Remembering Jimmy Carter: Lessons From the 39th President of the United States
By LUKE CHON ‘28
On Dec. 29, 2024, former President James “Jimmy” Earl Carter Jr. died in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, nearly a decade since he was first diagnosed with melanoma and a century since his birth, making him the longest-living president in America’s 248-year history. The abrupt alert of his death, first announced by the Carter Center in Atlanta, brought a temporary respite in a month marked by significant political upheaval: headlines swarmed with the anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Yet, in the early weeks of the new year, Carter’s passing brought national frenzy to a sudden standstill, allowing for momentary calm as America mourned the loss of its 39th president.
Carter remains one of the most polarizing political figures in the history of the nation. For many, he epitomized what it meant to be a president: Carter was an active advocate for human rights, a fervent environmentalist at heart, and long after the conclusion of his sole term as president, would continue to push for the ideas he stood by, driven by innate integrity and faith in the greater good. Yet, the very qualities that shaped his public appeal ultimately dissolved into the factors that cost his credibility towards the end of his tenure. Carter was criticized for a lack of innovation and a groundless political base, further burdened by missteps in his campaign that painted him as eccentric, peculiar, and ineffective in the eyes of the people.
Now, nearly 45 years after the conclusion of his term, Carter has all of America’s attention in his grasp once again, perhaps for the final time, as newspapers nationwide honored his legacy through front-page articles, online documentaries, and interviews recovered from the past. In an age where national politics has descended into unprecedented levels of tension, where Congress is painfully stagnant and divisive, and where a former president was re-elected for the first time since Grover Cleveland in 1897, America sat down and remembered Carter for who he was, rather than what he should have been. America was reminded of a man who arose from humble beginnings, strove for excellence, and saw politics as a tool for change rather than one for power. In honor of the 39th president, and ahead of the inauguration of the 47th, here are a few lessons we can learn from former United States President Jimmy Carter.
The following quotations have been selected from individual eulogies delivered during Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral on January 9, 2025.
“They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from, no matter what happened in their lives” - Jason Carter, grandson, on Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter
Born on Oct. 1, 1924, to owners of a peanut farm and warehouse, Carter’s destiny was never written for a career in politics. He grew up in the rural outskirts of Georgia, surrounded by farm life, and raised in a household lacking access to running water and electricity. His closest friends were the Black children of the sharecroppers who worked for his father’s farm, intersections in his personal life that endeared him to the Black community and first exposed him to the ideas of social equality that would become his early outlets for political advocacy. Carter would grow up and be the first of his immediate bloodline to attend college, later enrolling in the Naval Academy in 1943 as a submariner, regarded as the Navy’s riskiest post. His commitment to the nation would continue for 10 years, before returning home to Plains in light of his father’s death. With business at the family farm declining, Carter stepped up, harboring a firm desire to assume a similarly impactful role in the community as his father had. As such, Carter began to immerse himself in his town’s local affairs, triggering the start of a powerful trajectory to the zenith of national politics. From modest memberships in Plains’ local boards to two terms of service on the Georgia State Senate, Carter, in the span of two decades, was elected governor of Georgia on Jan. 12, 1971, and three years later he formally announced his candidacy for president of the United States.
Fast forward two years and the governor became a president. The world watched in awe as the peanut farmer hailing from Plains, Georgia, a town nearly 85 times smaller than Washington in landmass, stood before a rallying crowd to accept his victory over the then-incumbent Gerald Ford. And yet, despite the power he held and the influence he wielded, Carter was always conscious of the responsibilities he carried and the lessons he espoused since childhood. He never forgot Georgia and Plains. His earliest ancestors had resided in Georgia, stretching back to the days of the Revolution. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, was a neighbor since youth, married Carter in 1946 during his time at the Naval Academy, supported him as he carried on his father’s peanut business, and together fostered a family of six. Today, Carter lies buried beside his wife in Plains, forever paying homage to the town he spent 80 years living in of his 100 total. In this sense, Carter exemplifies the importance of honoring our heritages, telling us that, regardless of wherever we end up and whatever life we decide to lead, the communities and experiences of our youth ultimately play the utmost significance in the identities we embrace.
