[ad_1]
His four years in office were fraught with misfortune. Since the beginning there has been double digit inflation. and the bad mood after Vietnam and Watergate His fragile staff was possessed by An inexperienced “Georgian Mafia” from his homeland His micro-management of the White House tennis court sparked widespread ridicule. And his beaming campaign promise that he would “never lie” to the country was doomed to disappointment and defeat after a while.
Yet James Earl Carter, Jr., who died today at his home in Plains, Georgia, could fairly lay claim to being the most effective former president his country has ever had. That’s in part because his post-presidential tenure was the longest on record—more than four decades—and his 100-year crammed-in period was the longest of any president during that period. But it was the stress of decency and basic integrity that helped get Carter elected in the first place in 1976, never abandoning him. Even as his country falls under increasing hate and division.
During his tenure as President Carter is the type who is shorthand for being an ineffective leader. It is a reputation that may have always been underwhelming and has been undercut in recent years by revisionist historians such as Jonathan Alter and Bird Chickenwhich argued that Carter was a visionary if Not political Leader. But his career after leaving the White House has provided an indisputable lesson in how former presidents should best conduct themselves. with dignity and humility regarding the honor of the office they once held.
Not for Carter But it is a lucrative service on the company’s board. or making easy money in a speech Or flying on a private jet with a rich friend. After leaving office at the age of 56, he made a living from a series of books on politics, faith, the Middle East, and morality, as well as volumes of memoirs and poetry. Another book He continued to live modestly with his wife, Rosalynn, in Plains, Ga. He forged what both participants described as a true and lasting friendship with Gerald Fore. Card, the man he defeated (In his eulogy at Ford’s funeral in 2007, Carter recalled the first words he spoke upon taking office 30 years earlier: “For myself and for our nation I would like to thank my ancestors for all they have done to preserve our land. He added: “I still hate to admit that they received more applause than any other speech in my inaugural address.” It was a generous tribute and generally an acknowledgment of a wounded ego. )
Carter promotes democracy Conduct informal diplomacy and follow elections around the world as America’s special envoy or at the invitation of foreign governments. He teaches Sunday school at his hometown Baptist church. and works for economic justice, one hammer and one nail at a time, with Habitat for Humanity, a Christian home-building charity, for which he volunteers as long as his health allows. In 2002, he received Nobel Peace Prize for his work “To find a peaceful solution to international conflicts Develop democracy and human rights and to promote economic and social development”
True, he sometimes irritated his successors with public announcements that they viewed as “unfair”. Interfering in state affairs without benefit. He supported the cause of a Palestinian state with a consistency and zeal that led to accusations of anti-Semitism. He maintains a self-righteous streak of judgment. which led him to declare that the election of Donald Trump is illegitimate His fundamental faith in his country was sometimes undercut by anger over how he thought the country’s leaders had gone astray. But he never seemed too bothered by criticism.
In fact, one of his most criticized comments seems prescient and even bold. Looking back on history—not so politically irrational and defeated as it seemed at the time—in the summer of 1979, Carter argued that his country was facing Calling it a “crisis of confidence” that could “destroy America’s social and political fabric,” the statement appeared to predict decades of simmering political resentment. Rage of the Tribe and the subsequent collapse of the institutional structure.
“As you know There is disrespect for the government, churches, schools, media, and other institutions. More and more,” Carter said at the time. “This is not a message of happiness or reassurance. But it’s true. and as a warning” a week later. new york times Journalist Francis X. Klein forever tagged Carter’s diagnosis with a nickname that helped punish his re-election: Klein called it President’s “Across the Frustration” Speech This is a reference to William Jennings Bryan’s warning in 1896 that the gold currency standard risked the crucifixion of humanity. “On the golden cross”
To what extent Carter’s mistakes contributed to the problems he cited is a legitimate question. His communication skills are highly sought after. He could be prickly and prone to over-explaining his 1977 television “Fireside Chat” program, in which he urged Americans to conserve energy by turning down the temperature. It is considered political nonsense. It looked stagnant and forced. Speaking from the White House Library, Carter wore a beige cardigan. But he gives importance to the environment. (He installed solar panels on the roof of the White House.) It’s forward-looking and reasonable. Given what we know about climate change, His insistence on human rights considerations in foreign policy may strike some as naïve after Henry Kissinger’s relentless real-world politics during the Nixon years. and ford But few doubted his confidence. It is bittersweet that his unorthodox attempt to rescue diplomats held hostage in the American embassy in Iran failed so miserably that it helped guarantee Ronald Reagan’s election. (In the fall of 1980, when it seemed unlikely that the hostages would ever be released under Carter’s supervision, Undecided voters also fled to the former governor of California.)
But Carter also had many achievements: the peaceful transfer of ownership of the Panama Canal; Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt Full normalization of relations with China. and steps toward deregulation of transportation, communications and banking are a welcome response to changing economic and industrial realities.
“One reason his enormous victory was discounted is that He pursues measures that are so far-reaching and expansive that what he gets in return often seems counterproductive,” said Stuart Eisenstat, Carter’s former chief domestic policy adviser. Written in October 2018– “Victory is often ugly. He dissolves the political capital that presidents must always nourish and replenish for the next fight. He refuses to be too lenient while also tackling important issues. Too much without clear prioritization. By facing the point where other presidents feels stymied by the same political considerations that he considers unworthy of any president. As he told me ‘Whenever I feel that an issue is important to the country and needs to be resolved. I always go ahead and do it.”’
During the latter’s tenure as president Carter went ahead and did it time and time again. Best wishes that his successors will imitate well. And some of them do, to some degree or another. Carter deals with big problems. and pursues ambitious goals that often dislodge him from office. He works to control or eradicate various diseases. including Guinea worm and river blindness. His non-profit Carter Center in Atlanta continues to advance conflict resolution and human rights issues. and has followed nearly 100 elections in nearly 40 countries over the past 30 years, and he has never stopped striving to live up to the values his Christian faith moved him to embrace.
Carter’s post-White House service model almost certainly served as a guide for the bipartisan disaster relief work of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and for Cli’s global struggle. Newton and AIDS George W. Bush worked to help post-9/11 veterans through the Bush Institute. In many ways, Barack Obama continues to shape his post-9/11 identity. This is despite his My Brother’s Keeper project promoting opportunities for boys and young men of color. Carter showed the country that a president’s duty of service extends beyond his term of office.
During his tenure as President Carter kept Harry Truman’s store. Buck stops here. Signed on the table as a reminder of his utmost responsibility. Truman left office with a job approval rating of just 32 percent, matching the recent rankings of George W. Bush, Trump and Carter, the fourth-worst ranking in modern times. Truman lived for nearly 20 years after leaving office. But he didn’t live long enough to see his reputation restored as a plain-spoken sportsman who did his best in tough times. Carter, who resigned from office like a laughingstock, left his life here on earth as an example of moral leadership.
[ad_2]
Source link
