The death of Jimmy Carter leads inevitably to discussion on his long life and presidency – but also reflection on the current state of American politics. A former president who embodied the old school virtues of integrity and public service has died as a new divisive politics holds sway and Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.
Just like Joe Biden, Carter’s presidency was damaged by a surge in inflation driven in large part by oil prices and a challenger, in his case Ronald Reagan, who fed off the resulting dissatisfaction.
Carter was the outsider who stormed the White House – the “down-home, jeans-wearing peanut farmer with the infectious grin who promised to heal the country following the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal,” as the New York Times’s Peter Baker put it.
The little-known Carter shocked America by turning a single-term Georgia governorship into a successful campaign for the presidential nomination and then presidency in 1976.
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His inability to strike deals with Congress damaged his time in office. And his presidential reputation never really survived the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran when 52 US diplomats were held captive – their release occurred, controversially, only after the successful 1980 presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan.
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Yet, biographer and former aide Stu Eisenstadt insisted there should be a reappraisal of a presidency that was “one of the most consequential in modern history.”
Carter was a well-intentioned idealist who tackled tough issues domestically, did much to restore faith in politics and made a significant contribution internationally. He brokered the negotiation of the landmark Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, a key reasons why he later won the Nobel Peace Prize.
One of his political failings was a propensity to lecture America about what course its should take. “Carter’s message was sacrifice and pain,” Eizenstat wrote, which did not land well, particularly during the second oil crisis.
He had an active post-presidency – seen by some as more successful than his term in office – working energetically on philanthropic causes and for international human rights, peace and climate issues. But it was always on the sidelines. His counsel was never sought by the White House. He brought remarkable energy and focus to this latter period of his life, with the Carter Foundation’s work including notable success in tackling disease in Africa.
His work in this post-presidential period reflected his underlying decency and a commitment to use his position for the greater good. As America now mourns Jimmy Carter, it may also be saying goodbye to the political era he represented.