Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States of America, has passed away at the age of 100.
But what will be his legacy?
His detractors will claim that he presided over a "weak" America during times which were characterised by high levels of unemployment and inflation. The Iranian hostage crisis and the subsequent disastrous failure of an attempted rescue mission by U.S. Special Forces. The Shah of Iran, a vassal of the United States since the CIAs Operation Ajax brought him to power, was overthrown two years after Carter had asserted that Iran was "an Island of stability" in an unstable region of the world. It was also under his watch that his National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski oversaw the arming of local and foreign Mujahideen militias to fight the Soviet military in Afghanistan, a policy which after the Soviet withdrawal led to the evolution of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
His supporters will point to the election of Carter, an ex-naval officer-turned-Peanut-farmer from the state of Georgia in the American South as representing a kind of final reconciliation between the protagonists of the American Civil War. He continued the advances made by Black Americans and other minorities since the Civil Rights era by appointing an unheard of amount of Blacks to Federal positions. Carter consciously strove to practice an ethical type of foreign policy by returning the Panama Canal to Panamanian control after decades of it being controlled by the US military. He also refused to support the tyrannical regime in Nicaragua led by the Somoza family. He sought to improve the relationship between the United States and the African continent and was the first president to activate policies regarding renewable energy. And as a peacemaker he presided over the landmark Camp David Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. His commitment to global peace and stability was underlined by his negotiating of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 2) with the USSR., which was implemented despite the fact that it was not formally ratified by the U.S. Senate because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Carter was a one-term president whose time in office is adjudged by many to have been a "failure". But these conclusions tend to be based on politically partisan inclinations, as well as those who developed an animus towards him because he showed an interest in bringing Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) to the negotiating table after Camp David.
After his presidency, Jimmy Carter competently performed the role of a global elder statesman. For instance, he frequently acted as an observer at elections around the world. His Presidential Library and the Carter Centre, a non-governmental organisation, have adeptly carried out their respective objectives over the years, the former as a reservoir of historical data and the latter in its promotion respectively of conflict resolution, democratic values and health.
As a human being, Carter struck many as a God-fearing Christian and a man of endearing humility. He was also a man of conscience and moral courage. He spoke up for the rights of the Palestinian people and criticised Israel's policies of perpetual militarism and its denial of Palestinian humanity. Carter warned Americans about the entrenchment of oligarchic power and the licence given them by electoral legislation which has created the circumstances for he described as “unlimited political bribery”. He also left the Southern Baptist Convention because of its opposition to women pastors.
That must have been an extremely painful thing for Carter to have done. While Carter had sought throughout his private and public life to fight against and make amends for the legacy of Southern racism, he was a man whose whole being was suffused in his Southern heritage.
He was understandably conflicted about the issue of Confederate statues because a number of his not-too-distant ancestors had perished during the civil war at the bloodiest encounter between North and South at the Battle of Gettysburg.
He was a distant cousin of
the pioneering Carter Family who are revered as the "first family" of
Country music. He was friends with the likes of Willie Nelson and Gregg Allman
of the Allman Brothers band who respectively were exponents of the "Outlaw
Country" and "Southern Rock" genres.
While evaluation of his presidency continues to stir controversy, his post-White House activities arguably provide a model of what a former president can achieve. He helped build homes for the poor, actively fought against diseases and promoted sound agricultural techniques around the globe. And his aptitude for conflict resolution continued resulting in the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The lesson of James Earl Carter’s life was his unfailing display of both commitment and conscience in his various roles as naval officer, farmer, state senator, governor, president and elder statesman.
Jimmy Carter was born on October 1st, 1924, and died on December 29th, 2024. His wife Rosalynn predeceased him, and he is survived by four children and many grandchildren.
© Adeyinka Makinde (2024).
Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.
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