Not to be dramatic, but it feels like we’re in the opening scenes of an apocalyptic movie. Trump is returning to office; imperialist Russia and Israel continue to wage wars; Meta is stopping fact checking to be more in line with Elon Musk’s X; Sudan is being completely ignored; the nation’s second largest city is on fire, in large part due to company-made climate change.
In the background all of these travisties was Jimmy Carter’s death on Dec. 29, prompting all flags to be at half staff until Jan. 28–incredible symbolism, if this wasn’t real life.
As the nation continues to remember Carter’s incredible legacy as a one term governor of Georgia, the 39th president and prolific humanitarian, it is a striking contrast from today and reminds us of what we could have had, as well as what we must continue to strive for even if our leaders aren’t receptive.
Jimmy Carter entered the national stage when he was elected president in 1976 after the infamous Watergate scandal. Americans wanted to turn a new page, so they narrowly rejected Gerald Ford, the president who served under and later pardoned the disgraced Richard Nixon. At this time, Carter was a relatively unknown politician outside of Georgia.
On his way to be sworn into office in 1977, he and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, got out of the limo and walked to their lowkey inauguration ceremony. This startling move set the tone for Carter’s presidency, showing how first and foremost he was to be a man of the people. Upon taking office, the first executive order he signed was giving a full and unconditional pardon for people who violated the Selective Service Act. Unlike Johnson and Nixon, Carter wanted to end the era of “the imperial presidency.” Carter attempted to achieve this lofty goal in many ways; however, the norms and even treaties he put into place are being greatly threatened today.
Today, many half-joke that the vice president’s job is to wait for the president to die; however, in the era before Carter, this was even more pronounced. Pre-Carter VPs were total non-entities, most times not even allowed to sit in on low stakes meetings. Carter saw Walter Mondale, his running mate, as an actual partner, giving him access to classified information and meetings. Mondale was also given a permanent office in the White House, the first time a VP was ever given one. The Carter-Mondale administration drew the blueprint future presidents and vice presidents followed… sometimes too extremely (Bush/Cheney).
Perhaps more important than his achievements on the VP fount is his foreign policy. This is incredibly surprising, because, unfortunately, not totally despising an American president’s foreign policy is unheard of. Unlike most presidents before and since, Carter actually sought to have the ideals of the United States reflected in foreign policy. Unlike modern America, he did not totally sweep the human rights abuse of allies under the rug. For example, he stopped supporting President Somoza, both politically and militarily, despite Nicaragua being a close ally. This showed that, although Carter was committed to peace, he knew that it couldn’t come by being complacent. Most other presidents have been blinded by petty alliances, enabling them to disregard the human rights abuses allied countries commit.
The most infamous foreign policy achievement by Carter was his brokering of the Camp David Accords. From the start of Carter’s administration, he and his Secretary of State, Cyprus Vance, engaged in strenuous negotiations with Israeli and Arab leaders in hopes to rekindle ideas laid out in the Geneva Conference. Carter, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel signed the agreements properly called the “Framework for Peace in the Middle East.” This helped to facilitate a relationship between Israel and Egypt that is, more or less, still in existence today. For their work on the agreements, Begin and Sadat were awarded Nobel Peace Prizes. In later years, Carter became more vocal about the abuses Israel commits, especially towards Palestinians. In 2006, Carter published “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Another defining moment of Carter’s presidency that is top of my mind right now is his signing the Torrijos-Carter Treaties in 1977. The twin treaties returned the canal to the Panamanians. This treaty fully came to fruition on Dec. 31, 1999. Nearly 25 years later, Trump is berating Carter for doing so and even threatening to regain control of the canal. Trump claims that Carter sold the canal for “a dollar” and that in order to make America prosperous, it must regain control. Not only did the Panamanians build the canal under duress from the U.S. government, it is in Panama- Carter returning it helped to remedy some of the wrongs we committed, and taking it back by force would be disastrous.
Of course the U.S. has always had gaping problems, and by no means was Jimmy Carter the coming of the Messiah; however, his presidency set up what could’ve been a real turning point. Unfortunately, Carter’s calls and actions to promote peace fall on deaf ears: the US is, by far, the biggest arms dealer; Trump is calling to take over Greenland and Canada; the US is greatly aiding and embedding in a genocidal campaign in Palestine. Even though our current president didn’t, and the next president certainly won’t pick up where Carter left off- we still must push for hope of Carter’s America becoming a reality.
