do not always come out on top in the short term. But they exist as examples and reminders to us all of who we might be, of who we should be, and they stand in pointed contrast to those who are guided by baser impulses.

Thus, with America about to inaugurate again the American leader who has already repeatedly proven to be a manifestation of the worst of us, it is important to be reminded that among us there are better men and women, leaders and potential leaders to whom we should turn if we ultimately seek to be the country we can be, the country Jimmy Carter worked throughout his life to help us become.