We learned Saturday that former President Jimmy Carter had decided to return to his home in Plains, Georgia, to receive palliative care.
True to his origins, he therefore wants to end his life in the house he built himself. A modest abode for a former president, it was valued at $167,000 in 2018.
A presidency in halftone
For many observers, the 39th President’s presidency is a failure. If you studied history or lived through this period, you will remember the Three Mile Island disaster, stagflation, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, and most importantly, the Iran hostage crisis.
This image of a weak president is stuck to his skin, and even the historians who have volunteered to compile a 2021 ranking place him in the middle of the field and among the worst of the 20th century, alongside such infamous names as Warren G Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Gerald Ford.
However, this fairly common perception is gradually changing over time. In a book entitled His very Best (2020), journalist Jonathan Alter defends the thesis that Carter is arguably the most misunderstood president in American history.
In what looks like an attempt at rehabilitation, Alter advances a series of achievements, some of which are little known to the general public. For example, he points out that he was the first to seriously deal with the environmental issue. He points out that Carter signed no fewer than 14 laws on the subject.
On the domestic front, we also owe him the offices of Secretary of Education, Secretary of Energy, a Whistleblower Protection Act, the FISA (Procedures for Physical and Electronic Surveillance) Act, and the creation of FEMA (the Federal Agency for Emergency Management). ).
Even on foreign policy, the Iran hostage crisis obscures some important contributions, including the Panama Canal Agreement, the development of diplomatic ties with China, the Camp David Accords and his fight for human rights.
Another former president
After Jimmy Carter left the White House, he gradually became a popular and respected personality around the world. A 2002 Nobel Prize winner, he refuses to monetize his expertise and the prestige of his previous roles.
Unlike the Clintons and Obamas, no rich contracts and millions for those who imitate Harry Truman in this sense. For the latter, the Former Presidents Act was passed, giving former presidents a pension of $50,000 a year.
Simple, humble, and totally committed to the Carter Center cause, his wisdom and integrity help make him a role model in a political universe riddled with scandal and violent rhetoric.
