Jimmy Carter

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(b. Plains, Georgia, 1 Oct. 1924) US; Governor of Georgia 1971 – 4, President 1977 – 81 The son of a farmer and a registered nurse, Carter was educated at local public school in Georgia before spending a year at Georgia Southwestern University and then entering Georgia Institute of Technology as a naval ROTC cadet. In 1943 he entered the US Naval Academy at Annapolis — a childhood ambition — graduating in 1946 and being commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy. Shortly after graduation, he married Rosalynn Smith, from Plains. After two years of service on experimental radar and gunnery vessels, he switched to submarines. On one occasion, he came close to being lost at sea, after being swept from the submarine bridge during a storm. He subsequently applied, and was accepted, to participate in the nuclear submarine construction programme directed by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. He took courses in nuclear physics and reactor technology at Union College, New York. His naval career was cut short in 1953 when his father died, at a relatively early age, of cancer. He returned home to Plains to run the family peanut-farming and fertilizer business, despite the protestation of his wife. After some lean years, he built the family concern into a prosperous business. He also began to get involved in civic and church affairs, making a name for himself by being the only person locally to refuse to join the racist White Citizens' Council. He also started to take an interest in elective office. His father had been elected a member of the state assembly the year before he died and had encouraged his son to take an interest in public affairs. The principal spur to seeking office, though, came several years later when Carter served as chairman of the local school board. A proposal from the board was subject to a local referendum and he went round giving speeches in support of the proposal. The proposal was narrowly defeated. He made his first bid for elective office in 1962, seeking election to the State Senate. After a bitter primary contest — in which he had to resort to court action to overturn the corrupt practices of his opponents — he won the general election and served two terms (1963 – 7). He took a particular interest in election reform and improving the education system. He was also a regular opponent of "sweetheart bills", giving particular individuals breaks on salary or retirement benefits. His autobiography, Why Not the Best?, written before he won national office, also reflected a dislike of lobbyists.

In 1966 he announced his intention to run for the US Congress, but after the leading Democratic contender for governor had a heart attack and withdrew from the race, Carter was persuaded to seek the nomination. He lost the nomination to a segregationist, Lestor Maddox, and resolved to contest the nomination again in 1970. After an intense period of planning and campaigning, he was successful the second time round. In the interim, he became a Born Again Christian.

As Governor, he reorganized government, reducing significantly the number of agencies and streamlining the administration. He implemented a number of public sector reforms and increased the number of blacks appointed to public office. He disliked patronage and compromise, and preferred rallying popular support for his measures among voters to bargaining with members of the state legislature. He also sought to raise Georgia's profile abroad, undertaking ten overseas visits in order to promote trade and inform himself about other countries.

In 1972 he began to think seriously about running for President. He served as chairman of the National Democratic Party 1974 Campaign Committee, giving him experience of campaign organization and strategy. In the autumn of 1974 he announced his candidacy for the 1976 presidential nomination. He completed his term of office as Governor in 1975 and thus had time to campaign unfettered by responsibilities of office. The field of candidates increased but Carter scored a major success early in 1976 by topping the poll in the New Hampshire primary. This established him as the front-runner and generated a bandwagon effect. He won six of the first eight primaries. Despite some setbacks — he polled badly in New York and Massachusetts — his opponents were gradually eliminated. By early June he had enough delegates to be assured of the nomination. He had announced in advance that he would select Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate. He began the general election with a clear lead over the Republican, President Gerald R. Ford. Ford was the successor to Richard Nixon, who had resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal. Ford had kept on various Nixon appointees and had pardoned Nixon for any offences he may have committed. The situation favoured the Democratic candidate. However, Carter's support slipped as the campaign progressed — his Southern speaking style worked to his disadvantage and he performed below expectations in the first televised debate with Ford — but he held on to win with a 2 per cent margin of victory. He polled well among blacks and blue-collar workers. He was the first Georgian to be elected President and the first President elected from the deep South since 1848.

In the White House, Carter tried to set a high moral tone. He stressed human rights in international affairs and opposed "pork barrel" legislation at home. In domestic affairs, he stressed the need for energy conservation and sent a major Energy Bill to Congress. He persuaded Congress to approve a major reform of the civil service, something that his predecessors had failed to achieve. In foreign affairs, he obtained Senate approval — by one vote — for the Panama Canal Treaty, restoring the Canal to Panama. In 1978 he hosted a meeting at Camp David with President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachim Begin of Israel, resulting in the Camp David Agreement in which both signed up to a peace framework. In the sector of defence, he departed from past policy and cancelled the B1 bomber project. He also vetoed a measure for a $2 billion dollar nuclear carrier; Congress failed to override his veto. He also persuaded Congress to lift the arms embargo on Turkey.

However, Carter's successes in the office were sporadic rather than consistent. His relationship with Congress was not a harmonious one. He had fought the election as an "outsider" to Washington and now had to work with the institution that formed part of the establishment he had attacked. His narrow victory had denied him a coattails effect. The Democrats were well entrenched in both Houses, but with the members not owing their victory to the President. Carter adopted a high moral stance, assuming that Congress would recognize the rightness of his measures. He sent several measures to Congress at the same time and then failed to lobby for them. His Energy Bill got bogged down and emerged eventually in a somewhat emasculated form. Though most of his measures were passed, his success rate in Congress — just over 75 per cent — was markedly lower than for his Democratic predecessors Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy and only marginally better than that achieved by the Republican Dwight Eisenhower. Carter surrounded himself with advisers drawn from Georgia — dubbed "the Georgia Mafia" — who had no real grasp of Washington politics. A number of important measures, including a Labour Law Reform Bill, failed. Carter appeared increasingly out of his depth. The Camp David Agreement produced a temporary increase in popular support, but his standing soon fell back to low levels. In foreign affairs, crises appeared to be the norm and he appeared surprised by events. The fall of the Shah of Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused particular difficulties and highlighted the incapacity of the US government to do much about either. Carter cut off grain sales to the USSR and encouraged a boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow — neither having much impact — and his decision to allow the former Shah into the USA for medical treatment sparked the seizure of hostages in the American embassy in Tehran. The holding of the hostages dented Carter's already fragile public support. In desperation, he authorized a rescue attempt that ended in failure.

Until 1980, Carter experienced low popular ratings because of poor economic performance. Inflation and unemployment were rising and there was little optimism about future prospects. Perceptions of poor performance were then compounded by Carter's handling of the hostages crisis. In 1980, with his popularity in the opinion polls lower than that of any president since Warren Harding, he faced a challenge from Senator Edward Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. He fought off the challenge, but it served to demonstrate the turmoil and dissatisfaction within Democratic ranks. In the general election, he was beaten by a clear margin by the Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan. Carter won 35.4 million votes against 43.9 million for Reagan. It was the first time an incumbent had been defeated since 1932. Carter retired to Plains, but maintained an active public career, involving himself in projects to assist Third World countries and occasionally engaging in some international mediation.

Great things were expected of Carter when he entered the White House. He was a highly intelligent individual, a problem solver, a Democrat with a Congress dominated by fellow Democrats. Yet he proved to be a failure. He never really grasped what was required of the incumbent of the Oval Office. He tried to do too many things at once, failed to focus his activities, and was too obviously influenced by the last person he had spoken to. He was viewed as a good man, but one increasingly out of his depth. His White House staff were generally viewed by members of Congress as lightweight; a number — including the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Bert Lance — became embroiled in scandals. The White House was both scandal-prone on occasion as well as accident prone. On a visit to Warsaw in 1978, an interpreter was hired who was not up to the job — translating Carter's words on arrival as "I desire the Poles carnally" and "When I abandoned the United States, never to return" — and Carter's participation in a jogging marathon in Washington was cut short when he collapsed and had to be carried away. Some members of his family also attracted unwelcome publicity, his brother Billy receiving money to provide advice to the Libyan government. There was little observable enjoyment in the final months of his presidency.

In the 1982 Tribune poll, Carter was ranked the tenth worst president in US history. He fared a little better in the Murray poll of the same year, being ranked 25th out of 36, one behind his Republican predecessor, Gerald Ford. His public work since leaving office increased his standing in the eyes of the public, though it did little to affect historians' judgement of his presidency. In the 1995 Chicago Sun-Times poll of presidential scholars, he was ranked 22nd out of 38. Though some reassessment of his presidency has occurred, as in John Dumbrell's The Carter Presidency: A Re-evaluation (1993), he has not been subject to a new interpretation. Richard Nixon fared better in the 1995 poll than he did.

Born in Plains, Georgia, Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and became a nuclear submarine officer. After his father's death (1953), he returned to manage the family's farming enterprises. Active in the local Baptist church and state politics, Carter was a state senator (1963–67) and governor of Georgia (1971–75). In 1974, he narrowly defeated President Gerald Ford.

As president, Carter characterized himself as nonideological, a social liberal and fiscal conservative. He had a strong sense of morality and equity. A rational and diligent manager, Carter proved a technician rather than a logrolling politician or a highly inspiring leader. He experienced only a mixed success in foreign and defense matters, a result of circumstances and of Carter himself.

Diplomatically, the Carter administration negotiated and secured a divided Senate's ratification of the Panama Canal treaties, completed normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China, and spectacularly achieved a peace treaty, the Camp David Accords (1978), between Israel and Egypt.

Carter was also confronted with major challenges over which he had little control, although he was criticized for lurching between weak and hard‐line policies. Soviet intervention in Cuba and the Horn of Africa and Russian military occupation of Afghanistan led the administration to support a military buildup. Carter ended his opposition to increases in the military budget, approved construction of the MX missile, abandoned his SALT II Treaty, canceled U.S. participation in the Summer Olympics in Moscow, and resumed compulsory draft registration. In the “Carter Doctrine,” he pledged protection of the oil‐rich Persian Gulf region and established a rapid deployment force to enforce it.

Seizure of U.S. Embassy hostages in November 1979 by successful Iranian revolutionaries led Carter to impose diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran. In April 1980, an ill‐fated military rescue attempt was aborted at the “Desert One” site south of Tehran after three of the eight helicopters malfunctioned. Another helicopter and a C‐130 transport plane collided in the nighttime lift‐off. Government released the hostages in January 1981 when Ronald Reagan became president.

Out of office, Carter pursued his own agenda, involving human rights, social welfare, and international mediation. He played particularly important, if often controversial, roles in easing later conflicts with Nicaragua, North Korea, and Haiti. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work as a mediator and head of the Carter Centre in Atlanta.

[See also Conscription; Iran, U.S. Military Involvement in; Panama, U.S. Military Involvement in; SALT Treaties.]

Bibliography

• Burton I. Kaufman, The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr., 1993.
• Gary M. Fink and Hush Davis Graham, eds., The Carter Presidency, 1998

Carter, Jimmy (1924-) 39th president of the United States (1977-81), born James Earl Carter, Jr., in Plains, Georgia. After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Carter served in the navy under Adm. Hyman Rickover in the nuclear submarine program (1946-53). He was governor of Georgia (1970-74) and defeated incumbent President Gerald R. Ford (1976). Carter's initiatives included transportation deregulation, environmental protection, new departments of energy and education, efforts toward long-term national energy policy, and attention to international human rights. Carter obtained the Panama Canal Treaties (1977), signed the SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union (1979), announced the Carter Doctrine, asserting U.S. protection of the Persian Gulf, and mediated the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt (1979). After the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he ordered an embargo of grain sales to the USSR and a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Carter was paralyzed by the Iran hostage crisis (1979-81) and humiliated by a failed rescue attempt (see Operation Eagle Claw). He suffered a bitter challenge for Democratic nomination by Sen. Edward Kennedy and was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan (1980).

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

The first U.S. president to be elected from the deep South in 132 years, James Earl (Jimmy) Carter (born 1924) served one term (1977-1981). In 1980 he lost his bid for re-election to Republican candidate Ronald Reagan but went on to be a much admired worker for peace and human rights at home and abroad.

James Earl Carter was born in the small southern town of Plains, Georgia, on October 1, 1924. He was the first child of farmer and small businessman James Earl Carter and former nurse, Lillian Gordy Carter. When Carter was four, the family moved to a farm in Archery, a rural community a few miles west of Plains. At five, Jimmy was already demonstrating his independence and his talents for business: he began to sell peanuts on the streets of Plains. At the age of nine, Carter invested his earnings in five bales of cotton which he stored for several years, then sold at a profit large enough to enable him to purchase five old houses in Plains.

Following his graduation from high school in 1941, Carter enrolled in Georgia Southwestern College, but in 1942 he received word that a much desired appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis had been approved. Carter entered the academy in 1943, and showed a special talent for electronics and naval tactics, eventually going on to work on the nation's first nuclear powered submarines. During his time in the Navy he also met Rosalynn Smith who he married on July 7, 1947 and had four children with: John, James Earl III, Jeffrey, and a daughter born much later, Amy.

Civic Activist to Politician

Carter had ambitions to become an admiral, but in 1953, following his father's death from cancer, he returned to Plains to manage the family businesses. He took over both the farm and the peanut warehouses his father had established, enlarged the business and, in order to keep up with modern farming techniques, studied at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Tifton, Georgia.

During these years in Plains, Carter began to play an active role in local civic affairs. From 1955 to 1962 he was active in a number of local functions and served on the boards of several civic organizations. In this civic life, Jimmy Carter distinguished himself by his liberal views on racial issues which could be traced back to his mother's disregard for many of the deep South's racist traditions.

As far as Carter's interest in politics goes, this may have come from his father, who had served for a year in the Georgia legislature. In 1962 Carter ran for a seat in the Georgia Senate and defeated his Republican opponent by about 1,000 votes. As a state senator, Carter promised to read every single bill that came up and when it looked as if he wouldn't be able to keep this promise due to the great volume of bills, he took a speed reading course to solve the problem. In government he earned a reputation as one of the most effective legislators and an outspoken moderate liberal. Carter was reelected to the state Senate in 1964.

In 1966, after first declaring himself as a candidate for the U.S. Congress, Carter decided to run for the office of governor of Georgia. He was beaten by Lester Maddox in the Democratic primary election though. Disappointed and spiritually bankrupt, Carter then became "born again" and pushed forward. Between 1966 and 1970 he traveled widely through the state, making close to 1,800 speeches, studying the problems of Georgia, and campaigning hard. In the 1970 gubernatorial election, Carter's hard work paid off and he won Georgia's top position.

Governor of Georgia

In his inaugural address Carter announced his intentions to aid all poor and needy Georgians, regardless of race. This speech won Carter his first national attention, for in it he called for an end to racial discrimination and the extension of a right to an education, to a job, and to "simple justice" for the poor. As governor, Carter worked for, and signed into law, a bill which stipulated that the poor and wealthy areas of Georgia would have equal state aid for education. Carter also worked to cut waste in the government, merging 300 state agencies into only 30. The number of African-American appointees on major state boards and agencies increased from three to 53 and the number of African-American state employees rose by 40 percent. During his term, laws were passed to protect historical sites, conserve the environment, and to encourage openness in government.

While governor, Carter became increasingly involved in national Democratic Party politics. In 1972 he headed the Democratic Governors Campaign Committee, and in 1974 was chair of the Democratic National Campaign Committee. That same year Carter officially declared his intention to run for president in the 1976 race. When Carter announced his intentions to seek the presidency, he was still little known outside the state of Georgia. As late as October 1975 a public opinion poll on possible Democratic candidates did not even list his name. Then, in January 1976, Carter's whirlwind rise to national prominence began and by March 1976 he was the top choice among Democrats for the presidential nomination.

The 1976 Election

Carter's success against ten other candidates began with a victory in the New Hampshire primary in February. He was successful in making himself a symbol of a leader without ties to the entrenched interest groups of the nation's capital. Carter convinced voters that without these ties he would be able to act independently and effectively. In his campaign he also vowed to restore moral leadership to the presidency which had been badly shaken in the wake of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Carter easily won 17 of 30 primary contests and was elected on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.

