Jimmy Carter’s legacy should be measured not by his presidency but by his moral leadership, character, and post-presidential achievements
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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. All living former Presidents – Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump – paid him tribute, as did President Joe Biden. Other world leaders and dignitaries followed suit. Carter’s state funeral will be held on Jan. 9.
The tributes and accolades that he received were well deserved. Carter wasn’t a great President, but he was a good man who genuinely cared about his family, country and the world.
Carter was born on Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Georgia. His father, James Sr., was a military veteran, travelling salesman and grocery store owner. His mother, Lillian, worked as a registered nurse. Both of his parents were Democrats, albeit on different sides of the philosophical aisle. His mother was quite liberal in her politics and attitudes, while his father was fairly conservative, turned against Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal – and, according to his son’s book Turning Point, voted for Republican presidential candidate Alf Landon in 1936.
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Carter, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and successful peanut farmer, was also a lifelong Democrat. His own political leanings were often difficult to peg down. Peter G. Bourne’s Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography From Plains to Post-Presidency contained a quote where Carter described his ideology during the 1966 Georgia gubernatorial election as “Conservative, moderate, liberal and middle-of-the-road … I believe I am a more complicated person than that.”
The same could be said for Carter’s position on race and civil rights. He grew up in the Jim Crow South and attended segregated schools, but lived in a largely black community and had black friends. While he largely opposed racial segregation and supported civil rights, a Feb. 28, 2023, New York Times piece correctly noted that he had previously supported segregationist policies and “declared his respect for the arch-segregationist George Wallace” during the 1970 Georgia gubernatorial campaign “in an effort to attract white votes.”
Meanwhile, pollster Louis Harris noted in August 1977 that 15 per cent of American respondents regarded Carter as a liberal, down from 30 per cent at the end of the 1976 presidential election. An additional 41 per cent suggested he was middle of the road (up from 32 per cent), and 26 per cent considered him conservative (up from 17 per cent).
When you put it all together, Carter was a Southern liberal with small dashes of fiscal conservatism in his political ideology and policy positions. He certainly wasn’t a conservative Democrat or a purely liberal Democrat, but closer to a centrist Democrat.
With respect to his presidency, Carter has been widely regarded as a political mediocrity by most academics and historians. Despite recent attempts at historical revisionism by 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl and others, there’s little to dispute in this regard.
Carter wasn’t a strong leader on the domestic and international stage. His relationship with Congress ranged from mildly difficult to badly strained. He didn’t handle the economic malaise or energy crisis with a firm hand. He struggled mightily with the Iran hostage crisis and looked incredibly weak in the public eye.
Did Carter have some successful moments? Yes. The Sept. 1978 meeting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David was a historic event. He championed human rights at home and abroad. He expanded the national park system. Many Democrats were undoubtedly pleased with his state-centric approach to expanding social security, introducing a Department of Education and appointing “record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government jobs.”
The negatives of Carter’s presidency clearly outweighed the positives. Ronald Reagan soundly defeated him in 1980, and a successful period of Republican leadership began.
Carter’s post-presidency was far more successful.
In conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project built affordable housing for thousands of poor and disenfranchised families. He founded the Carter Center in 1982. He taught at Emory University for nearly four decades. He was involved in peace and human rights campaigns in countries like Darfur, Sudan and North Korea. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He observed over 100 elections in more than 39 countries. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
Through it all, Carter remained humble and soft-spoken. He cared deeply about his beloved wife, Rosalynn (who died in 2023), and their four children. He treated everyone with respect, grace, and dignity. He was a man of faith, with a great love for his Southern Baptist roots. He wanted to help individuals and families who struggled to earn a decent living and wage, and give them a home of their own.
Arthur Milnes, a Canadian historian and political speechwriter, made an illuminating observation in his tribute to the late President. “As my annual trips and conversations each time with Carter continued over the years, I became less and less interested in Jimmy Carter, the president/politician,” he wrote in the Ottawa Citizen on Dec. 30. “Instead, his moral leadership in a changing and complex world was what I came to admire more and more. His character stood above his accomplishments; his principles transcended his politics.”
Maybe that’s the best way for Carter’s allies and critics to properly measure his life, career and legacy.
Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist, and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.
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