Jimmy Carter, Man of Principle. No One Did So Much for the World After Leaving the White House*

No other U.S. president has lived to be 100 years old. And no other president has done so much for the world since leaving the White House.

Jimmy Carter died Sunday night in the simple wooden house where he spent most of his life in the small town of Plains, Georgia. “He was a man of principle, faith, and humility,” said Joe Biden, who in 1976 became the first senator to endorse Democratic candidate Carter for the country’s highest office.

A Georgia governor and a peanut farmer, Carter took up the fight for the White House using a slogan that Donald Trump coopted four decades later: Drain the swamp. Both meant healing the political establishment. But the methods each intended to use couldn’t have been more different. Often wearing jeans and a sweater, Carter always represented a simple lifestyle. He said he would never lie. He declared his commitment to human rights. And to the principles of his faith — he was an Evangelical Baptist.

Camp David: Carter’s Greatest Success

After the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal, Carter sought to heal America. However, the oil embargo imposed by Arab countries and the resulting surge in oil prices forced the collapse of his popularity and ended in his defeat by Ronald Reagan in a bid for a second term. The final blow came in the form of a coup in Tehran and the seizure of dozens of U.S. Embassy employees who were taken hostage by the Revolutionary Guards. The hostages were released in the final hours of Carter’s presidency,, but long after he had lost the election.**

Carter was more successful in foreign policy than he was at home. His greatest took place in 1978 with the Camp David Peace Accords, in which Egypt recognized Israel, significantly improving the security of the Jewish state. Carter also managed to sign a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviet Union, but watched helplessly as the Kremlin invaded Afghanistan.

Carter’s Nobel Prize for Conflict Resolution

Initially devastated by the scale of his defeat in the race for a second term, Carter gradually found a new role for himself. As a former American leader, he was extremely active in resolving international conflicts, as well as in the fight against infectious diseases. This is what the Carter Center, which he founded, mainly focused on. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work.

Carter wished to remain alive until last November’s election so he could vote for Kamala Harris.

He remained staunchly opposed to Trump most recently and warned that the Republican president-elect posed a threat to American democracy. Carter’s family said he wanted to stay alive long enough to vote for Harris.

What will the new year bring?

*Editor’s note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.

**Editor’s note: The hostages were released shortly after Reagan was sworn in as president.