With his running mate, Minnesota liberal Democrat Walter Mondale, Carter made unemployment a central issue of his campaign, urging the creation of jobs through increased federal spending and the expansion of business. Carter also campaigned on promises of pardon for the draft evaders of the Vietnam War period, the reorganization of the federal government bureaucracy, and the development of a national energy policy.

When Carter defeated the incumbent, Gerald Ford, by 1,678,069 popular votes, winning 297 electoral college votes to Ford's 240, he became the first president from the Deep South since Zachary Taylor in 1844. Carter's victory was definitely regional and was definitely based on social and economic class as his winning margin came from African-Americans, those with low incomes, and others who thought that they were being hurt by the policies of the Ford administration. Four out of five African-Americans voted for Carter and he also did well among white southerners, receiving the highest number of votes for a Democratic candidate since Roosevelt, but lost over one-half of Catholic voters and 55 percent of the Italian vote. One of the challenges to Carter was to ease the regional and ethnic splits evident in the election and to create a unified support for his presidency.

His Record as President

The year 1977 began well for the new president with a series of quick victories for Carter-backed programs. These included congressional approval of his plans to eliminate or consolidate federal agencies which duplicated services and of legislation aimed at lowering federal income taxes. In August of 1977 Congress adopted Carter's proposal to establish the Department of Energy as a new executive department. At the same time, Carter used his executive powers to make good on campaign pledges, including the pardoning of Vietnam War draft evaders and ending production of the B-1 bomber, which he felt was wasteful.

The Carter Administration was not without its problems though. In 1977 economic conditions had improved somewhat and unemployment had fallen, but by 1978 inflation had, despite a variety of approaches to stabilize it, continued to rise, reaching 15 percent by mid-1980. Due largely to these economic problems, Carter's approval rating in a July 1980 poll measured only 21 percent, the lowest recorded for any American president.

Carter's term was also marked by mixed success in foreign affairs. In 1977 Carter attracted worldwide attention and praise for his strong support of human rights wherein he limited or banned entirely any United States aid to nations believed to be human rights violators, but mixed reviews came for two 1977 treaties dealing with the Panama Canal. The first of these gave control of the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999 and the second gave the United States the right to defend the neutrality of the canal. Carter was influential in the Camp David Accords as well as in the creation of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979 and in the negotiation of SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) II with the Soviet Union, although these negotiations were ultimately delayed by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Carter's most dramatic moments in foreign policy affairs began in November 1979 when Iranian student militants seized the United States embassy in Teheran and took 52 U.S. citizens hostage. The hostages were to be held, their captors said, until the deposed Shah, who was in the United States for medical treatment, was handed over. Carter responded first by cutting diplomatic relations with Iran and stopping all imports from that country. When these measures failed he, in April 1980, ordered an attempt at armed rescue, which failed and led to the death of eight marines and the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance. In the end the crisis lasted for a total of 444 days with the hostages finally being released on January 20, 1981, the last day that Carter held office.

The hostage crisis overseas and economic difficulties at home left Carter vulnerable but still vying for the top spot in the 1980 presidential elections. Running again with Vice President Walter Mondale, Carter was defeated by former California governor and actor Ronald Reagan by a wide margin. He received only 35 million votes to Reagan's 44 million and lost the electoral college vote 489 to 44.

The Right Things to Accomplish Post Presidency

While seen as a somewhat lame-duck immediately following his departure as president in 1981, recent historical revisionism has cast him in a more favorable light, especially in lieu of his successor's later improprieties during the Iran-Contra scandal. Viewed as a basically honest man, not a small commodity in this age of popular mistrust of government, Carter has devoted his post presidential career to an array of peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts.

In 1981 Carter established the Carter Center which, with its sizable budget, has sponsored programs from promoting human rights in third world countries to maintaining databases of immunization for local Atlanta children. The Carter Center has also monitored elections in newly democratized countries, fought such diseases as polio and river blindness, and helped eradicate the harmful African Guinea worm in Pakistan. In addition to these humanitarian efforts, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have volunteered their summers building low-income housing through the Habitat For Humanity organization.

The international relations front has also been no stranger to Carter since his defeat to Ronald Reagan. In 1990 he persuaded Nicaraguan Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega to step down and let an elected president, Violeta Chamorro, step in, something that without the relative neutrality of Carter's position probably would not have been possible. Carter has also served as somewhat of a mediator between President Bill Clinton and various leaders of non-democratic nations. In the early 1990s Carter brought messages from Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid to President Clinton which helped avoid a military confrontation and in June 1994 Carter negotiated with North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung to freeze his country's nuclear program and allow inspection of their nuclear facilities. Interestingly enough, sometimes Carter's efforts haven't been completely appreciated. President Clinton was reportedly incensed at Carter going over his head in foreign matters and making statements that he wasn't authorized to make.

One further mixed victory from Carter came when in September 1994, he, with the help of former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, negotiated an agreement with Haitian revolutionary leader Lt. Gen. Raoul Cédras. Haiti, since the ouster of their first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 1991, had been a cesspool of violence and poverty since the revolution. Boatloads of Haitians seeking an escape from the myriad human rights abuses were arriving on U.S. shores daily and the situation was pointing towards a military invasion. President Clinton called on Carter to help, which he did with an agreement wherein military leaders relinquished power and handed it over to American forces until democracy could be restored. The downside of the agreement being Cédras and his cronies being given permission to stay in Haiti instead of being exiled which drew much criticism.

Whatever flak Carter has received for his methods of handling foreign affairs they fade from view when compared to the tireless work he has done for humanity since the end of his presidency. No other former president has worked so hard in the public arena while still maintaining personal pursuits which in Carter's case involve hunting, fishing, teaching adult Sunday school, and writing several books including one of his own poetry. As Carter's former speech writer, James Fallows, put it in 1990, "…what becomes … admirable is precisely the idealism of (Carter's) vision, the energy and intelligence and morality he has put into figuring out what is the right thing to accomplish."

Further Reading

There are several books that tell Jimmy Carter's story. Carter himself has written a number of books which include: Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982), The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East (1985), An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections (1988), Turning Point: A Candidate, A State, and a Nation Come of Age (1993), and his volume of poetry Always a Reckoning (1995). Edna Langford and Linda Cox have done a biography of Carter's wife, Rosalynn, entitled Rosalynn, Friend and First Lady (1980) and Rosalynn tells her own story in First Lady From Plains (1985). Hamilton Jordan's book, Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter Presidency (1982) deals largely with the Iranian hostage crisis, while Jack Germond and Jules Witcover's Blue Smoke and Mirrors: How Reagan Won and Why Carter Lost the Election of 1980 (1981) analyzes Carter's defeat in his bid for reelection. Carter's greatest diplomatic success - the 1978-1979 agreement between Israel and Egypt - is detailed in Camp David (1986) by William Quandt, a member of the Carter administration. Other accounts of Carter's life can be found in Peter G. Bourne's Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography (1997) and Rod Troester's Jimmy Carter as Peacemaker: A Post Presidential Biography (1996). For those inclined to go online, the Carter Center's Web site address is .

• Born: Oct. 1, 1924, Plains, Ga.
• Political party: Democrat
• Education: U.S. Naval Academy, B.S., 1946
• Military service: U.S. Navy, 1947–53
• Previous government service: chair, Sumter County, Ga., Board of Education, 1955–62; Georgia Senate 1963–66; governor of Georgia, 1971–75
• Elected President, 1976; served, 1977–81

Promising a “government as good as the people,” Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976 as a Washington outsider by voters fed up with the Watergate scandal and the weak economy. Carter shed many of the trappings of the “imperial” Presidency and pursued a foreign policy emphasizing human rights and peaceful solution of international conflict. But his unpopular Panama Canal Treaty and rocketing inflation and interest rates made him a one-term President.

Born in the small town of Plains, Georgia, James Earl Carter, Jr., was the first American President to be born in a hospital. He graduated from Plains High School as valedictorian in 1941, and in 1946 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in the top tenth of his class. He served as an ensign on an experimental nuclear submarine with Captain (later Admiral) Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear navy. In 1953, after the death of his father, Carter resigned his commission to take over his family's peanut farm, which he turned into a thriving business.

Carter became a deacon and Sunday school teacher in the Plains Baptist Church, then chairman of the Sumter County School Board, where he peacefully promoted racial desegregation of the schools. As a state senator, Carter fought local segregationist groups, and he defeated racist opponents to win reelection to the senate. He encouraged blacks to join the Plains Baptist Church.

In 1966 Carter ran for governor but lost to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox. Carter's loss led him to become a born-again Christian. In the 1970 Democratic gubernatorial primary Carter declared his opposition to busing as a means of overcoming racial segregation in schools, leading the Atlanta Constitution to call him an “ignorant, racist, backward, ultraconservative, rednecked South Georgia peanut farmer.” With evangelical and fundamentalist Christian support, he won the election.

Although elected with segregationist support, Carter was a progressive, especially on race relations. Carter reorganized the state government and consolidated many independent agencies into a few efficient departments. He increased minority hiring in state government by 50 percent, and he promoted environmental and educational programs. But he worked poorly with traditional politicians in the state legislature, gaining a reputation as an arrogant and isolated governor.

Carter began a steady rise in national Democratic politics, however. He became chair of the Democratic Governors’ Campaign Committee in 1972 and campaign chair for the Democratic National Committee in 1974—a year in which the party scored major successes in congressional elections. By 1975 Carter was spending most of his time making speeches and traveling from one state to another seeking financial support and media attention.

Carter portrayed himself as an outsider who could clean up the mess in Washington. He promised never to lie to the American people, implicitly contrasting himself to politicians like Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal. He called for “a government that is as honest and decent and fair and competent and truthful and idealistic as are the American people.” Carter won the lowa Presidential caucuses on January 19, 1976, and propelled himself to the forefront of the Democratic field. He won the New Hampshire primary a few weeks later, and funds poured into his campaign. He won a number of other primaries and gained sufficient votes for a first-ballot nomination at the national convention. He defeated the incumbent President, Gerald Ford, in the general election by a narrow margin, due in large measure to a split in the opposition ranks between moderate Republicans and conservatives who had favored Ronald Reagan. The high unemployment rate and Ford's pardon of Nixon also worked in Carter's favor.

Although Carter took office with large Democratic majorities in Congress, he was unable to get them to support much of his program. His opposition to some rivers and harbors projects early in his term was fiercely resisted by his own party's congressional leaders, as was his 1978 veto of a public works measure on the grounds that it would be inflationary. Although Congress passed his proposal to create a department of energy, his comprehensive energy program was revised. When it did pass, it proved unpopular with the public because it emphasized conservation and higher prices. He cut back on federal aid to urban areas, causing a backlash among liberal Democrats. His decision to cancel the B-1 bomber upset party conservatives. When Congress transformed his tax reform plan into new favors for special interests, Carter referred to them as “a pack of ravenous wolves.” Carter did have some successes: he got Congress to divide the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into two new departments, one for education and the other for health and human services; the minimum wage was raised; and Congress deregulated the airline, trucking, and railroad industries. It also established a “Superfund” to clean up toxic waste sites.

In foreign affairs, too, Carter took actions that were unpopular. In 1977, although more than three-fourths of the American people wanted to keep the Panama Canal Zone, Carter negotiated two treaties with Panama that called for the United States to give up sovereign rights in the Panama Canal Zone and to turn over operation of the canal to Panama by the turn of the century. The Senate consented to the treaties by only a bare margin. In 1978 Carter presided over the Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt, which resulted in a treaty between the two nations the following year. In 1979 Carter recognized communist China and canceled a defense treaty with the anticommunist government on Taiwan—actions that upset Southern conservatives. He began an emphasis in American foreign policy on human rights, cutting off foreign aid to certain Latin American nations with repressive regimes. The second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) with the Soviet Union was signed on June 18, 1979, but the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan put Senate consent to the treaty in doubt and Carter withdrew it from the Senate. Nevertheless, both governments adhered to its terms.

Carter's popularity fell during much of his term, as inflation increased to more than 15 percent and the unemployment rate, after dropping early in his term, rose again to more than 6 percent. Interest rates rose to the 20 percent range, which made it difficult for people to purchase homes and consumer goods. The seizure of American diplomats in the embassy in Iran by “student” militants on November 4, 1979, and Carter's inability to obtain their release by diplomatic means also caused his popularity to sink. An April 1980 attempt to rescue the hostages ended in failure with the death of eight U.S. servicemen in a helicopter crash in the Iranian desert. The abortive mission seemed to many Americans to symbolize U.S. military weakness in the post-Vietnam era. In July 1980 Carter's popularity slid to 20 percent in the polls–lower even than Nixon's during the Watergate scandal.

In the 1980 Democratic nominating contest, Senator Edward M. Kennedy almost defeated Carter, and much of Kennedy's liberal platform was adopted by the convention in a repudiation of the Carter Presidency. With the Democrats split, Republican conservative Ronald Reagan defeated Carter in a three-way race that also involved independent candidate John Anderson. On the day Carter's successor was inaugurated, the Iranian government released the 52 hostages they had held for 444 days. President Reagan asked Carter to fly to Germany to greet the returning hostages.

After his election defeat, Carter returned to Georgia. He gave courses in public affairs at Emory University, participated in the creation and work of the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, an organization devoted to human rights and humanitarian causes around the world. Carter became involved in monitoring elections in a number of foreign nations, which aided in their transformation from dictatorship to democracy. ;

See also Camp David peace talks; Ford, Gerald R.; Mondale, Walter F.; Reagan, Ronald

Sources

• Douglas Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House (New York: Viking, 1998).
• Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (New York: Bantam, 1982).
• Gary M. Fink and Hugh Davis Graham, The Carter Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).
• Betty Glad, Jimmy Carter, In Search of the Great White House (New York: Norton, 1980).
• Erwin C. Hargrove, Jimmy Carter as President: Leadership and the Politics of the Public Good (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988).
• Kenneth E. Morris, Jimmy Carter: American Moralist (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996).
• Kenneth W. Thompson, The Carter Presidency: Fourteen Intimate Perspectives of Jimmy Carter (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1990)

(1924- ), thirty-ninth president of the United States. When Carter took the oath of office in 1977, he inherited a nation divided by the social turmoil of the 1960s and disillusioned by the cynical political practices of the Nixon White House. Within minutes after his inauguration, Carter left his heavily armored limousine and, holding hands with his wife, Rosalyn, walked the parade route to the cheers of spectators. Carter's stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue seemed to symbolize the end of one era and the beginning of another. In retrospect, however, the Democratic victory in 1976 was a historical anomaly in an era of Republican domination of the presidency.

Carter, the son of a Georgia landowner and businessman, was part of the first generation of moderate southern politicians who emerged in the aftermath of the civil rights movement. His term as Georgia governor (1971-1975) was a modest success, marked by an emphasis upon governmental reorganization and aggressive actions to end racial discrimination. Still, it hardly seemed a springboard to the White House, and his announcement in December 1975 that he would seek the presidency evoked incredulity or amusement from most knowledgeable political observers.

But they underestimated Carter. American voters were disgusted by the Watergate revelations of corruption, and they responded warmly to the soft-spoken southerner with his perpetual smile and his often repeated promise: "I'll never lie to you." His moderate economic views, his commitment to civil rights, and his background as a southerner helped him assemble a coalition of traditional Democrats, blacks, and southern whites who had become increasingly alienated from the Democratic party. Carter narrowly defeated incumbent Gerald Ford with 50.1 percent of the vote.

Carter's administration was not without achievements. The drive and focused intelligence that carried him to the White House made it possible for him to push through (by one vote) the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978 and to broker a peace agreement between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat in the fall of 1978.

But failures in domestic and foreign policy overshadowed these accomplishments. He had been elected as an outsider, and he often proved inept in dealing with his own party. He also seemed unable to mobilize public support for his policies of restraint and sacrifice.

He was dogged, too, by events beyond his control: the energy crisis that triggered double-digit inflation, the fall of the shah and the seizure of hostages in Iran, and the chill in Soviet-American relations following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In retrospect, many of the crises Carter confronted were insoluble, but his style of hands-on management led a restive American public to hold him personally responsible for failure. The seizure of American hostages proved his final undoing. Americans' increasing frustration over the nation's inability to effect their release focused upon Carter. When an attempted rescue ended in ignominious failure in 1980, his fate as president was sealed. He went down to a smashing defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan.

