President Carter's global mission for human rights led him to win the prestigious Noble
Peace prize in 2002.
And in 2007 he became a founding member of The Elders, an independent group of world
leaders who work together for peace and human rights.
The one American that epitomized everything that the Elders were to stand for was President
Carter.
And he's done throughout his life what he's believed to be right so it was wonderful that
he accepted Nelson Mandela's request to make him an elder.
He inspires all of us who sit at, who sit at his feet in Elders meetings ….by his
humility, by his willingness to listen…even by his sense of humour which he's not enormously
known for - but he has a delightful sense of humour.
Do you still keep a strong faith after witnessing so many injustices around the world?
Well I do not only my faith in my country and in myself, my capabilities, but also faith
in God.
I'm a very deeply committed Christian, I teach Bible classes every Sunday that I'm home in
Plains which is about 35 or 40 times a year...And also the basic principles for Judaism and
for Christianity.....and for Islam and for, and for, Hinduism.
They're all basically the same to promote peace and justice and humility and care for
those who are in need.
Sir you travel extensively round the world for your Carter Centre initiatives, for your
role in the Elders, you've mentioned that you still teach at Sunday school, you build
homes for Habitat for Humanity.
You manage to spend time with your 12 grandchildren and I believe 9 great-grandchildren (Carter:
soon be ten, yes) - soon to be 10!
Would you ever consider slowing down in your 90th year?
Well, I've been really lucky with my health and also with the opportunities I have.
We have, my wife and I have an enormous potential menu of things that we choose to do and we
are free from any political constraints and so forth…So we still travel too much and
may take on too many new projects - but it's exciting and challenging, unpredictable and
adventurous and a very gratifying life still.
Mrs Carter, how would you like your husband to be remembered?
Well I think, I hope he'll be remembered for his human rights work.
He cares about people in the world and wants them to have a good life.
President Carter, what would you like your legacy to be?
I'd like to be remembered as a champion of peace and human rights.
Those are the two things that I've, um, found as kind of a guide for my life.
I've done the best I could with those, not always successful of course, but I'd say Peace
and Human rights.
And how would you like others to view you?
Well for my grandchildren, to view me as a good grandfather, I got four children as well
as all those grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I'd like for my wife to think about me as a good husband.
And I would hope that the American people would see that I tried to do what was best
for our country every day I was in office.
And I would like for the Carter Center people to feel that I had established some principles
along with Rosalynn that have been beneficial to them and to literally hundreds of millions
of people around the world.
So those are the kinds of things that sometimes I think about.