Former President Jimmy Carter turned 86 today, and thankfully, left the Cleveland hospital where he had been admitted a few days ago after taking sick on an plane flight from Atlanta, on his way to a book signing of his newly published Diary of his Presidential years from 1977-1981!
Carter is often portrayed as a “failed” President, who has become regarded as a very successful, active, accomplished former President, way beyond most Presidents!
Carter has been intimately involved in promoting world peace, fighting hunger, promoting housing for the poor through Habitat for Humanity, and witnessing the legitimacy of elections all over the world! His Carter Center in Atlanta, and his Presidential Library have been active participants in advocating social justice and human rights! He has also become controversial in his statements and actions, particularly regarding Middle East peace between Israel and the Palestinians!
Carter has never avoided those who are critical of his ideas and actions, has been unafraid of his detractors, and with his nearly thirty years of retirement, he is nearing a record for the longest post Presidency, with only Herbert Hoover having lived in retirement longer!
In September 2012, he will break the record of 31 years, 7 months and 16 days of Hoover! Around Labor Day in 2012, we will be celebrating the longevity of a man who deserves a new revision of his time in the Presidency!
With Carter’s Diary and Vice President Walter Mondale’s Memoirs coming out, and the short volume in the American Presidents series by Henry Holt and Company also being published, it is time for historians to dig into the records of the Carter Library and other archives and reassess the impact of his Presidency on America!
Despite the harsh criticisms visited on Carter during and since his Presidency, it is likely that his reputation over time will grow, and he will be regarded as a much better President than most think of him in the present!
I’ve never bought into the idea that his was a failed presidency. He didn’t pass the buck when the American military sent helicopters to rescue the hostages in Iran and didn’t take into consideration the effect of sand on turbine engines. He suggested to the American people they needed to economize and to quit wasting energy – prescient in light to today’s energy problems. He sought alternative sources of energy and supported funding them. Ronald Reagan immediately dismantled the program. I’m not a fan of his religious beliefs, but, for a politician, at least he was sincere in them. He was not afraid to say things people didn’t want to hear. I’ll take that over some of the past presidents comments. Such as George Bush asking the American people to go shopping after 9/11.