In 1986 Carter founded the Carter Center of Emory University, an institution devoted to mediating international conflict and ameliorating health problems in the world's developing nations. In a departure from the usual quiet retirement of presidents, Carter has played an active role in numerous diplomatic and domestic efforts after leaving office. In this, he is especially known for his successful international mediations in countries such as North Korea and Haiti.

Bibliography:

Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982); Erwin C. Hargrove, Jimmy Carter as President: Leadership and the Politics of the Public Good (1988).

Author:

Dan T. Carter

See also Elections: 1976 , 1980. For events during Carter's administration, see Camp David Accord; Iran Hostage Crisis; Middle East-U.S. Relations; Panama Canal; Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

Carter served in the navy, where he worked with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover in developing the nuclear submarine program. Resigning his commission (1953) after his father's death, he ran his family's peanut farm, which he built into a prosperous business. In 1962 he was elected as a Democrat to the first of two terms in the Georgia Senate. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966, then succeeded in 1970, replacing Lester Maddox. As governor, Carter proclaimed that the time had come to end racial discrimination and formed alliances with such civil-rights leaders as Andrew Young.

Although little known outside Georgia, Carter announced that he would run for president at the end of his gubernatorial term, and through sustained and diligent campaigning won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. With Minnesota Senator Walter F. Mondale as his running mate, Carter defeated incumbent President Gerald R. Ford. But Carter never established good relations with Congress and, with Republican successes in the 1978 midterm elections, his difficulties increased.

In foreign policy, Carter had some initial success. He secured congressional ratification-by a single vote after extended and rancorous debate-of his two Panama Canal treaties (1977), establishing a timetable for passing control of the canal to Panama. Then, in 1979, at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, Carter personally persuaded Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel to sign the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state (see Camp David accords).

Although he and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Salt II treaty (see disarmament, nuclear), it had uncertain chances for Senate ratification, and Carter shelved the treaty in Jan., 1980, as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (see Afghanistan War). When the USSR refused to withdraw, Carter also initiated a trade embargo and a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games. In the last year of his administration, Carter's foreign policy was overshadowed by the Iran hostage crisis, in which Iranian students invaded the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 55 hostages. When attempts to negotiate their release failed, Carter authorized a military rescue mission in Apr., 1980, that failed ignominiously.

Domestically, Carter had difficulties controlling inflation, which rose in each year of his administration-in part because of oil price increases after the Iranian revolution. The Federal Reserve Board's drastic remedies for curtailing inflation led to interest rates of more than 20% by 1980. Inflation and the unresolved hostage crisis put Carter in a weak position as the 1980 presidential election campaign began. He won the Democratic nomination only after a bitter challenge from Sen. Edward Kennedy. In the general election he was decisively defeated by Ronald Reagan.

Since leaving office, Carter has been active in international human-rights efforts, often as an impartial observer of first-time free elections. He has served as an international mediator in North Korea, Haiti, Bosnia, Venezuela, and elsewhere, and has worked to focus world attention on epidemics in Africa. He made a highly publicized trip to Cuba in May, 2002, becoming the most prominent American to visit the nation since Castro came to power. The Carter Center in Atlanta, founded in 1986, became an important arena for the discussion of international affairs. Carter also has been deeply involved with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps working-class people in North America and abroad build and finance new homes. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to advance peace, democracy, human rights, and economic and social development.

Jimmy Carter married Rosalynn Smith in 1946; they have four children. During his term of office Carter published Why Not the Best? (1975) and A Government as Good as Its People (1977). After it, he wrote more than a dozen works of poetry and nonfiction, including The Blood of Abraham (1985); Everything to Gain (1987, written with his wife); Turning Point (1992); The Hornet's Nest (2003), a novel set in the South during the Revolutionary War; and Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (2006), which some critics accused of one-sided, anti-Israeli views.

Bibliography

See his memoirs, Keeping Faith (1982) and An Hour before Daylight (2001) and his White House Diary (2010); J. Wooten, Dasher: The Roots and the Rising of Jimmy Carter (1978); E. C. Hargrove, Jimmy Carter as President (1988); P. G. Bourne, Jimmy Carter (1997); D. Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency (1998); B. Glad, An Outsider in the White House (2009); E. S. Godbold, Jr., Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter: The Georgia Years, 1924-1974 (2010); J. B. Flippen, Jimmy Carter, the Politics of Family, and the Rise of the Religious Right (2011).

1924 -

U.S. president who mediated the Camp David Accords.

James Earl Carter, Jr., was born on 1 October 1924, in Plains, Georgia. After serving as governor of Georgia for one term (1971 - 1975) he rose from relative obscurity to win the Democratic nomination and defeat incumbent president Gerald Ford in 1976.

Carter came into office stressing the role of human rights in U.S. foreign policy and rejecting the Cold War perspective of previous administrations, particularly as embodied in the policies of former secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Carter argued that constructive engagement with the Soviet Union, rather than a hostile policy of containment, would advance U.S. interests by reducing Soviet inclinations to play the spoiler role in U.S. policy initiatives. Ironically, it was an early cooperative effort with the Soviets - a plan to cosponsor an Arab - Israeli peace conference in Geneva, announced in a joint communiqué on 1 October 1977 - that contributed to Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat's surprise decision to travel to Jerusalem in November 1977 for direct peace negotiations with Israel. Neither Sadat nor Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin wanted to harness the relatively straightforward Egyptian - Israeli issues (Israel's return of the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for a peace treaty) to the more difficult Palestinian and Syrian conflicts with Israel, and they effectively derailed Carter's Geneva idea by inaugurating bilateral Egyptian - Israeli talks.

When those negotiations threatened to break down, however, Carter invited Sadat and Begin to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. After thirteen days of intense discussions personally mediated by Carter, on 27 September 1978 the three heads of state signed the Camp David Accords, which in turn led to the Egypt - Israel Peace Treaty, signed on 26 March 1979 in Washington, D.C. The Egyptian - Israeli agreements constituted Carter's greatest foreign-policy triumph, though he later expressed regret that some aspects of the agreements went unfulfilled. The Egyptian - Israeli breakthrough made Israel and Egypt, respectively, the number one and two recipients of U.S. aid.

The Middle East brought success to Carter with Egypt and Israel, but it proved to be his undoing, with Iran. In January 1979 Islamic radicals inspired by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the shah of Iran, a long-time ally of the United States. On 4 November 1979 militant Islamic students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking fifty-two Americans hostage. Carter's attempts to negotiate their release failed, and on 8 April 1980 the United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran and focused on a series of international legal and economic maneuvers designed to pressure Iran into letting the hostages go. On 24 April 1980 a commando attempt to free the hostages failed when U.S. helicopters crashed in a desert staging area 200 miles outside Tehran. The Iranian hostage crisis dominated the U.S. media and Carter's agenda throughout his failed reelection campaign against the Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan. Carter continued to work for the hostages' release until the very last day of his presidency, when Algerian mediation finally secured their freedom in exchange for the unfreezing of Iranian assets in the United States and a U.S. pledge of nonintervention in Iranian affairs. Carter received word that the hostages had been freed on 20 January 1981, several hours after Reagan took the presidential oath of office.

Despite losing the 1980 presidential election, Carter continued his career of public service. He published widely - memoirs, political observation and analysis, poetry, and fiction - and established the Carter Presidential Library at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He has remained an active statesman, working through the Carter Center to help resolve international crises around the globe.

Bibliography

Carter, Jimmy. Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1993.

Carter, Jimmy. Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President. New York: Bantam Books, 1982.

Carter Center web site. Available at http://www.cartercenter.org.

Jordan, Hamilton. Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency. New York: Scribner, 1997.

— MIA BLOOM UPDATED BY LAURA Z. EISENBERG

A political leader of the twentieth century; the president from 1977 to 1981. In 1976, Carter was a peanut farmer who had been a naval officer and the governor of Georgia; he stood outside the main power groups of the Democratic party. He gained the party's nomination, however, and defeated President Gerald Ford in the election of 1976. As president, Carter brought the heads of government of Israel and Egypt together to sign a historic peace treaty in 1979, reestablishing diplomatic relations between their two countries (see Arab-Israeli conflict). He responded to an invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in 1979 by putting an embargo on grain sales to the invader and by keeping the United States out of the 1980 summer Olympic Games, which were held in the Soviet Union. Many Americans found Carter's leadership too cautious, however, and blamed him for a lack of improvement in the economy. His most striking loss of popularity came when revolutionaries in Iran stormed the United States embassy there in 1979 and held several dozen Americans as hostages for over a year (see Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini). The Iranians agreed to release the hostages only in the last minutes of Carter's presidency in early 1981, after Carter had lost the election of 1980 to Ronald Reagan. After leaving the presidency, he visited several nations, including Haiti and North Korea, as a peacemaker. He also participated in projects to refurbish housing for the poor.

As the thirty-ninth president of the United States, Jimmy Carter represented a historical change in national politics. He was the first modern president to be elected from the Deep South. Following a successful career in Georgia—where he was a peanut farmer, state senator, and then governor—Carter entered the White House in January 1977 as a political outsider at a time of distrust in elected officials. His Baptist upbringing guided him in his vision of the office as a post to be used for the nation's moral leadership. However, his presidency was one of only limited success in both its domestic and international endeavors, and voters rejected him for a second term in 1980 by electing Ronald Reagan in a landslide that marked a new era of Republican control of the executive branch. After leaving Washington, D.C., Carter began a revitalized public life as a prominent human rights activist and diplomat, addressing problems of war, famine, and repression around the globe.

The small farming town of Plains, Georgia, was Carter's birthplace on October 1, 1924. James Earl Carter, Sr., a veteran of World War I, farmed cotton and had a general store. He was conservative, strict, and a firm believer in his son, whom he nicknamed Hot, for Hotshot—because, Carter said, "Daddy never assumed I would fail at anything." Lillian Gordy Carter was a registered nurse. As devout Baptists, the parents expected much from Carter and their three other children. Religion meant steadfastness and a call to charity, as Carter's mother demonstrated by caring for patients without charge. Archery, their community, was predominantly African American. The young Carter worked and played with his black neighbors and, like them, lived without household plumbing or electricity. The experience, along with the virtues of hard work, frugality, and aspiration taught by his parents, shaped the politician he later became. After graduating at the top of his high school class, Carter paid for college with money he had earned and invested by selling peanuts as a boy.

Carter's ambition was naval service. Preparing to enter the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, he studied mathematics at Georgia Southwestern College and then the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1943 he entered Annapolis; he graduated in the top tenth of his class with a bachelor of sciences degree. Soon he married a long-time acquaintance, Rosalynn Smith, and began in earnest to pursue his career in the Navy. He worked as an instructor, saw battleship and submarine duty, and ultimately qualified as a sub commander. He served as senior officer aboard the Sea Wolf, the Navy's second atomic submarine. He left the Navy in 1953 after attaining the rank of lieutenant.

The decision to walk away from a promising career came when Carter faced a personal crossroads. His father had died, leaving a powerful legacy: the one-time cotton farmer had become a successful warehouse operator, peanut seed seller, and, finally, member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Carter now followed his father's example in business and politics. In his first year as a peanut farmer, he scratched out an income of $200, yet soon the business flourished. Success in political life took longer. Carter quickly became active in civic affairs. He opposed segregation, scorned the local White Citizen's Council, and tried to integrate his church. In the 1950s South such views spelled trouble. When he ran for the Democratic nomination for the state senate in 1962 his opponents stuffed ballot boxes to defeat him. Only after a long legal fight did a court invalidate the nomination because of fraud and turn it over to Carter. He won the election.

State politics established Carter nationally. In two terms as a state senator, from 1962 to 1966, his political philosophy was traditionally liberal yet also bore the mark of a technocrat: he advocated civil rights, welfare, and open government, while insisting on careful budgeting to ensure fiscal responsibility. In 1966 his first run for the governor's office failed but he won the election in 1971. Representing broad political and social changes shaping the region, Carter's governorship helped shake Georgia out of its segregationist past; he appointed African Americans to state government and fostered biracial cooperation through citizens groups. As an administrator he specialized in micromanagement, ordering frequent, strict review of all publicly funded programs. By 1974 Carter was rising within the national Democratic party. His exposure grew as he served as chairman of its campaign committee, and, fulfilling an ambition that began with his election as governor, announced his candidacy for president.

Carter's campaign message was integrity. The United States had just suffered through Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, producing widespread cynicism concerning elected officials. Carter's opponent, Gerald R. Ford, had pardoned Nixon, the man behind Watergate. Carter positioned himself as an honest, openly religious man beyond the political intrigues of Washington. The peanut-farmer-turned-governor seemed to promise a new voice in government and a new set of ideals. At the start of the campaign voters responded eagerly: Carter and his running mate, Walter F. Mondale, led the incumbent, Gerald R. Ford, and his running mate, Bob Dole, by 30 percentage points. But by election day the race was a dead heat. Carter won by the smallest margin since the first World War—57 electoral college votes. The new president walked along Pennsylvania Avenue in his inaugural parade, making a symbolic gesture that would be repeated in the thoroughly populist trappings of the Carter White House—fireside chats and radio call-in shows, simple furnishings, and fewer limousines. "We must adjust to changing times," he said in his inaugural speech, "and still hold to unchanging principles."

Carter's domestic policies for the United States were those of Georgia writ large. He promoted civil rights, welfare, tax reform, and budgetary control. Almost immediately, however, two major domestic concerns began to dictate his agenda. One was the nation's energy supply. In the late 1970s a severe energy crisis produced the worst fuel shortage in U.S. history coupled with rising international prices for oil. Congress cooperated with Carter's remedies by approving fuel conservation policies, deregulating natural gas prices, and passing a windfall tax on oil company profits. He did not get everything he wanted: a federal court blocked his attempt to decontrol domestic oil prices and Congress denied him authority for gasoline rationing. The second major problem was the economy, which worsened over the course of his term. His efforts to fight inflation—especially controls on consumer credit— produced a recession. Voters grew disgruntled. His approval rating fell and a July 1979 speech in which he blamed the nation's problems on a spiritual "malaise" was disastrous: afterward, a New York Times poll showed that for the first time ever, U.S. citizens, who traditionally had responded 2-1 that they were optimistic about the future, now said nearly 2-1 that they were pessimistic.

Foreign policy gave Carter triumphs and failures. He made human rights a top priority in the relationships between the United States and foreign nations, directing Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance to set a new standard: social and economic rights were to be as important as political and civil rights. Liberals praised the policy; conservatives attacked it as muddled and inconsistently applied. Critics were divided over a controversial treaty with Panama to relinquish control of the Panama Canal by the year 2000, a move the U.S. Senate barely approved. Carter's indisputable triumph was a peace treaty he secured between long-time enemies Israel and Egypt. But he took much of the blame for a seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Iranian militants in November 1979. A military rescue mission in 1980 failed and the fifty-two U.S. hostages were released only after Carter left office.

Further weakening the presidency were scandals within the administration. Andrew Young, his ambassador to the United Nations, resigned amid revelations that he had secretly met members of the Palestine Liberation Or-ganization, in violation of U.S. policy. Bert Lance, director of the Office of Management and Budget, also resigned in disgrace; he was charged with unethical conduct in his former banking career. And Carter's brother, Billy Carter, caused the president embarrassment. Often seen as a comical figure who had cashed in on Carter's fame by lending his name to a drink called Billy Beer, Billy was revealed to have conducted business with Libya, an enemy nation. A Senate subcommittee report on the incident blamed Carter for not reining in his brother.

By late 1980 Carter had the lowest approval rating of any U.S. president in modern history. Even after an extensive cabinet shake-up, his administration was in disarray. Critics lambasted his policies and, particularly, his methods: he was considered to be too mired in details to execute bold decisions. Editorial cartoonists frequently lampooned him as either a country bumpkin or a hapless, childlike figure, echoing the prevailing sentiment that Carter was incapable of running the country. To make matters worse the Democratic party effectively deserted him. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) nearly captured the party's presidential nomination and his supporters gained control of the party's platform over Carter's objections. Republicans sensed a bloodbath, and they got it in Ronald Reagan's landslide victory.

