On 29th December 2024 Jimmy Carter passed away. His was not a presidency to remember: he was a man of integrity facing forces in the economy and the Middle East more powerful than he was. It is what he did after his presidency (1976–1980) that is remarkable and is now being honoured in many obituaries. His landslide defeat in 1980 was potentially humiliating. As Timothy Minchin and Christopher Simmonds wrote in an article in The conversation on the occasion of Carter’s hundredth birthday,1 “A post-political life in obscurity might have been expected.” But his was a chosen obscurity. “Most former presidents retire to live in luxury in Washington DC, New York or on private estates in the country. Carter, however, went back to Plains, Georgia, the small town (population 776) where he and Rosalynn had grown up.”2
Perhaps “his greatest achievement [as president] was the Camp David peace accords, which established ‘normal and friendly relations’ between Israel and Egypt after 31 years of warfare and hostility.” After his presidency, Carter devoted his life to issues of human rights, national and international. He was a strong supporter of a charity that builds houses for low-income working people. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his ‘decades of untiring efforts’ to replace international conflict with peace. He worked to undo the stigma of mental illness.
In an age when it was still fashionable to say that you were a Christian, Carter was open about his faith. In an age in which it is unfashionable, he wrote a book about it.3 As one expects today, many responses to Carter’s passing laud his human rights achievements but make no mention of the faith that motivated him.
But there are exceptions. Barack Obama writes:
For decades, you could walk into Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia on some Sunday mornings and see hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews. And standing in front of them, asking with a wink if there were any visitors that morning, would be President Jimmy Carter — preparing to teach Sunday school, just like he had done for most of his adult life.
Others were likely there because of what President Carter accomplished in the longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history — monitoring more than 100 elections around the world; helping virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, an infection that had haunted Africa for centuries; becoming the only former president to earn a Nobel Peace Prize; and building or repairing thousands of homes in more than a dozen countries with his beloved Rosalynn as part of Habitat for Humanity.” …
But I’m willing to bet that many people in that church on Sunday morning were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency. Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did — advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection — things like integrity, respect and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image.”
Joe and Jill Biden write,
With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe. …
We will miss [Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter] both dearly, but take solace knowing they are reunited once again and will remain forever in our hearts.”
Jimmy Carter had a role model: Jesus.
Footnotes
- The conversation, 1st October 2024. ↩
- Rosalynn and Jimmy’s marriage lasted 77 years! ↩
- Faith: A journey for all. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018. ↩