Seems like he's on his last days. Truly a great patriot and was ahead of his times on so many topics. He's one of my favorite leaders behind fdr and he's so misunderstood by so many. What a American role model. We'll miss him dearly as a nation.
His brother, sister, and father all died of pancreatic cancer in their 50's. Also, a second sister who died of pancreatic cancer at 63. The benefits of clean living. He definitely earned his extra time. Great man. Will pour out a Billy Beer on the sidewalk.
Despite [Billy] Carter's promotion of Billy Beer, "in private he drank Pabst" I'll let that one go for now...and well his brother ain't dead yet.
True patriot and was a president that cared about the people. Unlike today, where it’s political party affiliation first, then the people. What a sad state this country is in now.
Probably wasn't the best fit for the oval office. There's an ugliness the office requires, and he had far too much decency and integrity. In hindsight its stunning he made it that far to begin with. He lived a long full life, and people like him are the reason I sometimes hope I'm wrong as an atheist. A good Christian who wasn't just hypocrisy and malice.
A truly great human being. He got a raw deal in office with a lot of things that were beyond his control. His own response to them didn’t help but they weren’t as awful as history portrayed him. In some ways he suffered from some of the problems that Obama has that they were both very intelligent but didn’t understand the office and how to be a politician. In Carter’s case his background as an engineer and time in the military meant he was both very capable but too hands on and too honest to be an effective president. His post presidency has been a great example of a life dedicated to service. His leadership by example and humility is something that is rare among major figures in modern culture.
One thing I’m curious about how religious people feel about Carter. He is the most overtly religious modern US President who really did put his faith front and center and was a guide for his whole life. Carter’s Evangelical faith though led him in very different directions than much of current Evangelicals. He seemed to take opposite stands on culture war issues than what most Evangelicals have.
One relatively unknown aspect of Carter's life is that as a Navy Lt, he responded to a nuclear accident that involved over-heated fuel rods and a damaged core at the Canadian Chalk River facility near Ottawa. In 1952, it was the first reactor core meltdown in history. At the time, Carter was the Engineering Officer onboard the Navy's second nuclear sub and designing the training for enlisted personnel working with nuclear power. He was one of the few people on Earth that had the knowledge to help the Canadians and so he was sent. Carter and his team of 22 built a mock reactor on a tennis court so they could practice their assigned tasks in 90 second increments, the amount of time they would be lowered by rope and pulley into the reactor. When he was lowered, Carter's responsibility was to unscrew one bolt. He was exposed to about 1,000 times the amount of radiation that is considered safe today. After weeks on the job and successfully shutting down and rebuilding the core, Carter pissed radiation for months and was told he would never have kids (he had 4). Thanks in large part to Carter and his team, we don't have a Chernobyl-like zone around the Canadian capital. Not many know about it because Carter rarely talked about it. Can you imagine a politician not talking about his work that literally saved lives and possibly a world capital? Work that he undertook voluntarily at great personal risk? Why is it that the people who do hard stuff don't like talking about it that much while others exaggerate their deeds? It's one of the many things that makes Carter a man to emulate and admire. (Because of his experience at Chalk River, Carter ran the Three Mile Island response at a level well beyond what other presidents have been able to do with disasters. When visiting TMI he was asked by a reporter if it was dangerous. He answered, “No, if it was too dangerous they would have sent the vice president.” Not even the press corps knew much about his Chalk River history.)
When I think of what it means to be Christian, Carter is one of the first examples that comes to mind. He has led a life of grace and is a great example of a flawed human constantly working to be his best. His morality is grounded in the New Testament and is a result of both reading and thinking about his faith. The fact that he is not acknowledged in this way or summarily dismissed by many who claim to be Christian says more about them and the hyper-politicization of American Christianity than it does Carter. I suspect he is resented as much or more for his examples than his politics, for his good works remind some of how much they are lacking in grace.
I had heard of the Chalk River incident but didn't know the details. Amazing story. Carter was a protege of Admiral Hyman Rickover who was also one of the most intelligent and principled figures in US military history. His experience with Rickover left a deep impression on Carter.
I find Carter's position in modern Christianity similar to Pope Francis'. It seems like both of them were less interested in defending the faith and maintaining orthodoxy that we see so many prominent Christians doing.