Typical of the post-Carter-era assessments was that of historian Burton I. Kaufman, whose 1993 book, The Presidency of James Earl Carter scathingly judged Carter as "lacking in leadership, ineffective in dealing with Congress, incapable of defending America's honor abroad, and uncertain about its purpose, priorities and sense of direction." Carter's defenders have largely chosen to blame his 1980 loss on intractable national problems that he did not create as well as on the overwhelming popularity of his opponent. "He didn't have the charisma of a Reagan," Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., former Democratic Speaker of the House, observed. "He couldn't pull it off." Some inside observers saw Carter's presidency as less a failure than a poor match of his abilities. The author Hendrik Hertzberg, a former Carter speechwriter, argued, "He was, and is, more of a moral leader than a political leader."

Although Carter's return to Georgia after his 1980 defeat might have been ignominious, it proved otherwise. After his departure from Washington, Carter immersed himself in scholarly and humanitarian pursuits. His work as a professor at Emory University in Atlanta and his prodigious literary output—a memoir and five other books ranging from politics to poetry— were intellectual achievements enough. But he also personally built housing for the poor in the United States and abroad through the nonprofit group Habitat for Humanity. "This is the kind of thing I enjoy doing. The alternative is to loaf around the house and spend my time playing golf or fishing," he told a Canadian newsweekly. He remained a force in world affairs. Human rights were his focal point in this rare second act in public life. His accomplishments in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s seemed the work of a tireless and selfless man: he monitored elections in Central America; negotiated further peace in the Middle East; supervised inoculation programs for children in Africa and elsewhere; and traveled on diplomatic missions to North Korea, Bosnia, and Haiti.

Quotes:

"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can."

"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense... human rights invented America."

"We should live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon."

"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times."

"We've uncovered some embarrassing ancestors in the not-too-distant past. Some horse thieves, and some people killed on Saturday nights. One of my relatives, unfortunately, was even in the newspaper business."

"We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."

See more famous quotes by Jimmy Carter

This article is about the 39th President of the United States. For other people named Jimmy Carter, see Jimmy Carter (disambiguation).

Jimmy Carter
39th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
Vice President	Walter Mondale
Preceded by	Gerald Ford
Succeeded by	Ronald Reagan
76th Governor of Georgia
In office January 12, 1971 – January 14, 1975
Lieutenant	Lester Maddox
Preceded by	Lester Maddox
Succeeded by	George Busbee
Georgia State Senator from the 14th District
In office January 14, 1963 – January 10, 1967
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Hugh Carter
Constituency	Sumter County
Personal details
Born	James Earl Carter, Jr. (1924-10-01) October 1, 1924 (age 87) Plains, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Rosalynn Smith (1946–present)
Children	Jack James Donnel Amy
Alma mater	Georgia Southwestern State Georgia Tech U.S.N.A. (B.S.)
Profession	Farmer Naval Officer
Religion	Baptist[1]
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1946–1953
Rank	Lieutenant
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize Grand-croix de l'Ordre de la Couronne

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served as a U.S. Naval officer, was a peanut farmer, served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia (1971–1975).^[2]

During Carter's term as President, two new cabinet-level departments were created: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and returned the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. Throughout his career, Carter strongly emphasized human rights. He took office during a period of international stagflation, which persisted throughout his term. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (at the end of 1979), 1980 Summer Olympics boycott by the United States of the Moscow Olympics and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

By 1980, Carter's popularity had eroded. He survived a primary challenge against Ted Kennedy for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1980 election, but lost the election to Republican candidate Ronald Reagan. On January 20, 1981, minutes after Carter's term in office ended, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Iran were released, ending the 444-day Iran hostage crisis.^[3]

After leaving office, Carter and his wife Rosalynn founded the Carter Center in 1982,^[4] a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization that works to advance human rights. He has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, observe elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations. Carter is a key figure in the Habitat for Humanity project,^[5] and also remains particularly vocal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In March 2012, two months before President Barack Obama's declaration of support for same-sex marriage, Carter said he favors allowing same-sex couples to legally marry.^[6]

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 Naval career 1.2 Farming and personal belief 2 Early political career 2.1 Georgia State Senate 2.2 Campaigns for Governor 3 Governor of Georgia 3.1 Civil rights politics 3.2 Abortion 3.3 State government reforms 3.4 Vice-Presidential aspirations in 1972 3.5 Death penalty and crime 3.6 United States Senate appointment 3.7 Other activities 4 1976 presidential campaign 5 Presidency 5.1 U.S. Energy Crisis 5.2 EPA Love Canal Superfund 5.3 Deregulation 5.3.1 American beer industry 5.3.2 U.S. Airline Industry 5.4 U.S. Boycott of the Moscow Olympics 6 1980 presidential campaign 7 Post-Presidency 7.1 Legacy 7.2 Public image 7.3 Carter Center 7.4 Nobel Peace Prize 7.5 Diplomacy 7.5.1 North Korea 7.5.2 Middle East 7.5.3 Africa 7.5.4 Americas 7.5.5 Vietnam 7.6 Criticism of US policy 7.7 Death penalty 7.8 Torture 7.9 Abortion 7.10 Author 7.10.1 Palestine Peace Not Apartheid 7.11 Involvement with Bank of Credit and Commerce International 7.12 Faith, family, and community 7.13 Honors and awards 7.13.1 World Justice Project 7.13.2 Continuity of Government Commission 7.14 Participation in ceremonial events 7.15 Race in politics 7.16 2012 Presidential race 7.17 Funeral and burial plans 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 10.1 Primary sources 11 External links 11.1 Biographical pages 11.2 Other links

Early life

Jimmy Carter (around age 13) his dog, Bozo, in 1937.

James Earl Carter, Jr., was born at the Wise Sanitarium^[7] on October 1, 1924, in the tiny southwest Georgia city of Plains, near Americus. The first president born in a hospital,^[8] he is the eldest of four children of James Earl Carter and Bessie Lillian Gordy. Carter's father was a prominent business owner in the community and his mother was a registered nurse.

Carter is descended from immigrants from southern England (his paternal ancestor arrived in the American Colonies in 1635),^[9] and his family has lived in the state of Georgia for several generations. Carter has documented ancestors who fought in the American Revolution, and he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.^[10] Carter's great-grandfather, Private L.B. Walker Carter (1832–1874), served in the Confederate States Army.^[11]

Carter was a gifted student from an early age who always had a fondness for reading. By the time he attended Plains High School, he was also a star in basketball. He was greatly influenced by one of his high school teachers, Julia Coleman (1889–1973). While he was in high school he was in the Future Farmers of America, which later changed its name to the National FFA Organization, serving as the Plains FFA Chapter Secretary.^[12]

Carter had three younger siblings: sisters Gloria Carter Spann (1926–1990) and Ruth Carter Stapleton (1929–1983), and brother William Alton "Billy" Carter (1937–1988). During Carter's Presidency, Billy was often in the news, usually in an unflattering light.^[13]

He married Rosalynn Smith in 1946; they have four children.

He is a first cousin of politician Hugh Carter and a half-second cousin of Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. on his mother's side, and a cousin of June Carter Cash.^[14]

Naval career

After high school, Carter enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College, in Americus. Later, he applied to the United States Naval Academy and, after taking additional mathematics courses at Georgia Tech, he was admitted in 1943. Carter graduated 59th out of 820 midshipmen at the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree with an unspecified major, as was the custom at the academy at that time.^[15]

Carter served on surface ships and on diesel-electric submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. As a junior officer, he completed qualification for command of a diesel-electric submarine. He applied for the US Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program run by then Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on him. Carter has said that he loved the Navy, and had planned to make it his career. His ultimate goal was to become Chief of Naval Operations. Carter felt the best route for promotion was with submarine duty since he felt that nuclear power would be increasingly used in submarines. Carter was based in Schenectady, New York, and working on developing training materials for the nuclear propulsion system for the prototype of a new submarine.^[16]

On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown. The resulting explosion caused millions of liters of radioactive water to flood the reactor building’s basement, and the reactor’s core was no longer usable.^[17] Carter was now ordered to Chalk River, joining other American and Canadian service personnel. He was the officer in charge of the U.S. team assisting in the shutdown of the Chalk River Nuclear Reactor.^[18]

Once they arrived, Carter's team used a model of the reactor to practice the steps necessary to disassemble the reactor and seal it off. During execution of the actual disassembly each team member, including Carter, donned protective gear, was lowered individually into the reactor, stayed for only a few seconds at a time to minimize exposure to radiation, and used hand tools to loosen bolts, remove nuts and take the other steps necessary to complete the disassembly process.

During and after his presidency Carter indicated that his experience at Chalk River shaped his views on nuclear power and nuclear weapons, including his decision not to pursue completion of the neutron bomb.^[19]

Upon the death of his father James Earl Carter, Sr., in July 1953, he was urgently needed to run the family business. Lieutenant Carter resigned his commission, and he was discharged from the Navy on October 9, 1953.

Farming and personal belief

Though Carter's father, Earl, died a relatively wealthy man, between Earl's forgiveness of debts owed to him and the division of his wealth among his heirs, Jimmy Carter inherited comparatively little. For a year, due to a limited real estate market, the Carters lived in public housing (Carter is the only U.S. president to have lived in housing subsidized for the poor).^[20]

Knowledgeable in scientific and technological subjects and raised on a farm, Carter took over the family peanut farm. Carter took to the county library to read up on agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage the businesses financials.^[20] Though they barely broke even the first year, Carter managed to expand in Plains. His farming business was successful, and during the 1970 gubernatorial campaign, he was considered a wealthy peanut farmer.^[21]

From a young age, Carter showed a deep commitment to Christianity, serving as a Sunday School teacher throughout his life. Even as President, Carter prayed several times a day, and professed that Jesus Christ was the driving force in his life. Carter had been greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man, called, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"^[22]

Early political career

Georgia State Senate

Jimmy Carter started his career by serving on various local boards, governing such entities as the schools, hospitals, and libraries, among others. In the 1960s, he served two terms in the Georgia Senate from the fourteenth district of Georgia.

His 1961 election to the state Senate, which followed the end of Georgia's County Unit System (per the Supreme Court case of Gray v. Sanders), was chronicled in his book Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age. The election involved corruption led by Joe Hurst, the sheriff of Quitman County; system abuses included votes from deceased persons and tallies filled with people who supposedly voted in alphabetical order. It took a challenge of the fraudulent results for Carter to win the election. Carter was reelected in 1964, to serve a second two-year term.

For a time in State Senate he chaired its Education Committee.^[23]

In 1966, Carter declined running for re-election as a state senator to pursue a gubernatorial run. His first cousin, Hugh Carter, was elected as a Democrat and took over his seat in the Senate.

Campaigns for Governor

Main article: Georgia gubernatorial election, 1966

In 1966, during the end of his career as a state senator, he flirted with the idea of running for the United States House of Representatives. His Republican opponent, Howard Callaway, dropped out and decided to run for Governor of Georgia. Carter did not want to see a Republican Governor of his state, and, in turn, dropped out of the race for Congress and joined the race to become Governor. Carter lost the Democratic primary, but drew enough votes as a third place candidate to force the favorite, liberal former governor Ellis Arnall, into a runoff election, setting off a chain of events which resulted in the nomination of segregationist Democrat Lester Maddox. Maddox would go on to be selected governor of Georgia by the Georgia General Assembly despite finishing a close second in a three-way general election race between Maddox, Callaway, and Arnall, who ran as a Write-in candidate. During the primary Carter ran as a moderate alternative to both liberal Arnall and conservative Maddox.^[23] Although he lost, his strong third place finish was viewed as a success for a little-known state senator.^[23]

Main article: Georgia gubernatorial election, 1970

For the next four years, Carter returned to his agriculture business and carefully planned for his next campaign for Governor in 1970, making over 1,800 speeches throughout the state.

During his 1970 campaign, he ran an uphill populist campaign in the Democratic primary against former Governor Carl Sanders, labeling his opponent "Cufflinks Carl". Carter was never a segregationist, and refused to join the segregationist White Citizens' Council, prompting a boycott of his peanut warehouse. His family was also one of only two that voted to admit blacks to the Plains Baptist Church.^[24]

"Carter himself was not a segregationist in 1970. But he did say things that the segregationists wanted to hear. He was opposed to busing. He was in favor of private schools. He said that he would invite segregationist governor George Wallace to come to Georgia to give a speech.", according to historian E. Stanly Godbold.

Carter's campaign aides handed out a photograph of Sanders celebrating with black basketball players.^[25][26] Following his close victory over Sanders in the primary, he was elected Governor over Republican Hal Suit.

After his election, Carter would make a statement that would displease the segregationists: "I say to you quite frankly, that the time for racial discrimination is over. No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job, or simple justice."

Leroy Johnson, Georgia State Senator reflected: "We were extremely pleased. Many of the white segregationists were displeased. And I'm convinced that those people that supported him, would not have supported him if they had thought that he would have made that statement."^[27]

Governor of Georgia

Carter was sworn in as the 76th Governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971 and held this post for one term, until January 14, 1975. Governors of Georgia were not allowed to succeed themselves at the time. His predecessor as Governor, Lester Maddox, became the Lieutenant Governor. Carter and Maddox found little common ground during their four years of service, often publicly feuding with each other.^[28][29]

Civil rights politics

Carter declared in his inaugural speech that the time of racial segregation was over, and that racial discrimination had no place in the future of the state, the first statewide office holder in the Deep South to say this in public.^[30] Afterwards, Carter appointed many African Americans to statewide boards and offices. He was often called one of the "New Southern Governors" – much more moderate than their predecessors, and supportive of racial desegregation and expanding African-Americans' rights.

Abortion

Although "personally opposed" to abortion, after the landmark US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973) Carter supported legalized abortion.^[31] He did not support increased federal funding for abortion services as president and was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union for not doing enough to find alternatives.^[32] In March 2012, during an interview on The Laura Ingraham Show, Carter expressed his view that the Democratic Party should be more pro-life. He explained how difficult it was for him, given his strong Christian beliefs, to uphold Roe v. Wade while he was president.^[33]

State government reforms

Carter improved government efficiency by merging about 300 state agencies into 30 agencies. One of his aides recalled that Governor Carter "was right there with us, working just as hard, digging just as deep into every little problem. It was his program and he worked on it as hard as anybody, and the final product was distinctly his." He also pushed reforms through the legislature, providing equal state aid to schools in the wealthy and poor areas of Georgia, set up community centers for mentally handicapped children, and increased educational programs for convicts. Carter took pride in a program he introduced for the appointment of judges and state government officials. Under this program, all such appointments were based on merit, rather than political influence.^[34][35]

Vice-Presidential aspirations in 1972

In 1972, as US Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was marching toward the Democratic nomination for President, Carter called a news conference in Atlanta to warn that McGovern was unelectable. Carter criticized McGovern as too liberal on both foreign and domestic policy, yet when McGovern's nomination became a foregone conclusion, Carter lobbied to become his vice-presidential running mate.

During the 1972 Democratic National Convention he endorsed the candidacy of Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington.^[36] Carter received 30 votes at the Democratic National Convention in the chaotic ballot for Vice President. McGovern offered the second spot to Reubin Askew, from next door Florida and one of the "new southern governors", but he declined.

Death penalty and crime

After the US Supreme Court overturned Georgia's death penalty law in 1972, Carter quickly proposed state legislation to replace the death penalty with life in prison (an option that previously did not exist).^[37]

When the Georgia legislature passed a new death penalty statute, Carter, despite voicing reservations about its constitutionality,^[38] signed new legislation on March 28, 1973^[39] to authorize the death penalty for murder, rape and other offenses, and to implement trial procedures that conformed to the newly announced constitutional requirements. In 1976, the Supreme Court upheld Georgia's new death penalty for murder. In the case of Coker v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional as applied to rape.

