Jimmy Carter did not define the American Presidency. It could well be argued that he defined the American Post Presidency.
To call Carter's 1 term tumultuous is to over-inflate the word tumult, it is better to refer to it as crisis-plagued. He inherited an energy crisis from Ford and left Reagan with a hostage crisis. In between these crises, He had to deal with a Russian invasion of Afghanistan that led to an Olympic Boycott and broker a peace agreement in the Middle East. I highly recommend this article by Robert A. Strong for a synopsis of his presidency.
When Carter ended his 4 year residency in the White House in early 1981 he was 56 years old. That's 4 years younger than I am now. This I believe is when his true legacy began. Since leaving the White House, he started The Carter Center, a global human rights organization, he has been a highly visible and highly productive volunteer of Habitat for Humanity, a prolific author, and a mediator and critic in Presidential politics. He is the only U.S. President to win the Nobel Prize for accomplishments after his time as President.
Along with his work with Habitat for Humanity, the two accomplishments of Cater that I resonate the most with are his ability to speak his mind on divisive issues and his work as a rotating Sunday School teacher at his church in Plains Georgia. An example of the first is a few years back when he tried to convince the Democratic Party to change their stance on abortion because it was causing so many voters who would otherwise vote for Democrats to either not vote or support Republicans.
Jimmy Carter is not my favorite President, but he has long been my favorite former President. When you look at his life as a whole, he may well be the most accomplished President we have ever had, I find it fitting that he is the only President so far to live 100 years. Next time I am enjoying boiled peanuts I will think about the Georgia peanut farmer who became an American icon.
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