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The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#2

Post by siberianbear »

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents.

I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade peanuts for the American hostages" (referring to to Carter's history as a farmer and to the Iran hostage crisis [1]). I thought I was really clever at the time, but now I think I was just being a stupid smartass.

Whenever I have seen Carter in the press since his presidency, it always seems like he is going something unambiguously good, like building houses with Habitat for Humanity or trying to negotiate peace agreements between unfriendly countries as an unbiased mediator.

I think we won't have this great man with us for much longer. The world will be a worse place when he departs.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#4

Post by ethbro »

If you're interested in where Carter came from, I can't recommend An Hour Before Daylight [1] highly enough. The man's a great writer, and he grew up in a fascinating time and place.

You've also got to give a lot of respect to someone who could have made themselves much wealthier, but said "No."

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Before-Daylight-Memories-Boyhood...

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#5

Post by whichwalrus »

siberianbear wrote: post #2

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade…

I appreciate the submission.. it was a soothing, peaceful read. :)

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#6

Post by tonyedgecombe »

siberianbear wrote: post #2

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade…

But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents.

I wonder if that is a fair judgement or whether he was just the victim of the economic cycle and external forces.

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#7

Post by maxxxxx »

siberianbear wrote: post #2

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade…

"But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents."

I think he had a bit of bad luck with the economy of his time and also with the Iranian hostage situation. If freeing them had worked he would have been a superhero. Or he could have done it like Reagan with Iran-Contra: talk tough in public but secretly pay off the Iranians.

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#8

Post by mvkel »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #6
siberianbear wrote: post #2

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade…

But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I wonder if that is a fair judgement or whether he was just the victim of the economic cycle and external forces.

Every president is the victim (or beneficiary) of the economic cycle and external forces.

What makes a president memorable is what they do when they’re dealt a “bad hand.”

Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly

#9

Post by hluska »

siberianbear wrote: post #2

I decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade…

> I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade peanuts for the American hostages" (referring to to Carter's history as a farmer and to the Iran hostage crisis [1]). I thought I was really clever at the time, but now I think I was just being a stupid smartass.

I really like that story! You'd be a few years older than me, but we would have gotten along well as kids/stupid smartasses...:)

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