Jimmy Carter
a long life. And of course, that is true. But I’m not crying over you. I’m crying for us. We need 10,000 more of you, not one less as you leave us.
The Right despises you because you’re the Christian they fake-claim to be themselves. You’ve lived like a true Christian — humble, kind, forgiving, and always making sure your actions matched your words. You could have had a lucrative post-presidency, raking in the big bucks by sitting on corporate boards and investing in growth capitalism (greed).
Instead, you chose to be a carpenter. You spent your weekends for free building homes for the poor. Most of us had never heard the words “Habitat for Humanity” before you. You set up a center to promote democracy and you personally traveled all over the world to help oversee free and fair elections. For decades you did this — until sadly we needed you to protect us from our own anti-democracy authoritarians at home.
You also traveled the world helping to eradicate disease and perhaps save the lives of millions. For the better part of the three decades after you returned to Plains you wrote nearly a book a year. Few presidents have been as literarily prolific. Who would’ve imagined, almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century, that simply not being an illiterate was the new bar for a politician? You set the highest of goals: Thinking matters. Words matter. Reading and more reading is essential. Listening to others, and caring about what they say and what they need is everything.
You never started a war and when Iran kidnapped Americans as hostages and held them for over a year, you didn’t retaliate by wiping out Iran. You were not on the left (you signed the Hyde Amendment and you brought back required registration for the draft, but years ago you said you regretted both and today, your idea of a Democrat is much closer to Bernie Sanders and AOC than, say, to the former senator, Joe Biden).
Speaking of which, one thing I remember about that day in your presidential box was that’s where I met Joe Biden for the first time. I guess he heard you had quite a spread of food so he just popped in to grab a plate of goodies. He saw me there with you and flipped out with glee. “I was raised in the Flint of Pennsylvania!” he exclaimed. Like someone who was proud of the comparison, and I was happy he made it. I sat and had an intense talk with Biden in that dining area of your box, and 12 Biden F-bombs later, I decided I liked him.
I know that you’ve lovingly decided to spend your final days with your family. So I haven’t called or emailed or texted. If your family wants to read this to you because it’ll bring a smile, then great. But mostly I wanted to give the public a chance to join with me and thank you for what you have done for humanity and for this planet. Please take all this gratitude with you. Please know that you mattered to all of us, you made a huge difference, you fought for those who had the least, and for those deemed to be the last you did your best to make them first.
Jimmy, we love you.