Many in America were outraged by William Calley's life sentence at Fort Benning for his role in the My Lai Massacre; Carter instituted "American Fighting Man's Day" and asked Georgians to drive for a week with their lights on in support of Calley.^[40] Indiana's governor asked all state flags to be flown at half-staff for Calley, and Utah's and Mississippi's governors also disagreed with the verdict.^[40]

Despite his earlier support, Carter soon became a death penalty opponent, and during Presidential campaigns (like previous nominee George McGovern and two successive nominees, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis), this was noted.^[41] Currently, Carter is known for his outspoken opposition to the death penalty in all forms; in his Nobel Prize lecture, he urged "prohibition of the death penalty".^[42]

United States Senate appointment

Richard Russell, Jr., then-President pro tempore of the United States Senate, died in office on January 21, 1971. Carter, only nine days into his governorship, appointed state Democratic Party chair David H. Gambrell to fill an unexpired Russell term in the Senate on February 1.^[43] Gambrell was defeated in the next Democratic primary by the more conservative Sam Nunn.

Other activities

In 1973, while Governor of Georgia, Carter filed a report on his 1969 UFO sighting with the International UFO Bureau in Oklahoma City.^[44][45][46] In 2007, Carter stated that he did not remember why he filed the report and that he believes he probably only did it at the request of one of his children. He also stated he does not believe it was an alien spacecraft, but rather that it was likely some sort of military experiment being conducted from a nearby military base.^[47]

Carter made an appearance as the first guest of the evening on an episode of the game show What's My Line in 1974, signing in as "X", lest his name give away his occupation. After his job was identified on question seven of ten by Gene Shalit, he talked about having brought movie production to the state of Georgia, citing Deliverance, and the then-unreleased The Longest Yard.

In 1974, Carter was chairman of the Democratic National Committee's congressional, as well as gubernatorial, campaigns.

1976 presidential campaign

Main article: United States presidential election, 1976

The electoral map of the 1976 election

When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries in 1976, he was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians. He had a name recognition of only two percent. When he told his family of his intention to run for President, his mother asked, "President of what?" The Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, and so his position as an outsider, distant from Washington, D.C., became an asset. The centerpiece of his campaign platform was government reorganization. Carter published Why Not the Best? in June 1976 to help introduce himself to the American public.^[48]

Carter and President Gerald Ford debating at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia.

Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. He used a two-prong strategy: In the South, which most had tacitly conceded to Alabama's George Wallace, Carter ran as a moderate favorite son. When Wallace proved to be a spent force, Carter swept the region. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters and had little chance of winning a majority in most states. He won several Northern states by building the largest single bloc. Carter's strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there. He traveled over 50,000 miles, visited 37 states, and delivered over 200 speeches before any other candidates even announced that they were in the race.^[49] Initially dismissed as a regional candidate, Carter proved to be the only Democrat with a truly national strategy, and he eventually clinched the nomination.

The national news media discovered and promoted Carter, as Lawrence Shoup noted in his 1980 book The Carter Presidency and Beyond:

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.

Carter was interviewed by Robert Scheer of Playboy for its November 1976 issue, which hit the newsstands a couple of weeks before the election. It was here that in the course of a digression on his religion's view of pride, Carter admitted: "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times."^[50] He remains the only American president to be interviewed by this magazine.

As late as January 26, 1976, Carter was the first choice of only four percent of Democratic voters, according to a Gallup poll. Yet "by mid-March 1976 Carter was not only far ahead of the active contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, he also led President Ford by a few percentage points", according to Shoup.

He chose Senator Walter F. Mondale as his running mate. He attacked Washington in his speeches, and offered a religious salve for the nation's wounds.^[51]

Carter began the race with a sizable lead over Ford, who was able to narrow the gap over the course of the campaign, but was unable to prevent Carter from narrowly defeating him on November 2, 1976. Carter won the popular vote by 50.1 percent to 48.0 percent for Ford and received 297 electoral votes to Ford's 240. He became the first contender from the Deep South to be elected President since the 1848 election.

Presidency

Main article: Presidency of Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States by Chief Justice Warren Burger, January 20, 1977.

Carter was elected over Gerald Ford in 1976. His tenure was a time of continuing inflation and recession, as well as an energy crisis. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96-185 known as The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 bailing out Chrysler Corporation and canceled military pay raises during a time of high inflation and government deficits.

While attempting to calm various conflicts around the World, most visibly in the Middle East resulting in the signing of the Camp David Accords, giving back the Panama Canal and signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, the final year of his administration was marred by the Iran hostage crisis, which contributed to his losing his 1980 re-election campaign to Ronald Reagan.

U.S. Energy Crisis

On April 18, 1977 Carter delivered a televised speech declaring that the U.S. energy crisis during the 1970s was the moral equivalent of war. Carter encouraged energy conservation by all U.S. citizens and installed solar water heating panels on the White House,^[52][53] and wore sweaters while turning down the heat within the White House.

Carter meeting with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, in Tehran

The Shah and Carter

EPA Love Canal Superfund

In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the neighborhood of Love Canal in the city of Niagara Falls, New York. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which was built on top of a toxic waste landfill. The Superfund law was created in response to the situation. Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses, the 99th Street School, and the 93rd Street School, which were built on top of the dump and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area. This was the first time that such a thing had been done. He then said that there were several more "Love Canals" across the country, and that discovering such dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".

Deregulation

American beer industry

U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the
Airline Deregulation Act.

During 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by opening access of the home-brew market back up to the craft brewers, making it again legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of Prohibition in the United States.^[54]

U.S. Airline Industry

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Alfred E. Kahn, a professor of economics at Cornell University, to be chair of the CAB. A concerted push for the legislation had developed, drawing on leading economists, leading 'think tanks' in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform (patterned on a coalition earlier developed for the truck-and-rail-reform efforts), the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978.

The Airline Deregulation Act (Pub.L. 95-504) is United States enacted federal legislation signed into law by President Carter on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from commercial aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing passengers to be exposed to market forces in the airline industry. The Act, however, did not remove or diminish the FAA's regulatory powers over all aspects of airline safety.

U.S. Boycott of the Moscow Olympics

One of Carter's most bitterly controversial decisions was his boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in response to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This marks the only time since the founding of the modern Olympics in 1896 that the United States has ever failed to participate in a Summer or Winter Olympics. The Soviet Union retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and did not withdraw troops from Afghanistan until 1989 (eight years after Carter left office).

1980 presidential campaign

Main article: United States presidential election, 1980

The electoral map of the 1980 election

Carter wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which he attributed to Ted Kennedy’s ambition to replace him as president.^[55] Kennedy, originally on board with Carter's health plan, pulled his support from that legislation in the late stages; Carter states that this was in anticipation of Kennedy's own candidacy, and when neither won, the tactic effectively delayed comprehensive health coverage for decades.^[56]

Carter's campaign for re-election in 1980 was one of the most difficult, and least successful, in history. He faced strong challenges from the right (Ronald Reagan), the center (John B. Anderson), and the left (Ted Kennedy). He had to run against his own "stagflation"-ridden economy. He alienated liberal college students, who were expected to be his base, by re-instating registration for the draft. He was defeated by Ronald Reagan.

Post-Presidency

Former President and First Lady Carter wave from their aircraft after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan on January 20, 1981.

In 1981, Carter returned to Georgia to his peanut farm, which he had placed into a blind trust during his presidency to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. He found that the trustees had mismanaged the trust, leaving him over one million dollars in debt. In the years that followed, he has led an active life, establishing The Carter Center, building his presidential library, teaching at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and writing numerous books.^[51]

Legacy

When he first left office, Carter's presidency was viewed by most as a failure.^[57][58][59] In historical rankings of US presidents, the Carter presidency has ranged from #19 to #34. Although Carter's presidency received mixed reviews from some historians, his all-around peace keeping and humanitarian efforts since he left office have led him to be renowned as one of the most successful ex-presidents in US history.^[60][61]

Although Carter has also received mixed reviews in both television and film documentaries, such as the Man from Plains (2007), the 2009 documentary, Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace, credits Carter's efforts at Camp David, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt, with bringing the only meaningful peace to the Middle East. The film opened the 2009 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in an invitation-only royal screening^[62] on June 7, 2009 at the Grimaldi Forum in the presence of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.^[63]

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale are the longest-living post-presidential team in American history. On December 11, 2006, they had been out of office for 25 years and 325 days, surpassing the former record established by President John Adams and Vice President Thomas Jefferson, who both died on July 4, 1826. On Friday, September 7, 2012, at 11:36 a.m. EST, Carter will surpass Herbert Hoover as the President with the longest retirement from the office.

Jimmy Carter is one of only four presidents,^[64] and the only one in modern history, who did not have an opportunity to nominate a judge to serve on the Supreme Court. The other three are William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Andrew Johnson.

Public image

The Independent writes, "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president."^[65] While he began his term with a 66% approval rating,^[66] this had dropped to 34% approval by the time he left office, with 55% disapproving.^[67]

Much of this image in the public eye results from the Presidents proximate to him in history.^[68] In the wake of Nixon's Watergate Scandal, exit polls from the 1976 Presidential election suggested that many still held Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon against him,^[69] and Carter by comparison seemed a sincere, honest, and well-meaning Southerner.^[65]

Despite being honest and truthful, Carter's administration suffered from his inexperience in politics. Carter paid too much attention to detail. He frequently backed down from confrontation and was always quick to retreat when under fire from political rivals. He frequently appeared to be indecisive and ineffective, and did not define his priorities clearly. He seemed to be distrustful and uninterested in working with other groups, or even with Congress when controlled by his own party, which he denounced for being controlled by special interest groups.^[68] Though he made efforts to address many of these issues in 1978, the approval he won from his reforms did not last long.

When Carter ran for reelection, Ronald Reagan's nonchalant self-confidence contrasted to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. Carter's personal attention to detail, his pessimistic attitude, his seeming indecisiveness and weakness with people was also accentuated by Reagan's charismic charm and easy delegation of tasks to subordinates.^[68][70] Ultimately, the combination of the economic problems, the Iran hostage crisis, and lack of Washington cooperation made it very easy for Reagan to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader, which resulted in Carter to become the first elected president since 1932 to lose a reelection bid, and his presidency was largely considered to be a failure.

Notwithstanding perceptions while Carter was in office, his reputation has much improved. Carter's presidential approval rating, which sat at 31% just prior to the 1980 election, was polled in early 2009 at 64%.^[71] Carter's continued post-Presidency activities have also been favorably received. Carter explains that a great deal of this change was owed to Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush, who actively sought him out and was far more courteous and interested in his advice than Reagan had been.^[65]

Carter Center

Main article: Carter Center

Jimmy Carter (far right) in 1991 with President George H. W. Bush and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Library

18 years later, President of the United States of America George W. Bush invited former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter (far right) and then-President Elect Barack Obama for a meeting and lunch at The White House. Photo taken Wednesday, January 7, 2009 in the Oval Office at The White House.

As President, Carter expressed a goal of making government "competent and compassionate." In pursuit of that vision, he has been involved in a variety of national and international public policy, conflict resolution, human rights and charitable causes.

In 1982, he established The Carter Center in Atlanta to advance human rights and alleviate unnecessary human suffering. The non-profit, nongovernmental Center promotes democracy, mediates and prevents conflicts, and monitors the electoral process in support of free and fair elections. It also works to improve global health through the control and eradication of diseases such as Guinea worm disease, river blindness, malaria, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis. It also works to diminish the stigma of mental illnesses and improve nutrition through increased crop production in Africa. A major accomplishment of The Carter Center has been the elimination of more than 99% of cases of Guinea worm disease, a debilitating parasite that has existed since ancient times, from an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986 to 3,190 reported cases in 2009.^[72] The Carter Center has monitored 81 elections in 33 countries since 1989.^[73] It has worked to resolve conflicts in Haiti, Bosnia, Ethiopia, North Korea, Sudan and other countries. Carter and the Center actively support human rights defenders around the world and have intervened with heads of state on their behalf.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development" through The Carter Center.^[74] Three sitting presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama, have received the prize; Carter is unique in receiving the award for his actions after leaving the presidency. He is, along with Martin Luther King, Jr., one of only two native Georgians to receive the Nobel.

Diplomacy

Foreign trips of Jimmy Carter during his presidency

North Korea

In 1994, North Korea had expelled investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency and was threatening to begin processing spent nuclear fuel. In response, then-President Clinton pressured for US sanctions and ordered large amounts of troops and vehicles into the area to brace for war.

Bill Clinton secretly recruited Carter to undertake a peace mission to North Korea,^[75] under the guise that it was a private mission of Carter's. Clinton saw Carter as a way to let North Korean President Kim Il-sung back down without losing face.^[76]

Carter negotiated an understanding with Kim Il-sung, but went further and outlined a treaty, which he announced on CNN without the permission of the Clinton White House as a way to force the US into action. The Clinton Administration signed a later version of the Agreed Framework, under which North Korea agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its current nuclear program and comply with its nonproliferation obligations in exchange for oil deliveries, the construction of two light water reactors to replace its graphite reactors, and discussions for eventual diplomatic relations.

The agreement was widely hailed at the time as a significant diplomatic achievement.^[77] In December 2002, the Agreed Framework collapsed as a result of a dispute between the George W. Bush Administration and the North Korean government of Kim Jong-il. In 2001, Bush had taken a confrontational position toward North Korea and, in January 2002, named it as part of an "Axis of Evil". Meanwhile, North Korea began developing the capability to enrich uranium. Bush Administration opponents of the Agreed Framework believed that the North Korean government never intended to give up a nuclear weapons program, but supporters believed that the agreement could have been successful and was undermined.^[78]

In August 2010, Carter traveled to North Korea in an attempt to secure the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Gomes, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to eight years of hard labor after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korea. Carter successfully secured the release.^[79]

Middle East

Carter and experts from The Carter Center assisted unofficial Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in designing a model agreement for peace–-called the Geneva Accord–-in 2002–2003.^[80]

Carter has also in recent years become a frequent critic of Israel's policies in Lebanon, West Bank, and Gaza.^[81][82]

In 2006, at the UK Hay Festival, Carter stated that Israel has at least 150 nuclear weapons. He expressed his support for Israel as a country, but criticized its domestic and foreign policy; "One of the greatest human rights crimes on earth is the starvation and imprisonment of 1.6m Palestinians," said Carter.

He mentioned statistics showing nutritional intake of some Palestinian children was below that of the children of Sub-Saharan Africa and described the European position on Israel as "supine".^[83]

In April 2008, the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Carter met with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on his visit to Syria. The Carter Center initially did not confirm nor deny the story. The US State Department considers Hamas a terrorist organization.^[84] Within this Mid-East trip, Carter also laid a wreath on the grave of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on April 14, 2008.^[85] Carter said on April 23 that neither Condoleezza Rice nor anyone else in the State Department had warned him against meeting with Hamas leaders during his trip.^[86] Carter spoke to Mashaal on several matters, including "formulas for prisoner exchange to obtain the release of Corporal Shalit."^[87]

In May 2007, while arguing that the United States should directly talk to Iran, Carter again stated that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal.^[88]

In December 2008, Carter visited Damascus again, where he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the Hamas leadership. During his visit he gave an exclusive interview to Forward Magazine, the first ever interview for any American president, current or former, with a Syrian media outlet.^[89][90]

Carter visited with three officials from Hamas who have been living at the International Red Cross office in Jerusalem since July 2010. Israel believes that these three Hamas legislators had a role in the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and has a deportation order set for them.^[91]

Africa

Carter held summits in Egypt and Tunisia in 1995–1996 to address violence in the Great Lakes region of Africa.^[92]

Carter played a key role in negotiation of the Nairobi Agreement in 1999 between Sudan and Uganda.^[93]

On July 18, 2007, Carter joined Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, to announce his participation in a new humanitarian organization called The Elders. In October 2007, Carter toured Darfur with several of The Elders, including Desmond Tutu. Sudanese security prevented him from visiting a Darfuri tribal leader, leading to a heated exchange.^[94]

On June 18, 2007, Carter, accompanied by his wife, arrived in Dublin, Ireland, for talks with President Mary McAleese and Bertie Ahern concerning human rights. On June 19, Carter attended and spoke at the annual Human Rights Forum at Croke Park. An agreement between Irish Aid and The Carter Center was also signed on this day.

