James Earl Carter, Jr. (1924 – 2024)
The flags of our nation have been ordered, by President Biden, to be flown at half-staff for the next 30 days as we mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter. The 39th president of the United States died on Dec. 29th at the age of 100. He will be laid to rest in Plains, Georgia next to his late wife Rosalynn. They were married for 77 years before her passing in 2023.
Carter also served as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
I've lived through the terms of 14 presidents and while I never agreed with everything each one of them did, I appreciated everything they did that I agreed with and I respected the position of all of them as the choice of the voters.
From all accounts, President Carter was a religious man who was willing to forgive faster and more often than most other people. He was a Southern gentleman.
None of us are perfect, but it seems we want our elected leaders to be; not going to happen. Each presidential term has its high points and low points.
Carter had his high points. One of the more notable ones was the mediation at Camp David in September 1978 that brought Prime Minister Menachem Begin, of Israel, and President Anwar Sadat, of Egypt, to the table and resulted in a peace treaty between the two nations.
Perhaps the lowest was when Iranian students took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage in November 1979 and held them for 444 days at the American embassy in Tehran. They were taken in protest of the United States' harboring of the Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who was accused of numerous violent crimes against Iranian citizens.
After several failed rescue attempts including the failure of "Desert One" in April 1980, where several American military personnel had been killed, as well as other events, the crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords on January 20, 1981.
President Carter was liked by many but not by all, just like any other president. His character and desire to do good for others traveled with him long after his presidency in the form of "Habitat for Humanity". Founded by Linda and Millard Fuller in 1976, the year Carter was inaugurated as president, the organization grew thanks to the personal involvement of President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. Their involvement and the awareness they raised helped Habitat for Humanity's efforts to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing in all 50 states and 70 countries.
James Earl Carter, Jr. was more than a former President of the United States and Governor of Georgia; he was a good human being.
Something we all should strive to be.