From nearly eradicating a deadly disease to being honored for global peace efforts,
Jimmy Carter accomplished a great deal after losing the vote to Ronald Reagan. Here's
how Carter's post-presidency activities truly secured his legacy as a world-changing figure.
A major question during the 1976 Presidential election was how a new commander-in-chief
could possibly regain the lost trust of the American people. And that was something that
the 39th President, Jimmy Carter, had to reckon with. With the memory of the Watergate scandal,
the resignation of Richard Nixon, and the disaster of the Vietnam War still at the
forefront of people's minds, President Carter had to not only confront issues such as the
economy and foreign relations but also an American public that had grown distrustful of Washington.
President Carter sought to bridge the divide between the people and the president in a
variety of ways. He held a high number of press conferences so the press could
question him on his policies. He sought to use the Democratic-controlled Congress to pass many
populist reforms. This became an issue with the more traditional Democratic members of Congress,
who rejected Carter's populism and opposed many of his goals. His foreign policy
ambitions fared better for a time, as he successfully secured treaties with Panama,
and accomplished the famous Camp David Accords with Egypt and Israel. However,
his inability to free American captives during the Iran Hostage Crisis, as well
as continued inflation, and the unsettling news of the nuclear meltdown on Three Mile Island,
all coalesced to decisively tank his presidency during his first term.
In the 1980 election, Republican Ronald Reagan won the presidency in
a landslide. While Jimmy Carter's presidency is today seen as a failure by many people,
his life after Washington is an entirely different story.
"So you don't look back and say, 'Oh,
I wish I would've been a better politician? I wish I would've gotten re-elected?'"
"No, those are not the things that I worry about now."
Many presidents spend their life after Washington enjoying their interests and hobbies, such as
George W. Bush becoming a painter or Barack Obama going into film production. In the case
of now-former President Carter, his retirement has largely focused on humanitarian efforts.
In 1982, Carter founded the Carter Presidential Center, which sought to focus on issues of human
rights and democracy around the world. Along with his wife, Rosalynn Carter,
former President Carter helped publicize the organization Habitat for Humanity. Since 1984,
the Carters have worked in 14 countries and helped build or renovate over 4,000 homes.
Carter's organization, The Carter Center, has also worked hard to help eradicate Guinea worm disease,
a very painful tropical illness people can pick up by drinking water contaminated by
the larvae of the worm. The center's efforts have paid off — in the past 30-plus years,
cases have plummeted from 3.5 million per year to only 13 in 2022.
President Carter also used his name to work as a diplomat in foreign
countries over the decades. He helped restored the homeland of the Miskito Indians in Nicaragua,
established a short ceasefire between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims during the Bosnian War,
reported illegal voting procedures in Panama, and negotiated an end to North
Korea's nuclear program in 1994. In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Carter the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. Three years later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Had Jimmy Carter decided to return to his Georgia farm after his presidency
and spend his days relaxing, he would be viewed by history as an ineffective
commander-in-chief and a transitional figure to the Reagan Administration. However,
Carter's post-presidency life has changed his legacy in American history completely. In 1981,
as he was leaving office, President Carter had an approval rating of only 34%. President
Carter's biographer, Jonathan Alter, had this to say about the change in Carter's legacy:
"There is this historical reappraisal ... His accomplishments are seen better,
and his failures are less remembered."
Speaking of his administration, Carter told PBS NewsHour in July of 2021,
"We tried to keep the peace and we cherished our human rights."
Others point to the behavior of Carter and compare it to former President Donald
Trump as a reason for the canonization of Carter. According to Al Jazeera,
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said,
"Trump lied with such stark regularity. Carter's calling card was bedrock honesty.
So the difference between the two men could not have been greater."
Despite recent health problems, such as suffering a broken hip and multiple cancer bouts, President
Carter became the longest-lived president at 94 years and 172 days on March 21, 2019.