Former U.S. president, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter passed away peacefully at his home in Georgia on Sunday, December 29 at the age of 100. He was the oldest lived president in U.S. history.
The White House released in a statement that January 9, 2025 will be a day of mourning for Carter, and all flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday. “I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter,” Biden directed.
Carter’s legacy was defined not only by his tumultuous single term he won in the wake of the Watergate Scandal and Vietnam War, but additionally by his humanitarian accomplishments in his post-presidency. For instance, Carter worked with Habitat for Humanity, a charity that builds houses for the impoverished, and founded the Carter Center in 1982, through which he became a tireless advocate for peace and democracy. Carter traveled the world to monitor elections, end wars, and promote human rights. Furthermore, Carter was a voice who announced loudly when he disagreed with his successors, as he did with George W. Bush over Iraq. He then went on to win the Nobel peace prize in 2002. Jimmy Carter became in a way America’s moral ambassador.
Carter’s strong moral sense was a defining aspect of his presidency. The landmarks of his foreign policy displayed such a character — which most notably include the return of the Panama Canal to Panama, the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978, and the Salt II disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union, all criticized by many as giveaways at the time, portray Carter as a humanitarian devoted towards peace, even if such peace is a detriment to achieve given the context. After all, almost Carter’s first act as president was to pardon all those who evaded the Vietnam draft. In short Carter was a humanitarian who prioritized human life while in office.
Even prior to his presidency, Carter made himself known as a trustworthy figure and moral beacon when he joined the 1976 presidential race as a little known Georgia governor. His promise not to deceive the American people resonated with them after Watergate. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter famously said prior to the election in which he narrowly beat Gerald Ford.
Although Jimmy Carter the man was a moral beacon and human rights activist, Carter the president was a mixed bag. For starters, Carter did not understand the art of working with Congress, and as a result struggled to get an energy-reform bill or petrol rationing passed for the Department of Energy he founded in 1977 to deal with the energy crisis. Moreover, Carter’s presidency was plagued with stagflation, unemployment, and soaring oil prices. He imposed price controls, and later credit controls and austerity, which drove the United States into recession. In the end Carter never found a consistent strategy for helping those in need. The final nail in the coffin to ensure his landslide defeat to the rising star Ronald Reagan was when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980.
Nonetheless, Jimmy Carter remains a notable president and American citizen. His memory will live on in the lives of millions of Americans.