In November 2008, President Carter, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela, were stopped from entering Zimbabwe, to inspect the human rights situation, by President Robert Mugabe's government.

Americas

Carter led a mission to Haiti in 1994 with Senator Sam Nunn and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell to avert a US-led multinational invasion and restore to power Haiti's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.^[95]

Carter visited Cuba in May 2002 and had full discussions with Fidel Castro and the Cuban government. He was allowed to address the Cuban public uncensored on national television and radio with a speech that he wrote and presented in Spanish. In the speech, he called on the US to end "an ineffective 43-year-old economic embargo" and on Castro to hold free elections, improve human rights, and allow greater civil liberties.^[96] He met with political dissidents; visited the AIDS sanitarium, a medical school, a biotech facility, an agricultural production cooperative, and a school for disabled children; and threw a pitch for an all-star baseball game in Havana. The visit made Carter the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban revolution of 1959.^[97]

Carter observed the Venezuela recall elections on August 15, 2004. European Union observers had declined to participate, saying too many restrictions were put on them by the Hugo Chávez administration.^[98] A record number of voters turned out to defeat the recall attempt with a 59% "no" vote.^[99] The Carter Center stated that the process "suffered from numerous irregularities," but said it did not observe or receive "evidence of fraud that would have changed the outcome of the vote".^[100] On the afternoon of August 16, 2004, the day after the vote, Carter and Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General César Gaviria gave a joint press conference in which they endorsed the preliminary results announced by the National Electoral Council. The monitors' findings "coincided with the partial returns announced today by the National Elections Council," said Carter, while Gaviria added that the OAS electoral observation mission's members had "found no element of fraud in the process." Directing his remarks at opposition figures who made claims of "widespread fraud" in the voting, Carter called on all Venezuelans to "accept the results and work together for the future".^[101] A Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB) exit poll had predicted that Chávez would lose by 20%; when the election results showed him to have won by 20%, Schoen commented, "I think it was a massive fraud".^[102] US News and World Report offered an analysis of the polls, indicating "very good reason to believe that the [Penn, Schoen & Berland] exit poll had the result right, and that Chávez's election officials – and Carter and the American media – got it wrong." The exit poll and the government's programming of election machines became the basis of claims of election fraud. An Associated Press report states that Penn, Schoen & Berland used volunteers from pro-recall organization Súmate for fieldwork, and its results contradicted five other opposition exit polls.^[103]

Following Ecuador's severing of ties with Colombia in March 2008, Carter brokered a deal for agreement between the countries' respective presidents on the restoration of low-level diplomatic relations announced June 8, 2008.^[104][105]

Vietnam

On November 18, 2009, Carter visited Vietnam to build houses for the poor. The one-week program, known as Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2009, built 32 houses in Dong Xa village, in the northern province of Hai Duong. The project launch was scheduled for November 14, according to the news source which quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga. Administered by the non-governmental and non-profit Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), the annual program of 2009 would build and repair 166 homes in Vietnam and some other Asian countries with the support of nearly 3,000 volunteers around the world, the organization said on its website. HFHI has worked in Vietnam since 2001 to provide low-cost housing, water, and sanitation solutions for the poor. It has worked in provinces like Tien Giang and Dong Nai as well as Ho Chi Minh City.^[106]

Criticism of US policy

In 2001, Carter criticized President Bill Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich, calling it "disgraceful" and suggesting that Rich's financial contributions to the Democratic Party were a factor in Clinton's action.^[107]

Carter has also criticized the presidency of George W. Bush and the Iraq War. In a 2003 New York Times editorial, Carter warned against the consequences of a war in Iraq and urged restraint in use of military force.^[108] In March 2004, Carter condemned George W. Bush and Tony Blair for waging an unnecessary war "based upon lies and misinterpretations" to oust Saddam Hussein. In August 2006, Carter criticized Blair for being "subservient" to the Bush administration and accused Blair of giving unquestioning support to Bush's Iraq policies.^[109] In a May 2007 interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he said, "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," when it comes to foreign affairs.^[110][111] Two days after the quote was published, Carter told NBC's Today that the "worst in history" comment was "careless or misinterpreted," and that he "wasn't comparing this administration with other administrations back through history, but just with President Nixon's."^[112] The day after the "worst in history" comment was published, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that Carter had become "increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."^[113]

On May 19, 2007, Mr. Blair made his final visit to Iraq before stepping down as British Prime Minister, and Carter criticized him afterward. Carter told the BBC that Blair was "apparently subservient" to Bush and criticized him for his "blind support" for the Iraq war.^[114] Carter described Blair's actions as "abominable" and stated that the British Prime Minister's "almost undeviating support for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world." Carter said he believes that had Blair distanced himself from the Bush administration during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it might have made a crucial difference to American political and public opinion, and consequently the invasion might not have gone ahead. Carter states that "one of the defenses of the Bush administration ... has been, okay, we must be more correct in our actions than the world thinks because Great Britain is backing us. So I think the combination of Bush and Blair giving their support to this tragedy in Iraq has strengthened the effort and has made the opposition less effective, and prolonged the war and increased the tragedy that has resulted." Carter expressed his hope that Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, would be "less enthusiastic" about Bush's Iraq policy.^[114]

In June 2005, Carter urged the closing of the Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba, which has been a focal point for recent claims of prisoner abuse.^[115]

In September 2006, Carter was interviewed on the BBC's current affairs program Newsnight, voicing his concern at the increasing influence of the Religious Right on US politics.^[116]

Due to his status as former President, Carter was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Carter announced his endorsement of Senator (now president) Barack Obama.

Speaking to the English Monthly Forward magazine of Syria, Carter was asked to give one word that came to mind when mentioning President George W. Bush. His answer was: the end of a very disappointing administration. His reaction to mentioning Barack Obama was: honesty, intelligence, and politically adept.^[117]

In September 2009, he put weight behind allegations by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, pertaining to United States involvement in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt by a civilian-military junta, saying that Washington knew about the coup and may have taken part.^[118]

On June 16, 2011, the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon's official declaration of America's War on Drugs, he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times urging the United States and the rest of the world to "Call Off the Global War on Drugs",^[119] explicitly endorsing the initiative released by the Global Commission on Drug Policy earlier that month and quoting a message he gave to Congress in 1977 saying that “[p]enalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

Death penalty

Carter continues to speak out against the death penalty in the US and abroad. Most recently, in his letter to the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, Carter urged him to sign a bill to eliminate the death penalty and institute life in prison without parole instead. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. Carter wrote: As you know, the United States is one of the few countries, along with nations such as Saudi Arabia, China, and Cuba, which still carry out the death penalty despite the ongoing tragedy of wrongful conviction and gross racial and class-based disparities that make impossible the fair implementation of this ultimate punishment.^[120]

Carter also called for commutations of death sentences for many death-row inmates, including Brian K. Baldwin (executed in 1999 in Alabama),^[121] Kenneth Foster (sentence in Texas commuted in 2007)^[122][123] and Troy Anthony Davis (executed in Georgia in 2011).^[124]

Torture

In a 2008 interview with Amnesty International, Carter criticized the alleged use of torture at Guantanamo Bay, saying that it "contravenes the basic principles on which this nation was founded."^[125] He stated that the next President should publicly apologize upon his inauguration, and state that the United States will "never again torture prisoners."

Abortion

In a March 29, 2012 interview with Laura Ingraham, Carter expressed his current view of abortion and his wish to see the Democratic Party becoming more pro-life: "I never have believed that Jesus Christ would approve of abortions and that was one of the problems I had when I was president having to uphold Roe v. Wade and I did everything I could to minimize the need for abortions. I made it easy to adopt children for instance who were unwanted and also initiated the program called Women and Infant Children or WIC program that’s still in existence now. But except for the times when a mother’s life is in danger or when a pregnancy is caused by rape or incest I would certainly not or never have approved of any abortions. I've signed a public letter calling for the Democratic Party at the next convention to espouse my position on abortion which is to minimize the need, requirement for abortion and limit it only to women whose life are in danger or who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest. I think if the Democratic Party would adopt that policy that would be acceptable to a lot of people who are now estranged from our party because of the abortion issue."^[126]

Author

Further information: Jimmy Carter bibliography

Carter at a book signing in Phoenix, Arizona

Carter has been a prolific author in his post-presidency, writing 21 of his 23 books. Among these is one he co-wrote with his wife, Rosalynn, and a children's book illustrated by his daughter, Amy. They cover a variety of topics, including humanitarian work, aging, religion, human rights, and poetry.

Palestine Peace Not Apartheid

Main articles: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid and Commentary on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid

See also: Israel and the apartheid analogy

In a 2007 speech to Brandeis University, Carter stated: "I have spent a great deal of my adult life trying to bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, based on justice and righteousness for the Palestinians. These are the underlying purposes of my new book."^[127]

In his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, published in November 2006, Carter states:

Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.^[128]

He declares that Israel's current policies in the Palestinian territories constitute "a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land, but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights."^[128] In an Op-Ed titled "Speaking Frankly about Israel and Palestine," published in the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, Carter states:

The ultimate purpose of my book is to present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion and to help restart peace talks (now absent for six years) that can lead to permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors. Another hope is that Jews and other Americans who share this same goal might be motivated to express their views, even publicly, and perhaps in concert. I would be glad to help with that effort.^[129]

While some – such as a former Special Rapporteur for both the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission, as well as a member of the Israeli Knesset – have praised Carter for speaking frankly about Palestinians in Israeli occupied lands, others – including the envoy to the Middle East under Clinton, as well as the first director of the Carter Center^[130][131] – have accused him of anti-Israeli bias. Specifically, these critics have alleged significant factual errors, omissions and misstatements in the book.^[132][133]

The 2007 documentary film, Man from Plains, follows President Carter during his tour for the controversial book and other humanitarian efforts.^[134]

In December 2009, Carter apologized for any words or deeds that may have upset the Jewish community in an open letter meant to improve an often tense relationship. He said he was offering an Al Het, a prayer said on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.^[135]

Involvement with Bank of Credit and Commerce International

After Carter left the presidency, his interest in the developing countries led him to having a close relationship with Agha Hasan Abedi, the founder of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Abedi was a Pakistani, whose bank had offices and business in a large number of developing countries. He was introduced to Carter in 1982 by Bert Lance, one of Carter's closest friends. (Unknown to Carter, BCCI had secretly purchased an interest in 1978 in National Bank of Georgia, which had previously been run by Lance and had made loans to Carter's peanut business.) Abedi made generous donations to the Carter Center and the Global 2000 Project. Abedi also traveled with Carter to at least seven countries in connection with Carter's charitable activities. The main purpose of Abedi's association with Carter was not charitable activities, but to enhance BCCI's influence, in order to open more offices and develop more business. In 1991, BCCI was seized by regulators, amid allegations of criminal activities, including illegally having control of several U.S. banks. Just prior to the seizure, Carter began to disassociate himself from Abedi and the bank.^[136]

Faith, family, and community

Carter in Plains, 2008

Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are also well known for their work as volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, a Georgia-based philanthropy that helps low-income working people to build and buy their own homes.

He teaches Sunday school and is a deacon in the Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, under the watchful eye of the U.S. Secret Service.^[137] In 2000, Carter severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, saying the group's doctrines did not align with his Christian beliefs.^[138] In April 2006, Carter, former-President Bill Clinton and Mercer University President Bill Underwood initiated the New Baptist Covenant. The broadly inclusive movement seeks to unite Baptists of all races, cultures and convention affiliations. Eighteen Baptist leaders representing more than 20 million Baptists across North America backed the group as an alternative to the Southern Baptist Convention. The group held its first meeting in Atlanta, January 30 through February 1, 2008.^[139]

Carter's hobbies include painting,^[140] fly-fishing, woodworking, cycling, tennis, and skiing.

The Carters have three sons, one daughter, eight grandsons, three granddaughters, and two great-grandsons. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in July 2011, making them the second-longest wed Presidential couple after George and Barbara Bush, a position they have held since passing John and Abigail Adams on July 10, 2000. Their eldest son Jack was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nevada in 2006, losing to incumbent John Ensign. Jack's son Jason was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2010.

Honors and awards

Former President and Navy submariner Jimmy Carter (left) hoists a replica of the USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) given to him by Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton (right) at a naming ceremony in the Pentagon on April 28, 1998

4 U.S. Presidents. Former President Carter (right), walks with, from left, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton during the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 2004

Carter has received honorary degrees from many American and foreign colleges and universities. They include:

• LL.D. (honoris causa) Morehouse College, 1972; Morris Brown College, 1972; University of Notre Dame, 1977; Emory University, 1979; Kwansei Gakuin University, 1981; Georgia Southwestern College, 1981; New York Law School, 1985; Bates College, 1985; Centre College, 1987; Creighton University, 1987; University of Pennsylvania, 1998
• D.E. (honoris causa) Georgia Institute of Technology, 1979
• PhD (honoris causa) Weizmann Institute of Science, 1980; Tel Aviv University, 1983; University of Haifa, 1987
• D.H.L. (honoris causa) Central Connecticut State University, 1985; Trinity College, 1998; Hoseo University, 1998
• Doctor (honoris causa) G.O.C. University, 1995; University of Juba, 2002
• Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 2007
• Honorary Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford, 2007

Among the honors Carter has received are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Others include:

• Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1977
• Silver Buffalo Award, Boy Scouts of America, 1978
• Gold medal, International Institute for Human Rights, 1979
• International Mediation medal, American Arbitration Association, 1979
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize, 1979
• International Human Rights Award, Synagogue Council of America, 1979
• Conservationist of the Year Award, 1979
• Harry S. Truman Public Service Award, 1981
• Ansel Adams Conservation Award, Wilderness Society, 1982
• Human Rights Award, International League of Human Rights, 1983
• World Methodist Peace Award, 1985
• Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, 1987
• Edwin C. Whitehead Award, National Center for Health Education, 1989
• Jefferson Award, American Institute of Public Service, 1990
• Liberty Medal, National Constitution Center, 1990
• Spirit of America Award, National Council for the Social Studies, 1990
• Physicians for Social Responsibility Award, 1991
• Aristotle Prize, Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, 1991
• W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, 1992
• Spark M. Matsunaga Medal of Peace, US Institute of Peace, 1993
• Humanitarian Award, CARE International, 1993
• Conservationist of the Year Medal, National Wildlife Federation, 1993
• Rotary Award for World Understanding, 1994
• J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, 1994
• National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, 1994
• UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, 1994
• Great Cross of the Order of Vasco Nunéz de Balboa, Panama, 1995
• Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Award, Africare, 1996
• Humanitarian of the Year, GQ Awards, 1996
• Kiwanis International Humanitarian Award, 1996
• Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, 1997
• Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Awards for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, 1997
• United Nations Human Rights Award, 1998
• The Hoover Medal, 1998
• The Delta Prize for Global Understanding, University of Georgia, 1999
• International Child Survival Award, UNICEF Atlanta, 1999
• William Penn Mott, Jr., Park Leadership Award, National Parks Conservation Association, 2000^[141]
• Zayed International Prize for the Environment, 2001
• Jonathan M. Daniels Humanitarian Award, VMI, 2001
• Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 2001
• Christopher Award, 2002
• Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 2007^[142]
• Berkeley Medal, University of California campus, May 2, 2007
• International Award for Excellence and Creativity, Palestinian Authority, 2009^[143]
• Mahatma Gandhi Global Nonviolence Award, Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence, James Madison University (to be awarded September 21, 2009, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and to be shared with his wife, Rosalynn Carter)
• Recipient of 2009 American Peace Award along with Rosalynn Carter^[144]
• International Catalonia Award 2010

In 1998, the US Navy named the third and last Seawolf-class submarine honoring former President Carter and his service as a submariner officer. It became one of the first US Navy vessels to be named for a person living at the time of naming.^[145]

World Justice Project

President Jimmy Carter serves as an Honorary Chair for the World Justice Project.^[146] The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.^[147]

Continuity of Government Commission

Carter serves as Honorary Chair for the Continuity of Government Commission (he was co-chair with Gerald Ford until the latter's death). The Commission recommends improvements to continuity of government measures for the federal government.

