Rest in Peace, Jimmy Carter who turned 100 on October 1st. Amazing (has died, Dec. 29, 2024)

[aceplace57]

Carter had remarkable life of public service.

I think his work in the Carter Center after leaving office is his greatest legacy.

RIP Mr President and thank you for everything you tried to accomplish.

[Procrustus]

@hajario

while I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for.”

So, three areas of disagreement then.

[DWMarch]

@hajario

Trump was very gracious in his remarks

Well, whoever wrote this on Trump’s behalf was very gracious. I can’t see Trump ever admitting to owing anyone anything, much less a debt of gratitude. Trump doesn’t even know what that is.

[hajario]

I remember that sometime before Clinton was elected all of the living Presidents got together at the White House. It was Nixon, Ford, Reagan and I think Bush the First along with Jimmy. He said something like, “there’s one thing that everyone of you have done that I haven’t, met a Democratic President in person. I hope that changes some day.”

[Dinsdale]

@Whack-a-Mole

To be fair, if there was ever a landslide election for president, is was Reagan over Carter. You were not the only one. (I was too young yet to vote in that election).

I’m very glad that sometime between 80 (sophomore) and 84 (grad school) I matured enough to disdain the doofus in chief. The first and last R I voted for Prez!

[Kitten_Mitten]

@DWMarch

@hajario

Trump was very gracious in his remarks

Well, whoever wrote this on Trump’s behalf was very gracious. I can’t see Trump ever admitting to owing anyone anything, much less a debt of gratitude. Trump doesn’t even know what that is.

Exactly. Trump did not write that. A. He’s not that literate. B. So much of what was written for him are not qualities that he has eg he doesn’t respect anyone, he doesn’t think warmly about anyone, he doesn’t know what a prayer is, as DW March said, he doesn’t understand the concept of gratitude, etc.

So, to say that TRUMP was gracious in his written remarks is untrue. The writer was skillful in making him appear gracious.

[Whack-a-Mole]

@hajario

In fact, Trump was very gracious in his remarks earlier today

Eh…Trump still managed to humble-brag:

“Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” he wrote. - SOURCE

[Dewey_Finn]

Actually, I’m OK that someone else wrote a gracious post in Trump’s name about the passing of Jimmy Carter. Some of the best-known presidential speeches were written by someone other than the president who delivered them.

[Whack-a-Mole]

@Dewey_Finn

Some of the best-known presidential speeches were written by someone other than the president who delivered them.

Which ones?

The very best speeches were written by the president themselves (maybe with some help). Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. JFK’s inaugural address. Obama’s speech on race.

JFK and Obama may have had help but all of the best speeches were very much written by those presidents. Something Trump would be completely incapable of.

[Aspenglow]

Moderating:

This thread is dedicated to discussing Jimmy Carter, his death, his presidency and his legacy. Let’s take discussions about Trump and presidential speeches elsewhere.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Baker

I was pissed when Iran released the American hostages just the hour past when Reagan was inaugurated, so it would be said it happened during his presidency. Carter should have had the credit.

I was about fifteen when that happened. As I remember (and my memory is not perfect), someone on the tarmac at the Tehran airport was standing there with a watch and waiting until 12:30pm Eastern time to put the hostages on that plane. I think the networks even had a split screen showing the presidential inauguration and the hostage release simultaneously. It certainly looked suspicious.

[DrDeth]

A truly great man, who actually followed the teachings of jesus.

[Machine_Elf]

@romansperson

This is one of the things he’s least known for, which I think is sad. Literally millions of people have been saved awful suffering due to his advocacy.

From NPR:

When Carter got involved in Guinea worm eradication in 1986 there were 3.6 million cases. Now, nearly four decades later, that number has plummeted. Between January and early December 2024, there were just 11 human cases of Guinea worm reported worldwide. The Carter Center notes that final figures for 2024 won’t be available until next year.

I recall that some years ago Carter said he wanted to see the guinea worm die before he did. Too bad it didn’t quite come to pass, but a reduction of 99.9999% is still a profound achievement.

[romansperson]

The article I linked to mentions that. Unfortunately they have found a couple of animal reservoirs for the worm, so there is work to be done there.

[aceplace57]

Carter was extremely successful in his post Presidency. He helped a lot of disadvantaged people through the Carter Center.

I was in college when Carter battled Ted Kennedy in the primary. I remember his outsider status and Carter’s conflicts with his own party members in Congress were big issue. High unemployment effected me and my future. I seriously considered graduate school to delay trying to start my career. Thankfully the economy rebounded after Carter left office.

I’d love to know how historians will view Career a hundred years from now. Hopefully they will separate his one term presidency from his Carter Center work.

NPR has a good article on the Presidency

Almost immediately upon taking office, Carter encountered difficulties with various power centers in Congress. He and his tight circle of aides brought along from Georgia and the campaign were not attuned to congressional customs or prerogatives, and a variety of their agenda priorities ran afoul of their own party’s preferences.

A case in point was a “hit list” of Western water projects that the Carterites regarded as needless pork barrel spending. For a raft of Democratic senators and representatives facing reelection in thirsty states and districts, the list came as a declaration of war. Although Congress fought Carter to a draw on the projects, many of these Western seats would be lost to Republican challengers in 1978 and 1980.

Carter had taken office amid historically high inflation and energy prices that had persisted since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Carter appointed a new chair of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, whose tight money policies eventually tamed inflation but also triggered a recession and the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression. Along the way, there was more grief on the oil front as Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 caused not only a price spike but long lines at the pump — worse than in 1973.

Carter and the Democrats paid a price, suffering more than the usual losses for the president’s party in the 1978 midterm elections, which greatly reduced Democratic margins in both the House and the Senate.

[Son_of_a_Rich]

Hid Trump crap

As a human being, comparing Carter to trump is like two things that can’t be compared. They’re like two different universes. I’m sorry Jimmy had to go out seeing the country he loved succumbing to a devil.

[What_Exit]

Moderating: I know the modnote was 6 whole posts ago, but commonsense would tell you not to bring up Trump junk in this thread.

To All: No more posting on Trump in Memoriam Threads please.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

[I cleared this first to make sure it was okay given the mod warnings]

Jeff Tiedrich had a fitting epitaph: “In a world of Donald Trumps, be a Jimmy Carter.”