In Memoriam: Jimmy Carter

The life of James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States of America (1977-81), provided me an up-close introduction to politics at an impressionable age. In 1976, I was a second grader living in middle Georgia, a few hours’ drive from Carter’s rural hometown of Plains. My brother and I accompanied my parents and their friends as they campaigned for him on days’ long car drives around south Georgia. We waved green-and-white posters at intersections, attended speeches and parades, wore “Jimmy Carter for President” T-shirts and pins (I saved the one in the photo), and visited small businesses to deliver brochures. Because Carter had served prior as a State Senator from Georgia (1963-67) and Governor of Georgia (1971-75), his hallmark smile and dialect were familiar to me. From my perspective, at the time of his Presidential run, Jimmy Carter was not a new public figure. But he represented for me novel directions for public life and offered a fresh point of reference for what a committed political life could achieve.

An exemplar of servant leadership, Carter exhibited a commitment to peace during and long after his time in the Oval Office. As President, perhaps his most notable achievement was his mediation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He invited Anwar El-Sadat, President of Egypt, to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, at Camp David in 1978 with an aspiration of reaching a peace agreement. Although the talks did not yield a withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the West Bank, Egypt did formally recognize Israel, and elected governments were established in the West Bank and Gaza. The Camp David Accords were instrumental in closing a longstanding conflict between Israel and Egypt and marked the first treaty between Israel and any Arab country. Carter had said that one of the greatest goals of his life was to bring peace to Israel, and expounded on this idea in his 2006 New York Times Bestseller, Peace Not Apartheid.

His post-Presidency years are often lauded for his volunteerism, both close to home and abroad. He helped build houses with Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization founded in Americus, Georgia, that aims to help low-income families build and own safe, decent, and affordable housing. Carter had been instrumental in early promotion of the organization and volunteered construction time well into his eighties. In Atlanta in 1982, he founded The Carter Center with the purpose of advancing human rights, alleviating human suffering, and improving the quality of life for people in 80 countries. He observed and monitored 113 elections in Africa, Asia, and Latin America through The Carter Center’s Democracy Program and fought disease through the Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program (cartercenter.org).

Source: Habitat.org

Throughout my adulthood, I have visited Carter’s Boyhood Farm in Plains, Georgia multiple times and attended numerous “Conversations at The Carter Center” in Atlanta. I heard Rosalynn Carter speak passionately about mental health issues at a Rotary Club meeting in Macon in the 1990s. The most memorable occasion was hearing Jimmy Carter teach an adult Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains in the early 2000s. Sitting in the first few pews of a modest church, listening to him expound upon the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and then meeting him in the churchyard afterwards, will remain with me as a salient, enduring memory.

The life of Jimmy Carter (1924-2024) impacted millions of people, improving health and housing for vulnerable populations worldwide. His commitment to peace through diplomacy and conflict resolution remains central to his legacy. His efforts to find peaceful solutions to international discord, as well as advancing democracy and human rights, were acknowledged by a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His humility and spirituality that served as a foundation to his political views affected me profoundly as a young person and have served as a role model to me well into adulthood. May he rest in peace.

—Dr. Katie Brown, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Ashland University