Participation in ceremonial events

Carter has participated in many ceremonial events such as the opening of his own presidential library and those of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. He has also participated in many forums, lectures, panels, funerals and other events. Carter delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Coretta Scott King and, most recently, at the funeral of his former political rival, but later his close, personal friend and diplomatic collaborator, Gerald Ford.

Race in politics

Carter ignited debate in September 2009 when he stated, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American."^[148][149] Obama disagreed with Carter's assessment. On CNN Obama stated, "Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are...that's not the overriding issue here."^[150]

2012 Presidential race

In the Republican party 2012 Presidential primary, Carter endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in mid-September, not because he supports Romney, but because he feels Obama's re-election bid would be strengthened in a race against Romney.^[151] Carter added that he thinks Romney would lose in a match up against Obama, and that he supports the president's re-election.^[152]

Funeral and burial plans

Carter intends to be buried in front of his home in Plains, Georgia. In contrast, most Presidents since Herbert Hoover have been buried at their presidential library or presidential museum, with the exception of John F. Kennedy, who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and Lyndon B. Johnson, who is buried at his own ranch. Both President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, were born in Plains. Carter also noted that a funeral in Washington, D.C. with visitation at the Carter Center is being planned as well.^[153]

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

• Electoral history of Jimmy Carter
• Jack Carter (politician) (born 1947; eldest son of former US President Jimmy Carter)
• Jason Carter (politician)
• Raymond Lee Harvey assassination conspirator
• Jimmy Carter rabbit incident
• History of the United States (1964-1980)
• History of the United States (1980-1988)

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79. ^ Justin McCurry (August 27, 2010). "guardian.co.uk on Gomes release". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/27/north-korea-us-prisoner-jimmy-carter. Retrieved September 6, 2010. 
80. ^ BBC News, "Moderates launch Middle East plan", December 1, 2003. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
81. ^ Douglas G. Brinkley. The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey to the Nobel Peace Prize (1999), pp. 99–123.
82. ^ Kenneth W. Stein, "My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book", Middle East Quarterly 14.2 (Spring 2007).
83. ^ "Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'". BBC News. May 26, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7420573.stm. 
84. ^ "Jimmy Carter Planning to meet Mashaal", Jerusalem Post, April 9, 2008.
85. ^ "PA to Carter: Don't meet with Mashaal." Associated Press. April 15, 2008.
86. ^ "Carter: Rice did not advise against Hamas meeting." CNN April 23, 2008.
87. ^ Paris, Lebanon, and Syria Trip Report by Former US President Jimmy Carter: December 5–16, 2008 The Carter Center, December 18, 2008.
88. ^ Jimmy Carter says Israel had 150 nuclear weapons, Times.
89. ^ "PR-USA.net". PR-USA.net. November 1, 2007. http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160253&Itemid=96. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
90. ^ Jimmy Carter speaks to Forward Magazine^{[dead link]}.
91. ^ Erick Stakelbeck (2011-03-24). "Int'l Red Cross Sheltering Hamas Terrorist Officials". Cbn.com. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/March/Intl-Red-Cross-Aids-Hamas-Terrorist-Officials/. Retrieved 2011-12-10. 
92. ^ Press Release, African Leaders Gather to Address Great Lakes Crisis, May 2, 1996. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
93. ^ The Nairobi Agreement, December 8, 1999. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
94. ^ Jimmy Carter blocked from meeting Darfur chief^{[dead link]}: Mail & Guardian Online.
95. ^ Larry Rohter, "Showdown with Haiti: Diplomacy; Carter, in Haiti, pursues peaceful shift", New York Times, September 18, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
96. ^ Carter Center News, July–December 2002. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
97. ^ BBC News, Lift Cuba embargo, Carter tells US, May 15, 2002. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
98. ^ Jose De Cordoba, and David Luhnow, "Venezuelans Rush to Vote on Chávez: Polarized Nation Decides Whether to Recall President After Years of Political Rifts", Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), New York City, August 16, 2004, p. A11.
99. ^ "Venezuelan Audit Confirms Victory", BBC News, BBC, September 21, 2004. Retrieved November 5, 2005.
100. ^ Carter Center (2005). Observing the Venezuela Presidential Recall Referendum: Comprehensive Report. Retrieved January 25, 2006.
101. ^ Newman, Lucia (August 17, 2004). "Winner Chavez offers olive branch". CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/08/16/venezuela.recall/. Retrieved July 5, 2008. 
102. ^ M. Barone, "Exit polls in Venezuela," US News & World Report, August 20, 2004.
103. ^ "US Poll Firm in Hot Water in Venezuela". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. http://web.archive.org/web/20040820102645/http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040819_91.html. Retrieved November 29, 2010. 
104. ^ "Ecuador and Colombia Presidents Accept President Carter's Proposal to Renew Diplomatic Relations at the Level of Chargé d'Affaires, Immediately and Without Preconditions" (Press release). The Carter Center. June 8, 2008. http://www.cartercenter.net/news/pr/EcCol_060608.html. Retrieved June 8, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
105. ^ "Colombia, Ecuador restore ties under deal with Carter". Reuters (Thomson Reuters). June 8, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN0628014920080606. Retrieved June 8, 2008. 
106. ^ Cựu Tổng thống Mỹ Jimmy Carter đến Việt Nam (Vietnamese)
107. ^ "Carter slams Clinton pardon". CNN.com. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080517104118/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/clinton.pardon.03/index.html#2. Retrieved July 5, 2008. 
108. ^ Jimmy Carter, "Just War – or a Just War?", New York Times, March 9, 2003. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
109. ^ "Jimmy Carter: Blair Subservient to Bush". Associated Press. The Washington Post. August 27, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082701094.html. Retrieved July 5, 2008. 
110. ^ Frank Lockwood, "Carter calls Bush administration worst ever", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 19, 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
111. ^ "Jimmy Carter Can Only Blame Himself", American Thinker, May 25, 2007.
112. ^ "Carter: Anti-Bush remarks 'careless or misinterpreted'^{[dead link]}", Associated Press, May 21, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
113. ^ "'Carter is irrelevant,' Bush administration shoots back^{[dead link]}", Associated Press, May 20, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007. Archived by the Wayback Machine beta.
114. ^ ^{a b} "Carter attacks Blair's Iraq role". BBC News. May 19, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6672035.stm. Retrieved July 5, 2008. 
115. ^ Associated Press, "Carter says US should close detention center at Guantanamo", June 8, 2005. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
116. ^ Newsnight audio recording, September 2006, BBC.
117. ^ Jimmy Carter Speaks to Forward Magazine.^{[dead link]}
118. ^ "Americas – US 'likely behind' Chavez coup". Al Jazeera English. September 21, 2009. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/09/200992116049879437.html. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
119. ^ Carter, Jimmy (June 16, 2011). "Call Off the Global Drug War". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/opinion/17carter.html. 
120. ^ "NEW VOICES: Jimmy Carter Urges New Mexico Governor to Support Death Penalty Repeal | Death Penalty Information Center". Deathpenaltyinfo.org. http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-voices-jimmy-carter-urges-new-mexico-governor-support-death-penalty-repeal. Retrieved June 8, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
121. ^ "Brian Baldwin, Center on Wrongful Convictions". Law.northwestern.edu. http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/issues/deathpenalty/Executinginnocent/alBaldwinbsummary.html. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
122. ^ "Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu Urge Texas to Stay Execution of Kenneth Foster". Democracynow.org. http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/29/jimmy_carter_desmond_tutu_urge_texas. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
123. ^ "Clemency | Death Penalty Information Center". Deathpenaltyinfo.org. http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/clemency. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
124. ^ The Carter Center (September 19, 2008). "Carter Center Press Releases – President Carter Calls for Clemency for Troy Davis". The Carter Center. http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/clemency_troy_davis.html. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
125. ^ Torture can never be justified on YouTube
126. ^ Jimmy Carter: Democratic Party Should Be More Pro-Life, March 29, 2012
127. ^ Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Brandeis University, The Carter Center, January 23, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
128. ^ ^{a b} "Simon & Schuster: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid (Hardcover) – Read an Excerpt,"^{[dead link]}, Simon & Schuster, November 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
129. ^ [2] "Speaking Frankly about Israel and Palestine", The Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2006, Op-Ed. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
130. ^ Dennis Ross, "Don't Play With Maps," The New York Times, January 9, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
131. ^ Kenneth W. Stein, "My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book," Middle East Forum, Spring, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
132. ^ Julie Bosman, "Carter View of Israeli 'Apartheid' Stirs Furor," The New York Times, December 14, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
133. ^ Alan Dershowitz (November 22, 2006). "The World According to Carter". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/article/43958. Retrieved September 25, 2007. 
134. ^ Sony Classics Pictures, Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
135. ^ "Ex-President Carter offers apology to Jews". Associated Press. December 23, 2009. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34578915/ns/us_news-faith/t/ex-president-carter-offers-apology-jews/. Retrieved October 18, 2011. 
136. ^ "16 – BCCI And Georgia Politicians". Fas.org. http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/16ga.htm. Retrieved September 6, 2010. 
137. ^ Maranatha Baptist Church. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
138. ^ Somini Sengupta, "Carter Sadly Turns Back on National Baptist Body", New York Times, October 21, 2000. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
139. ^ New Baptist Covenant. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
140. ^ Carter, Jimmy, Letter to Artist Mia LaBerge, February 14, 2008.
141. ^ "Salute to the Parks Awards: Past Awardees". National Parks Conservation Association. Archived from the original on July, 25 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110725210138/http://www.npca.org/annualdinner/past_awardees.html. Retrieved June 14, 2010. 
142. ^ Presidents who have won Grammies | UpVenue.
143. ^ David Lev, "Gush Etzion Residents: Keep Carter out of our Town", Israel National News, June 14, 2009.
144. ^ "The American Peace Award". The American Peace Award. http://americanpeaceaward.org/recipient09.html. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
145. ^ Jamie McIntyre, "Navy to name submarine after former President Jimmy Carter", CNN, April 8, 1998. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
146. ^ "Honorary Chairs". World Justice Project. http://worldjusticeproject.com/honorary-chairs. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
147. ^ "About the". World Justice Project. http://worldjusticeproject.com/about/. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
148. ^ "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: News and videos from the evening broadcast NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: News and videos from the evening broadcast- msnbc.com". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news_with_brian_williams#32884816. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
149. ^ 7:27 pm ET (September 16, 2009). "White House disputes Carter’s analysis - Capitol Hill- msnbc.com". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32869276/ns/politics-capitol_hill/. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
150. ^ O'Brien, Michael (September 19, 2009). "Obama plays down role of race in criticism – The Hill's Blog Briefing Room". Thehill.com. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59451-obama-plays-down-role-of-race-in-criticism. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
151. ^ "Could Jimmy Carter's Comments Doom Mitt Romney?". The International Business Times Inc.. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/215259/20110916/mitt-romney-jimmy-carter-massachusetts-health-care.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-22. 
152. ^ Yahoo News, Jimmy Carter wants Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee, September 16, 2011. Retrieved October 05, 2011.
153. ^ Associated Press, President Carter Talks of Funeral Plans, December 3, 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2009.

Further reading

• Allen, Gary. Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter, '76 Press, 1976.
• Berggren, D. Jason and Rae, Nicol C. "Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush: Faith, Foreign Policy, and an Evangelical Presidential Style." Presidential Studies Quarterly 2006 36(4): 606–632. Issn: 0360-4918
• Busch, Andrew E. Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right, (2005) online review by Michael Barone
• Freedman, Robert. "The Religious Right and the Carter Administration." Historical Journal 2005 48(1): 231–260. Issn: 0018-246x
• Godbold, Jr., E. Stanly. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: The Georgia Years, 1924–1974 (Oxford University Press; 2010) 354 pages
• New York Times article TOPICS; Thermostatic Legacy, January 1, 1981, Thursday (NYT); Editorial Desk Late City Final Edition, Section 1, Page 18, Column 1
• Harris, David (2004). The Crisis: the President, the Prophet, and the Shah—1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam. Little, Brown. 
• Regarding the failed Iranian mission to rescue the American hostages
• Bourne, Peter G. (1997). Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography From Plains to Post-Presidency. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-19543-7. 
• Clymer, Kenton. "Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and Cambodia." Diplomatic History 2003 27(2): 245–278. Issn: 0145-2096
• Dumbrell, John (1995). The Carter Presidency: A Re-evaluation (2nd ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-4693-9. 
• Fink, Gary M.; and Hugh Davis Graham (eds.) (1998). The Carter Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0895-8. 
• Flint, Andrew R.; and Joy Porter (March 2005). "Jimmy Carter: The re-emergence of faith-based politics and the abortion rights issue". Presidential Studies Quarterly 35 (1): 28–51. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2004.00234.x. 
• Gillon, Steven M. (1992). The Democrats' Dilemma: Walter F. Mondale and the Liberal Legacy. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-07630-4. 
• Glad, Betty (1980). Jimmy Carter: In Search of the Great White House. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-07527-3. 
• Hahn, Dan F. (1992). "The rhetoric of Jimmy Carter, 1976–1980". In in Theodore Windt and Beth Ingold. Essays in Presidential Rhetoric (3rd ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt. pp. 331–365. ISBN 0-8403-7568-9. 
• Hargrove, Erwin C. (1988). Jimmy Carter as President: Leadership and the Politics of the Public Good. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-1499-5. 
• Jones, Charles O. (1988). The Trusteeship Presidency: Jimmy Carter and the United States Congress. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-1426-X. 
• Jorden, William J. (1984). Panama Odyssey. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-76469-3. 
• Kaufman, Burton I. (1993). The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0572-X. 
• Kucharsky, David (1976). The Man From Plains: The Mind and Spirit of Jimmy Carter. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-064891-0. 
• Mattson, Kevin, with a foreword by Hendrik Hertzberg What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?: Jimmy Carter, America's 'Malaise,' and the Speech That Should Have Changed the Country, Bloomsbury USA, 2010.
• Morgan, Iwan. "Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and the New Democratic Economics." Historical Journal 2004 47(4): 1015–1039. Issn: 0018-246x
• Ribuffo, Leo P. (1989). "God and Jimmy Carter". In in M. L. Bradbury and James B. Gilbert. Transforming Faith: The Sacred and Secular in Modern American History. New York: Greenwood Press. pp. 141–159. ISBN 0-313-25707-8. 
• Ribuffo, Leo P. (1997). "'Malaise' revisited: Jimmy Carter and the crisis of confidence". In in John Patrick Diggins (ed.). The Liberal Persuasion: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and the Challenge of the American Past. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 164–185. ISBN 0-691-04829-0. 
• Rosenbaum, Herbert D.; and Alexej Ugrinsky (eds.) (1994). The Presidency and Domestic Policies of Jimmy Carter. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 83–116. ISBN 0-313-28845-3. 
• Schram, Martin (1977). Running for President, 1976: The Carter Campaign. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-8128-2245-5. 
• Schmitz, David F. and Walker, Vanessa. "Jimmy Carter and the Foreign Policy of Human Rights: the Development of a Post-cold War Foreign Policy." Diplomatic History 2004 28(1): 113–143. Issn: 0145-2096
• Strong, Robert A. (Fall 1986). "Recapturing leadership: The Carter administration and the crisis of confidence". Presidential Studies Quarterly 16 (3): 636–650. 
• Strong, Robert A. (2000). Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-2445-1. 
• White, Theodore H. (1982). America in Search of Itself: The Making of the President, 1956–1980. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-039007-7. 
• Witcover, Jules (1977). Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972–1976. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-45461-3. 

