01 Oct Principled Jimmy
The second most notable of many persons in world history with initials J.C. is 100 years old. Clearly less so than Jesus Christ, but much more significant than Johnnies Cash and Carson, and even Julius Caesar, President Jimmy Carter is our birthday boy today.
Throughout his century on Earth, he has been a man of deep Christian faith and of strong leadership principles, especially the principle of service.
Americans in the present era — especially our politicians — can learn some things from reflecting on President Carter. We hope they will do so.
His 36,525 Days
James Earl Carter, Jr. lived the first 52 years of his life before he became president, and has added 44 more years since he left office. His one four-year term brings his earthly lifespan to ten decades. It has been a long, full, well-lived life, to be sure.
Before moving into the White House, young Jimmy was, first and foremost, a military man. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy during World War II, graduated in 1946, and then spent seven years in active duty and another eight years in the reserves.
He married Rosalynn Smith upon graduation, and the Carters were married for 77 years until she died last November.
After a career in the family peanut business, middle-aged Jimmy served in the Georgia legislature and then as the state’s governor. His election as America’s president was quite the surprise, really, as he defeated California’s Jerry Brown and fellow southerner George Wallace, among several other prominent politicians, for the Democratic nomination. He went on to prevail over incumbent Gerald Ford in the general election.
Arriving in Washington, President Carter immediately pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders, which was controversial. This later was followed by the Iran hostage crisis, stagflation, the Three Mile Island accident, the 1979 Energy Crisis, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (which led the United States to boycott the 1980 Olympics). Somewhat of a fiscal conservative, and not one to put party politics above his principles, presidential Jimmy also had weak support from Democratic members of Congress, a problem that was worsened by having campaigned against big spending and left-wing politics generally in seeking the nomination. Without doubt, his presidency is regarded as having struggled. Ted Kennedy challenged sitting President Carter in the 1980 primaries, and, although he survived that, an unpopular Jimmy was ousted by a Reagan landslide that November.
The Jimmy Principles
For an organization named Principle Based Politics, the natural urge here is to step back and evaluate the principles displayed during the life of a man who reached the pinnacle of federal politics. And the way we see it, the entire-life Jimmy reflects nearly all of the leadership principles this blog promotes.
Our foremost principle is honesty, the third is integrity, and Jimmy Carter lived out both of those principles, even when it worked to his own political detriment. You may recall that candidate Jimmy granted an interview to Playboy magazine, and his straightforward, true answers to prying questions nearly ended his career on the eve of the 1976 election. Nothing that would qualify today as a scandal has touched him during his century on Earth.
It is regarding the leadership principles of peace and service, however, that when you figuratively look in the dictionary under those terms, it shows the picture of Jimmy Carter. In addition to his military and governmental service, he engineered the Camp David Accords, for which Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin won the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. Carter himself won the same award in 2002 “for his decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Post-president Jimmy’s service work ranged from spearheading Habitat for Humanity to international diplomacy to leading a Bible study for his local church back in his place of birth, Plains, Georgia, where he lives today.
He has spent his life in service to others and seeking peace. That will be Jimmy’s honorable legacy.
Written by Quentin R. Wittrock, founder of Principle Based Politics.
Look for his posts each week, as this blog will explore and promote the idea of principle in politics, both as to individual elected leaders and our federal government as an institution.
Principle Based Politics does not endorse or support any particular political candidate or party.
James Loerts
Posted at 12:39h, 01 OctoberJimmy was good guy. He deserves more respect than he usually gets.
Quentin
Posted at 12:52h, 01 OctoberGotta like anybody named Jimmy, James, or even Jim.
Veronica
Posted at 13:20h, 01 OctoberLove this tribute to this man who exemplifies integrity and service
Rene Moen
Posted at 13:55h, 01 OctoberHappy birthday President Carter, a true servant leader.
And happy birthday to another principle-based person and this blogger – Quentin!
Quentin
Posted at 13:58h, 01 OctoberThe day I was born, Jimmy Carter turned 35 and was constitutionally eligible to be President. Now he turns 100 and I am eligible for Medicare!
Gary Hammer
Posted at 13:56h, 01 OctoberThanks for reminding us of all the good President Jimmy Carter did during his life. He started Habitat for Humanity, too. This is still a growing, worthwhile charity.
Steven Keith
Posted at 14:51h, 01 OctoberWith the image of a principled Christian; a conservative; and even “pro-life”……he appointed mostly left-wing, Democrat party partisans that did nothing to moderate the “abortion” debacle, or bring “Big Government” under control.
Raised in the remnant of the plantation system, he never had a feel for the real American Dream as Ronald Reagan later did. Carter’s pronouncement’s were gloom and retrenchment while Reagan inspired the best hopes for our future.
Carter was a sell-out to the new Democrat revolutionaries, which were nearly as bad as the old pro-slavery, segregationist Democrats.
The 1980 election was a sound repudiation of his un-principled governance.
He later managed to characterize Israel as an “Apartheid State” while ignoring all the apartheid and ethnic cleansing in the surrounding Middle Eastern Muslim countries.
My opinion of Carter is the inverse of my opinion of Trump:
– respected Carter at first and later came to dislike him immensely
– disliked Trump’s personality at first and then came to respect his decision-
making
Lynn Nehring
Posted at 15:16h, 01 OctoberThere are so many good things to be said about Jimmy Carter. He was probably the best ex-president we have ever had. He had Christian values which he carried throughout his life. It would have been interesting to see how his presidency would have been if he’d been granted a second term. But he was succeeded by one of our greats, Ronald Reagan.
Steve LaCroix
Posted at 16:23h, 01 OctoberQuentin, YOU are also today’s birthday boy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Darren Knight
Posted at 21:45h, 01 OctoberJimmy Carter–nice guy–bad president. Jimmy advocated for Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and look what happened–socialist dictator and a ruined country. Carter practiced appeasement in foreign policy–like all dems–and was too liberal in domestic fiscal policy. He did lead to Reagan–a good thing. We are not electing our best friends or people we want at our birthday parties–we are electing leaders–who need certain qualities which are not always warm and fuzzy. Dems, the media and moderates always seem to go towards their feelings–sometimes a bad direction. For example, I’ll take the grumpy doctor who saves a life any day–over the cheezy, “nice” doctor who isn’t as good. How we characterize “nice” or “honorable” is interesting. I am not sure that Carter was as principled as stated–he was very partisan. There are lots of incompetent people and fakey people that are “nice”–are they really “nice”–maybe not? Sometimes the “nice” person is the effective person with proper motives and goals–without regard to how friendly or charismatic they may be. I am cynical, but Carter won awards because he was a liberal–the leftists in the media/government/academia–love to give themselves awards–remember who is handing them out.