Jimmy has his priorities straight. A humble man who tells the truth. And knows what is most important in this life. Hint: it's neither wealth nor power.
The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
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Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#22I 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.
In many ways, "history" has changed with revelations from the CIAs actions in Iran, Reagans actions in Iran (before and after), and more, especially to those of us reading instead of basing it on partisan hackery.
Perhaps one of the better statements we can most accurately make is that his administration was pretty poor at covering things up, spinning - perhaps to the extent of lacking the confidence Americans required.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/books/review/president-ca...
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#23I 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.
Great wars make great generals.
People aren't great in and of themselves. They are great within an environment.
So everyone is a "victim" of externalities.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#24The most "un-celebrity"? I'd say carter is the most "celebrity" ex-president we've had in a long time. He has used his celebrity to advocate for his charities ( habitat for humanity for example ) and for human rights ( same sex marriage, race equality, etc ) and political issues ( north korea, iran, etc ).
If you equate celebrity with making it rain in clubs, then I guess carter is "un-celebrity". But the guy has been the most visible ex-president in media. Think that makes him the most celebrity ex-president in history.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#25Jimmy has his priorities straight. A humble man who tells the truth. And knows what is most important in this life. Hint: it's neither wealth nor power.
I get you, but rhetorical power is just another form of power. Carter maximizes the power of his truths by eschewing wealth and direct organizational power.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
"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.
Carter succeeded in freeing the Hostages. Carter's negotiations lead to the release of the hostages on the day Reagan was inaugurated. Iranians were deliberatively delaying the release because Carter was literally the the face of great Satan for them.
The Iranians were likely eager to have the crisis end as well...they gained nothing while becoming a global pariah. They probably also understood that if they were to end the crisis by killing the hostages, Reagan would have authorized the use of nuclear weapons on Tehran.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#27Jimmy Carter is without question one of the all-time great ex-presidents. Whatever the successes or failings of his administration, he's used his time since to improve the world, and is honest, uncorrupt, and suitably (ex-)presidential.
He's a bit opinionated to be considered "ex-presidential". He was pretty sour grapes with the Reagan administration and generally had plenty of opinions about each of the subsequent ones.
Plenty of opinions?? God forbid!
Maybe what we need is fewer ex-presidents willing to at most give milquetoast read-between-the-lines statements of vague disapproval at the systematic undermining of our institutions and values.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#28Jimmy Carter is without question one of the all-time great ex-presidents. Whatever the successes or failings of his administration, he's used his time since to improve the world, and is honest, uncorrupt, and suitably (ex-)presidential.
He's a bit opinionated to be considered "ex-presidential". He was pretty sour grapes with the Reagan administration and generally had plenty of opinions about each of the subsequent ones.
Having opinions about things doesn't mean one isn't "ex-presidential". Of course he has opinions about things, and has decided to voice them. What makes someone "presidential" (or ex-"presidential") is the way one conducts themselves and voices their opinions. Not the lack of opinions nor the lack of voicing them.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#29I loved the quip about the presidential cooler that they use to store leftovers.
President Carter is the kind of down-to-earth person I would want to hang out with, while at the same time using his position to build thousands of homes and fight river blindness and give vaccines to millions of people.
I wonder if another person like him will ever ascend to lead the United States.
Re: The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
#30If 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...
Nice! Also available as an audiobook on Hoopla through the library for free. Just downloaded it.