Primary sources

Further information: Jimmy Carter bibliography

• Califano, Joseph A., Jr. Governing America: An insider's report from the White House and the Cabinet. 1981
• Jordan, Hamilton. Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter Presidency. 1982
• Lance, Bert. The Truth of the Matter: My Life in and out of Politics. 1991

External links

Find more about Jimmy Carter on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
• The Carter Center: Advancing Human Rights and Alleviating Suffering
• Works by or about Jimmy Carter in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Oral History Interview with Jimmy Carter from Oral Histories of the American South
• Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation
• Text and Audio of Carter's Crisis of Confidence (Malaise) Speech
• Text and Notes to Carter's Undelivered Energy Speech
• Interpretive essay in New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Website about Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
• Jimmy Carter's Visit to Cuba – May 12–17, 2002
• Wit and Wisdom of Jimmy Carter – slideshow by Life magazine
• Extensive collection of Oral History Transcripts on the Carter Administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
• Oral History Interview with President Jimmy Carter, May 4, 1993 Georgia's Political Heritage Program, Digital Library of Georgia
• Extensive essay on Jimmy Carter and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Jimmy Carter at C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits
• In Depth interview with Carter, December 3, 2006
• PBS's "American Experience" - The Presidents: Jimmy Carter

Biographical pages

• Biography, via whitehouse.gov
• Biography, via Britannica.com – Jimmy Carter
• Biography via ourgeorgiahistory.com
• Navy Years, via submarinehistory.com

Other links

• War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
• Inaugural Address of Jimmy Carter via re-quest.net
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jimmy Carter
• The White House, Jimmy Carter
• State of the Union Addresses: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 (written message) at UCSB's American Presidency Project
• Nobel lecture, Oslo, Norway (December 10, 2002)
  • Nobel Prize for Carter
• About the malaise speech, via PBS
  • The malaise speech text, via PBS
• The 1980 October Surprise
• "The US President was here" – about Carterpuri, a village in Haryana, India named after President Carter
• Instruments of Statecraft: US Guerrilla Warfare, Counterinsurgency, and Counterterrorism, 1940–1990 Chap. 3 The Carter Years
• Korea Society Podcast: A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter's 1994 Mission to Pyongyang
• Works by Jimmy Carter at Project Gutenberg
• Jimmy Carter at the Internet Movie Database
• Jimmy Carter's thoughts on Earth Day 2006
• Jimmy Carter's op/ed commentaries for Project Syndicate
• Interview with Jimmy Carter (August 2006)
• Interview with Jimmy Carter on Current Campaign (April 2007)
• Interview with Jimmy Carter (April 2007) on Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett
• Jimmy Carter on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Titles and Succession

Georgia Senate New constituency Georgia State Senator from the 14th district 1963–1967 Succeeded by Hugh Carter Political offices Preceded by Lester Maddox Governor of Georgia 1971–1975 Succeeded by George Busbee Preceded by Gerald Ford President of the United States 1977–1981 Succeeded by Ronald Reagan Party political offices Preceded by George McGovern Democratic nominee for President of the United States 1976, 1980 Succeeded by Walter Mondale Awards and achievements Preceded by Kofi Annan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2002 Succeeded by Shirin Ebadi Preceded by United Nations United States order of precedence Preceded by John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Order of Precedence of the United States as Former President of the United States Succeeded by George H. W. Bush as Former President of the United States

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Harris Miller Barnes Perdue Deal v t e Cold War Participants and notable figures ANZUS NATO Non-Aligned Movement SEATO Warsaw Pact 1940s Yalta Conference Operation Unthinkable Potsdam Conference Gouzenko Affair War in Vietnam (1945–1946) Iran crisis of 1946 Greek Civil War Corfu Channel Incident Restatement of Policy on Germany First Indochina War Truman Doctrine Asian Relations Conference Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Western betrayal Iron Curtain Eastern Bloc Chinese Civil War (Second round) 1950s Korean War 1953 Iranian coup d'état Uprising of 1953 in East Germany 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état Partition of Vietnam First Taiwan Strait Crisis Geneva Summit (1955) Poznań 1956 protests Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Suez Crisis Sputnik crisis Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Cuban Revolution Kitchen Debate Asian–African Conference Bricker Amendment McCarthyism Operation Gladio Hallstein Doctrine 1960s Congo Crisis Sino–Soviet split 1960 U-2 incident Bay of Pigs Invasion Berlin Wall Portuguese Colonial War (Angolan War of Independence Guinea-Bissau War of Independence Mozambican War of Independence) Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War 1964 Brazilian coup d'état United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–1966) South African Border War Transition to the New Order Domino theory ASEAN Declaration Laotian Civil War Greek military junta of 1967–1974 USS Pueblo incident Six-Day War War of Attrition Cultural Revolution Sino-Indian War Prague Spring Goulash Communism Sino-Soviet border conflict Bunkers in Albania 1970s Détente Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Black September in Jordan Cambodian Civil War Realpolitik Ping Pong Diplomacy Four Power Agreement on Berlin 1972 Nixon visit to China 1973 Chilean coup d'état Yom Kippur War Carnation Revolution Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Rhodesian Bush War Angolan Civil War Mozambican Civil War Ogaden War Sino-Albanian split Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Iranian Revolution Operation Condor Bangladesh Liberation War Korean Air Lines Flight 902 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics boycotts Solidarity Soviet reaction Contras Central American crisis RYAN Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Able Archer 83 Star Wars Invasion of Grenada People Power Revolution Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 United States invasion of Panama Fall of the Berlin Wall Revolutions of 1989 Glasnost Perestroika 1990s Democratic Revolution in Mongolia Breakup of Yugoslavia Dissolution of the Soviet Union Dissolution of Czechoslovakia Foreign policy Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan Containment Eisenhower Doctrine Domino theory Kennedy Doctrine Peaceful coexistence Ostpolitik Johnson Doctrine Brezhnev Doctrine Nixon Doctrine Ulbricht Doctrine Carter Doctrine Reagan Doctrine Rollback Ideologies Capitalism Chicago school Keynesianism Monetarism Neoclassical economics Reaganomics Supply-side economics Thatcherism Communism Marxism–Leninism Castroism Eurocommunism Guevarism Hoxhaism Juche Left communism Maoism Stalinism Titoism Trotskyism Liberal democracy Social democracy Organizations ASEAN CIA Comecon EEC KGB MI6 Stasi Propaganda Active measures Izvestia Pravda Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Red Scare TASS Voice of America Voice of Russia Races Arms race Nuclear arms race Space Race See also Brinkmanship NATO–Russia relations Soviet and Russian espionage in U.S. Soviet Union–United States relations US–Soviet summits Category Portal Timeline v t e Notable figures of the Cold War Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Vyacheslav Molotov Andrei Gromyko Nikita Khrushchev Anatoly Dobrynin Leonid Brezhnev Alexei Kosygin Yuri Andropov Konstantin Chernenko Mikhail Gorbachev Nikolai Ryzhkov Eduard Shevardnadze Gennady Yanayev Boris Yeltsin United States Harry S. Truman George Marshall Joseph McCarthy Dwight D. Eisenhower John Foster Dulles John F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Robert McNamara Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon Henry Kissinger Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George Shultz Caspar Weinberger George H. W. Bush People's Republic of China Mao Zedong Zhou Enlai Hua Guofeng Deng Xiaoping Zhao Ziyang Japan Hirohito Shigeru Yoshida Ichirō Hatoyama Nobusuke Kishi Eisaku Satō Kakuei Tanaka Takeo Miki Takeo Fukuda Masayoshi Ōhira Zenko Suzuki Yasuhiro Nakasone Noboru Takeshita Sōsuke Uno Toshiki Kaifu West Germany Konrad Adenauer Walter Hallstein Willy Brandt Helmut Schmidt Helmut Kohl United Kingdom Winston Churchill Clement Attlee Ernest Bevin Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home Kim Philby Harold Wilson Edward Heath James Callaghan Margaret Thatcher Italy Alcide De Gasperi Palmiro Togliatti Giulio Andreotti Aldo Moro Enrico Berlinguer Francesco Cossiga Bettino Craxi France Charles de Gaulle Alain Poher Georges Pompidou Valéry Giscard d'Estaing François Mitterrand Finland Urho Kekkonen Spain Francisco Franco Luis Carrero-Blanco Juan Carlos I Adolfo Suárez Felipe González Portugal António de Oliveira Salazar Marcelo Caetano Álvaro Cunhal Salgueiro Maia Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho António de Spínola Vasco Gonçalves António Ramalho Eanes Mário Soares Francisco de Sá Carneiro Aníbal Cavaco Silva People's Republic of Poland Bolesław Bierut Władysław Gomułka Edward Gierek Wojciech Jaruzelski Pope John Paul II Lech Wałęsa Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King Louis St. Laurent John Diefenbaker Lester Pearson Pierre Trudeau Joe Clark John Turner Brian Mulroney Kim Campbell Philippines Benigno Aquino, Jr. Corazon Aquino Juan Ponce Enrile Gringo Honasan Nur Misuari Jose Maria Sison Diosdado Macapagal Ferdinand Marcos Imelda Marcos Fidel V. Ramos Africa José Eduardo dos Santos Jonas Savimbi (Angola) Patrice Lumumba Mobutu Sese Seko (Congo/Zaire) Agostinho Neto Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia) Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) Idi Amin (Uganda) Muammar Gaddafi (Libya) Siad Barre (Somalia) Eastern Bloc Enver Hoxha (Albania) Todor Zhivkov (Bulgaria) Alexander Dubček (Czechoslovakia) Walter Ulbricht Erich Honecker (East Germany) Mátyás Rákosi Imre Nagy János Kádár (Hungary) Nicolae Ceauşescu (Romania) Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia) Latin America Juan Domingo Perón Jorge Rafael Videla Leopoldo Galtieri (Argentina) Getúlio Vargas Luís Prestes Leonel Brizola João Goulart Castelo Branco (Brazil) Salvador Allende Augusto Pinochet (Chile) Fidel Castro Che Guevara (Cuba) Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) Marcos Pérez Jiménez Rómulo Betancourt (Venezuela) Omar Torrijos Manuel Noriega (Panama) Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (Guatemala) Middle East Nur Muhammad Taraki Hafizullah Amin Babrak Karmal Mohammad Najibullah Ahmad Shah Massoud (Afghanistan) Gamal Abdel Nasser Anwar Sadat (Egypt) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Mosaddegh Ayatollah Khomeini (Iran) Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein (Iraq) Menachem Begin (Israel) Michel Aflaq Salah Jadid Hafez al-Assad (Syria) South and East Asia Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangladesh) U Nu Ne Win (Burma) Pol Pot (Cambodia) Indira Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru (India) Sukarno Suharto Mohammad Hatta Adam Malik (Indonesia) Kim Il-sung (North Korea) Syngman Rhee Park Chung-hee (South Korea) Muhammad Ayub Khan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan) Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Ching-kuo (Taiwan) Ho Chi Minh Le Duan (Vietnam) Ngo Dinh Diem (South Vietnam) Category Portal Timeline of events v t e Laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize (2001–2025) Kofi Annan / United Nations (2001) Jimmy Carter (2002) Shirin Ebadi (2003) Wangari Maathai (2004) International Atomic Energy Agency / Mohamed ElBaradei (2005) Grameen Bank / Muhammad Yunus (2006) Al Gore / Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Martti Ahtisaari (2008) Barack Obama (2009) Liu Xiaobo (2010) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf / Leymah Gbowee / Tawakkul Karman (2011) Complete list (1901–1925) (1926–1950) (1951–1975) (1976–2000) (2001–2025) v t e 2002 Nobel Prize winners Chemistry: John Bennett Fenn (United States) Koichi Tanaka (Japan) Kurt Wüthrich (Switzerland) Literature: Imre Kertész (Hungary) Peace: Jimmy Carter (United States) Physics: Raymond Davis, Jr. (United States) Masatoshi Koshiba (Japan) Riccardo Giacconi (United States) Physiology or Medicine: Sydney Brenner (United Kingdom) H. Robert Horvitz (United States) John E. Sulston (United Kingdom) Nobel Prize recipients 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 v t e Time Persons of the Year Jimmy Carter (1976) Anwar Sadat (1977) Deng Xiaoping (1978) Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) Ronald Reagan (1980) Lech Wałęsa (1981) The Computer (1982) Ronald Reagan / Yuri Andropov (1983) Peter Ueberroth (1984) Deng Xiaoping (1985) Corazon Aquino (1986) Mikhail Gorbachev (1987) The Endangered Earth (1988) Mikhail Gorbachev (1989) George H. W. Bush (1990) Ted Turner (1991) Michal Jordan Bill Clinton (1992) “The Peacemakers”: Yitzhak Rabin / Nelson Mandela / F. W. de Klerk / Yasser Arafat (1993) Pope John Paul II (1994) Newt Gingrich (1995) David Ho (1996) Andrew Grove (1997) Bill Clinton / Ken Starr (1998) Jeffrey P. Bezos (1999) George W. Bush (2000) Complete roster 1927–1950 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001–present v t e United States presidential election, 1976 Democratic Party Convention · Primaries Nominee: Jimmy Carter VP Nominee: Walter Mondale Candidates: Birch Bayh · Lloyd Bentsen · Jerry Brown · Robert Byrd · Hugh Carey · Frank Church · Fred R. Harris · Hubert Humphrey · Henry M. Jackson · Leon Jaworski · Barbara Jordan · Eugene McCarthy · Ellen McCormack · Walter Mondale · Jennings Randolph · Terry Sanford · Milton Shapp · Sargent Shriver · Adlai Stevenson III · Mo Udall · George Wallace Republican Party Convention · Primaries Nominee: Gerald Ford VP Nominee: Bob Dole Candidiates: James L. Buckley · Ronald Reagan · Harold Stassen   Third party and independent candidates American Party Nominee: Thomas J. Anderson American Independent Party Nominee: Lester Maddox Communist Party USA Nominee: Gus Hall VP Nominee: Jarvis Tyner Libertarian Party Nominee: Roger MacBride VP Nominee: David Bergland People's Party Nominee: Margaret Wright VP Nominee: Benjamin Spock Prohibition Party Nominee: Ben Bubar VP Nominee: Earl Dodge Socialist Workers Party Nominee: Peter Camejo VP Nominee: Willie Mae Reid U.S. Labor Party Nominee: Lyndon LaRouche Other 1976 elections: House · Senate · Gubernatorial v t e United States presidential election, 1980 Republican Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: Ronald Reagan VP Nominee: George H. W. Bush Candidates: John B. Anderson · Howard Baker  · George H. W. Bush  · John Connally · Phil Crane · Bob Dole · Ben Fernandez · Harold Stassen Democratic Party Convention • Primaries • Primary results Nominee: Jimmy Carter VP Nominee: Walter Mondale Candidates: Jerry Brown · Ted Kennedy · Ron Dellums · William Proxmire Independent Candidate: John B. Anderson VP candidate: Patrick Lucey   Other independent and third party candidates Citizens Party Nominee: Barry Commoner VP Nominee: LaDonna Harris Libertarian Party Nominee: Ed Clark VP Nominee: David Koch Prohibition Party Nominee: Ben Bubar VP Nominee: Earl Dodge Socialist Party USA Nominee: David McReynolds VP Nominee: Diane Drufenbrock Socialist Workers Party Nominee: Andrew Pulley · Alternate nominees: Richard Congress, Clifton DeBerry Workers World Party Nominee: Deirdre Griswold VP Nominee: Gavrielle Holmes Independents and other candidates Lyndon LaRouche • Maureen Smith/ Running mate: Elizabeth Cervantes Barron • Warren Spannaus Other 1980 elections: House • Senate • Gubernatorial v t e The Elders Martti Ahtisaari · Kofi Annan · Ela Bhatt · Lakhdar Brahimi · Gro Harlem Brundtland · Fernando Henrique Cardoso · Jimmy Carter · Graça Machel · Mary Robinson · Desmond Tutu (chair) Honorary Elders: Nelson Mandela · Aung San Suu Kyi Former Elder: Muhammad Yunus

Persondata
Name	Carter, Jimmy
Alternative names	Carter, James Earl, Jr.
Short description	President of the United States
Date of birth	(1924-10-01) October 1, 1924 (age 87)
Place of birth	Plains, Georgia, United States
Date of death
Place of death

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