This is what a hero looks like
When, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter chastely kissed the British Queen Mother on the cheek (not on the lips, as was misreported by the tabloids), he reminded us yet again of the man he was his entire remarkable life. He was a human being who considered all other human beings the same. None were above nor beneath that singularly most human expressions of affection and regard. That moment was otherwise remarkable only in that the kisser and kissee would both live one hundred years.
Six American presidents have been named James, but only one insisted on using the sobriquet “Jimmy.” Formal Presidential documents were all signed by “Jimmy” Carter. Even at the time of his inauguration he wasn’t “James Earl Carter,” he was “Jimmy.” Imagine if JFK had been inaugurated as “Jack” Kennedy instead of “John Fitzgerald Kennedy.” It would have been a minor scandal. No one batted an eye at Jimmy Carter using his informal name on that most formal occasion. We knew from the beginning that it wasn’t an affectation. Jimmy Carter was the real thing.
Of course Jimmy Carter, who died yesterday (as I write this), 29 December aged 100, was a human being and was therefore necessarily flawed. But he was flawed in the way we like our humans to be flawed, in the way that made us love him more, not less. His imperfections were manifest by his humanity. He didn’t always make the best decisions, but the decisions he made were imbued with pure intent to always do the right thing, to always do what was best for the American people.
As with all world leaders Jimmy Carter had his share of bad luck. He inherited a flaccid, inflationary economy from Gerald Ford who inherited a flaccid, inflationary economy from Richard Nixon. No, Carter didn’t invent inflation. Remember “WIN”? “Whip Inflation Now”? That was Ford. Remember Phases I through III? That was Nixon. Carter worked tirelessly to reduce unemployment, to stimulate the economy with strategic government spending while working to reduce the national debt. Much of the economy Reagan inherited and took credit for was really Carter’s.
Another bit of bad luck for Carter was Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt by US forces to rescue the Iran hostages. An unfortunate collision of helicopters at the desert base ended the mission in tragedy. One can only imagine how differently the President would have been remembered had the mission been successful and the tragedy averted. Such are the fortunes upon which presidential tenures rise and fall.
I was personally mixed about Carter’s decision to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. As a lifelong advocate of the Games I preferred to keep politics out. But Carter was right about one thing, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was devastatingly bad for both the world and the Soviet Union, culminating ultimately in the collapse of the USSR and the tragedy of the September 11th attacks.
Jimmy Carter was the first President to install solar panels on the White House. They were removed by Ronald Reagan. Carter’s judicial appointments were remarkable for their racial and gender diversity. Though he was a devout Christian he ultimately supported same-sex marriage. Indeed, Jimmy Carter was an exemplar of what we used to mean by “Christian,” when it was occasionally employed as a synonym for “good person.”
Jimmy Carter is perhaps best remembered for his master stroke that came to be known as the Camp David Accords. That was Carter at his best, when he brought together the two most powerful warring Middle Eastern nations, Egypt and Israel. The Camp David Accords forever changed Middle Eastern politics.
Of the myriad and obvious reasons I wanted Kamala Harris to win the election last month, one was I wanted Jimmy Carter’s final vote to be part of that win. If he had to die I wanted him to do so under a Democratic administration he helped to build and nurture. Alas it was not to be. But at least the man we can justly call a hero did not die while living under the monster to come. There is that. And if Jimmy was right and we skeptics are wrong then the President occupies not only a special place in our hearts but an exalted place in heaven.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.