“But I think he enjoyed writing for another reason. As an author, he was under no pressure to tailor his opinions to some political constituency or potential contributor.” - Steven Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford, on behalf of his father
Steven Ford’s posthumous reading of his late father, Gerald Ford’s, eulogy carried a particular significance. Ford and Carter fought a tight and narrow race in 1976, in which both campaigns attacked the other. Despite this, in the aftermath of Carter’s clinching of the presidency, Ford and Carter became friends of a close and a personal degree, nurturing a mutual respect and an ‘unlikely friendship’ of sorts. It went to such an extent that both presidents formed a pact to speak at each other’s funerals. Carter paid the tribute in 2007 and now, in memory of his father, Steven Ford reciprocated the act.
Carter was sworn in when America was still recovering from the scandals of Watergate, embodying a completely polar persona to the administration of Nixon and Ford. “I will do the best I can, and I will live up to your expectations,” Carter said in his victory speech on Nov. 3rd, 1976. “And I will do it in a way that will be open and honest and truthful so that you can be proud of what we have accomplished.”
Open and honest and truthful. By voting for Carter, Americans made a collective commitment to trust his candid approaches to policy and vowed to believe in the man who said what he said because of the things he valued, rather than swaying under the political currents of his day. It was a radical shift from the cunning, strategic methods of Nixon — Carter promised transparency and an almost idealistic agenda of goals. He was a humanitarian who championed human rights, pioneered a lasting legacy in America’s commitment to sustainability, and set a standard modeling the necessary character of a president, recognized in its full existence only decades after the end of his term.
As Ford remarks, Carter, as an author, “was under no pressure to tailor his opinions to some political constituency or potential contributor.” During his lifetime, Carter wrote and published over 30 books, and in his political career, Carter never flinched to defend what he believed to be morally correct and just. A gridlocked Congress today, where bills are passed excruciatingly slowly and little variance lies within the two-party system, is the result of representatives and senators alike voting based on the general party they represent rather than the independent beliefs they uphold. In the wake of his death, Carter reminds us of a necessary practice often neglected in the politics of today: to take charge of one’s independent thought and will, unconstrained, and to speak up for what is deemed appropriate.
“The story of a man who was at once driven and devoted to making real the words of his savior and the ideals of this nation. The story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world.” - Joe Biden, incumbent President, on Jimmy Carter’s legacy
The dedication of Carter, a passionate environmentalist, to the preservation of natural ecosystems, promotion of national energy policies, and later founding of the Department of Energy cemented a legacy as one of America’s most thoughtful conservationists. He led the Camp David Accords, signed several deregulation acts that filtered out into lasting economic prosperity, and returned the Panama Canal to strengthen relations with his continental neighbors down south (an effort now threatened to be reversed by Trump in the wake of his inauguration last Monday), among other notable feats. As Biden frames it, Carter was “a man who never let the tides of politics divert him,” and he was, indeed, naturally directed by an inborn desire to make a difference.
Yet, it was the very kindness and compassion that ultimately poisoned Carter’s legacy to one often associated with failure. Carter’s term was far from flawless. The economy was reeling from stagflation, and his poor handling of foreign affairs, such as the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, set an impression of a president lacking in diplomatic leadership. He personally managed the White House’s tennis court schedule, wrote poetry in his free time, was fond of woodwork and carpentry, and famously urged Americans to lower their thermostats and wear sweaters at home. In an ideal society, his sincerity would be valued. Instead, Americans saw him as peculiar, and, as his term neared an end, Carter was subject to immense ridicule.
Still, Carter never resigned his distinct political profile and clung on to the merit of his own self-direction until the very end. His single term ended in a humiliating loss to his Republican adversary, Ronald Reagan, and he left office with an image torn by his personal eccentricities. He left bearing criticisms but still pioneered a post-president legacy that was stellar on its own: he meditated disputes between international leaders and founded a number of charitable organizations serving issues ranging from affordable housing to the protection of human rights. Carter tends to be remembered as the peanut farmer who dared to be president. What many don’t know is that Carter, in addition to the farming background he manifests with pride, was also a nuclear physicist, submariner, trailblazer for human rights, environmental advocate, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. When America cast its ballots in the 1980 election and won Reagan a staggering 489 electoral votes out of a possible 538, they essentially said they made a gamble on Carter. 45 years on, we look back and see a president who was sincere and humble to the very end, a figure who, in today’s grimly divided political battlegrounds, provides us with meaningful lessons we all can learn a lot from.
“He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but he belongs in the foothills” - Stuart Eizenstat, Chief Domestic Policy Adviser under Carter, on Jimmy Carter’s legacy
Rest in peace, President James Earl Carter Jr.