Before Monday evening of this week, I had given very little thought to the life, work, or presidency of Mr. Carter. True, I was born during his administration on a quiet Valentine’s night in the wake of the 1979 Energy Crisis and the Iranian Revolution, but by the time I remember anything about current events the Reagan legacy had overshadowed Carter’s less flashy, less rhetorically flamboyant term. I think the children of the Reagan years remember the former actor fondly as a general rule. We were the darlings of an era that was characterized by its plentiful oil and energy, a prosperous economy, and renewed interest in space exploration. The bad guys were easy to spot, they had Russian accents. We had that certainty in common with our parents’ generation. We would beat our diplomatic enemies in the space race and the Olympics; there was no need for violence. The world was at peace, and the future was ours to make up as we went along, a la Asimov. But the 1970s were fairly far removed from the 1980s in form and function. It goes without saying that I don’t remember the 1970s, but I was constantly faced with their legacy on the television thanks to the endless reruns that flavored the lazy summers of my childhood. Tom Wolfe referred to the 1970s as the “Me Decade”, and it seemed so; the hopelessness and emptiness that pervades the mood of the film “Saturday Night Fever” summed up much of what I understood about the decade when I was young. The gratuitous excess of the bellbottom pant leg seemed a perfect metaphor for the era. But my own generation was a chance to relive the innocence, prosperity, and optimism of the 1950s, and I spent the decade rollerskating, lip synching to Madonna, and learning math.
Although the tenacity of the Reagan presidency overshadowed any memory of Carter in my own home, I am now convinced that his legacy made many of the positive events of the 1980s possible. From his admonitions to the American people about energy conservation, to his peacemongering with Middle East political leaders at Camp David, Carter seemed an unlikely hero with a near-prophetic understanding of international cause and effect. He took over the reigns of the American presidency at a time when the people were suffering from what he termed a “crisis of confidence”. It’s no wonder that the country was in crisis. The innocence of the post-war baby boom was shattered by the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the endless violence both within the country and abroad during the Vietnam War era, and the shady double-dealings that sullied the image of the Oval Office as information came to light during the Watergate scandal. Admittedly, Carter lacked the quasi-messianic glamour that the Kennedy White House had in spades, but at that point in history he was just what the American people needed. Carter was like castor oil. Or better yet, he was like Bono’s wife. We haven’t heard much about her, and that’s a good thing. In the context of today’s rock and roll universe, it means she’s doing a great job.
Carter is still making an impact, and we still haven’t heard much about it. He has spent his post-presidential retirement working towards human rights and international peacemaking. He founded the Atlanta, Georgia based Carter Center in 1982 to mediate international conflicts and promote fair democratic processes worldwide. The Carter Center also focuses effort on global health initiatives such as the eradication of the Guinea Worm disease which has been nearly eliminated in the last 25 years. He was the 2002 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. Carter continues to attend human rights talks worldwide on a frequent basis, in spite of facing his eighty-fourth birthday later this year. His recent book (his 27th) “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” has drawn intense controversy and has necessitated a international book tour that has moved along at a pace even a much younger man might call back-breaking. It seems former President Carter is unstoppable.
Monday night we watched the documentary “The Man from Plains”, which introduced me to Carter’s humanitarian work. On Tuesday I picked up his recent book for Andrew and I to read, and I am currently reading Alan Dershowitz’s “A Case for Peace”. Dershowitz is one of Jimmy Carter’s biggest critics and detractors. I am not sure how I will feel about Carter’s use of the term “apartheid” for what is happening between Israel and Palestine. Certainly a week ago I would have called him anti-Israel and had done with it. But I have learned about Mr. Carter’s unflagging hope and work towards a lasting peace, and I can’t help but believe that is where his heart lies. Once I read the book, I will post more about my thoughts. I am even considering changing my thesis topic to a comparison between the leading theories for Israeli/Palestinian cooperation, Carter and Dershowitz being the main theorists I would look at.
As it stands currently, I am wholly impressed by former President Carter’s diplomacy and humanitarianism. My hopes are that the next president will take lessons from this illustrious predecessor, and more importantly, that Mr. Carter will live for a long time; dare I say long enough to see peace in the Middle East?
