Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29 full of days at the age of one hundred, will not go down in history as the best president in the history of the United States, but it can be said that he will be remembered as the best former president ever. Carter came to the White House as an outsider. Peanut farmer, former Democratic governor of Georgia, preacher in church, with an open smile, he seemed the most suitable and reassuring candidate to make people forget the turbulent years of the Nixon presidency. Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, when he was swept away by Cyclone Ronald Reagan. The balance sheet of his presidency was not entirely flattering. Inflation, the energy crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the American hostage crisis in Iran were fatal for the honest president from the South. However, it was during his presidency that Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David agreements, which led to the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Sinai
After four years of Carter’s presidency, depressed Americans were seduced by Reagan’s optimistic message. Yet, after leaving the White House, Jimmy Carter remained active for over forty years, committing himself to peace, human rights and the defense of the poorest. Not surprisingly in 2002 Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prizein recognition, we read in the motivation, “for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights and to promote economic and social development”.
Already very old, but always active, Jimmy Carter was an ambassador freelance in various international missions, field observer of elections at risk of fraud, advisor to presidents. In recent years he had also been seen in a carpenter’s outfit, with a helmet and overalls, next to his beloved wife Rosalyn, engaged in the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity International, on the front line to build housing for the poorest families. poor.
Carter had always been a very religious man, a frequent visitor to the Baptist Church, used to reading the Bible every evening, often in Spanish, together with his wife Rosalynn. During his presidency, in October 1979, there was the first visit of a pope to the White House: John Paul II. It was not surprising, therefore, from a man of such profound faith, the serene acceptance of his illness and the willingness to speak about it openly, unlike many political leaders who often remained secretive or lied about their health conditions.
In August 2015, at the age of 91, Carter found the courage and serenity to call a press conference to speak openly about his cancer. He did it in Atlanta, a few hours before undergoing a course of treatment for brain metastases caused by a melanoma. The clinical picture was very serious, however Carter used light tones, generously showing off his legendary smile, which for years had been targeted by hundreds of cartoonists all over the world. There was a lot of laughter at the press conference. Carter cracked jokes and was affable to all reporters who asked him questions. In the end, when Carter left the room with a quick and casual step that did not at all betray his advanced age and illness, the reporters greeted him with applause.
On that occasion Carter also joked about one of the darkest episodes of his presidency, the failed blitz in Iran in April 1980 to save 52 American hostages held by the ayatollah regime. The helicopters and planes taking off from the Nimitz aircraft carrier ended up in the middle of a sandstorm, a helicopter and a plane collided in mid-air, 8 American soldiers lost their lives and the blitz failed. With that fiasco Carter played for re-election. When on that day in 2015 he was asked to take stock of his political activity, the former president said smiling: “Maybe I would have done better to send a few more helicopters to save the hostages, so maybe I would have been re-elected.”
But the memorable phrase from the press conference came in response to a reporter’s question who asked Carter what was the thing in his life that made him most proud. The response was immediate: “Having married Rosalyn. It’s the pinnacle of my life.” Jimmy and Rosalyn were married on July 7, 1946 in the Methodist Church in Plains, the Georgia village where they both grew up. He was wearing his white Navy cadet uniform. They had met while still children, she was three years younger than him. Theirs was the longest marriage in the history of American presidents. As Jason, a grandson of theirs, said, Jimmy and Rosalyn’s home “was as always full of love.” Until the last day. Which came on November 19, 2023 with Rosalynn’s death. Suffering from a form of dementia, Rosalynn spent the last part of her life with Jimmy at home, receiving only palliative care under a home therapy regime. When news of this choice spread, their end seemed imminent. However, this was not the case and at Rosalynn’s funeral Jimmy was also there, stuck in a wheelchair, in a suit and tie, his mouth open, showing off his extreme fragility, but also his love for his life partner very long. That was his last public appearance, but not his final exit from the public life of a Democrat and a citizen. Last November it was announced that Jimmy Carter had cast his remote vote for Kamala Harris in the presidential election won by Donald Trump.
America will say goodbye to Jimmy Carter in a public ceremony in early January, before Trump returns to the White House.
