A Hero to Add for 2025

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Last year I once posted about my list of heroes, men and women who inspire me for their courage and their dedication to speak the truth while serving the needs of others. I have a new name to add to that list as of a few days ago. Former President and Humanitarian, Jimmy Carter will be celebrated with services, and memorials this coming week in acknowledgement of his sincere and faith-rooted dedication to the needs of humanity and his unswerving commitment to peace. No matter your political persuasion, you have to admit that Carter is the Mother Teresa of political society, a person willing to stand alone and show us how to melt the steel doors locking in the ‘haves’ from the ‘have nots’ giving witness to what Jesus Christ would really have us do for others in a world lacquered in the polish of greed and selfishness. 

What I liked about Carter right from the start of his presidency was his humility first, his insatiable curiosity and intelligence second, and finally his deep prayer life rooted in the bible. We all know the biography starting from a poor farm boy growing up in depression-era South Georgia but getting into the United States Naval Academy by sheer determination and love of country. His was the only white family in the county where he was raised so he played only with black children, a lifelong education of another sort. The experience prompted him to say firmly in his inaugural speech as Governor of Georgia: “I say to you, quite frankly, the time for racial discrimination is over.” I have read that this line not only did not endear him to many voters but sent tremors throughout national political systems and organizations of both parties because they knew Carter would ascend to higher office and perforate their consciences.

Here are a few, very few facts you might not have known about this remarkable man. He requested that Mary Prince, a black woman, and nanny to his children while he was governor, come to the White House to be a nanny for his youngest child, Amy. But in 1970, Mary was wrongfully accused of murdering a white man outside a bar in Georgia. Carter knew she was innocent and hired her until her case was retried and she was found innocent. Much to my delight, Carter was always interested in the paranormal – UFOs, as the term suggested years ago. While walking into a Lions Club meeting where he was to speak as governor, he encountered a bevy of members in the parking lot looking breathlessly at the sky. He later recounted the experience as seeing a flight ‘machine’ that hovered over them and disappeared. Definitely, he presumed, an UFO. And once as president and meeting with analysts trying to solve a problem of a missing plane that had important documents, the National Director of Intelligence, Stansfield Turner asked the president if they could consult with a psychic to help. Why not? figured Carter. The psychic developed co-ordinates that were programmed into a satellite and voila! The plane was found with the documents! I smile at these Carter anecdotes. Carter was so committed to environmental concerns that he had solar panels installed for the White House energy savings, a meaningful example for citizens which Reagan dismantled because of his commitment to the coal industry who supported his campaign.

Many people do not know that Carter’s signature achievement was the Camp David Peace Accords with Middle East leaders, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Menachem Begin of Israel. This accord has lasted over 40 years and is now decimated by the involvement of other Middle East countries making a toxic brew of hatred and misunderstanding. One must read the story of the Camp David Accords to see how Carter got these enemies talking and how the talks met with stalemates with the two principle persons threatening to leave until Carter stood in the doorway to get them back to the table. It is ironical that Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize immediately after the talks in the late 70’s but Carter, whose genius and diplomacy and love of peace, the man who called for the talks in the first place, did not receive it until 2001.

Many people also do not know that Carter worked feverishly to release the Iran hostages beginning since their capture in the late 1970s. He managed to complete a deal before the 1980 inauguration of Ronald Reagan but the Ayatollah held off releasing the hostages so Carter would not get the credit. This was the final blow to the Carter presidency. 

Carter is never acknowledged for what presidential scholars say is his “remarkably prescient achievements in environment, energy conservation, peace, health care.” And let’s add that, “his personal qualities offer a dismaying contrast to so much of the present state of politics.”

Reflection

Many observers say that Carter’s “piety may have soured the American public on him. His doggedness, earnestness, sincerity, and blunt honesty was in sharp contrast with Reagan who proved irresistible.”  

But Carter’s post-presidency is something we could all reflect on. Yes, he built over 4,000 homes for the poor; he eradicated the guinea worm for much of Africa, his Carter Center had addressed multiple health issues worldwide. His Center provided observers for hundreds of national elections in struggling nations because he believed so much in a fair democracy. The Center is a source of research on a multitude of topics that interested Carter and benefits government policy.

You and I can take his example and do something – however small you might think – that is Christ-centered and doused with your immense love like the oil flowing down the robe of Aaron so beautifully described in Psalm 133:1. “It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robes.” It is the oil President Jimmy Carter wore with humility.

Perhaps we might reflect on ways we can be a little more self-giving and humbler to genuinely serve others out of our comfort zone.

Quotes used here came from Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker Daily, December 29, 2024.