Faculty Pay Tribute to Jimmy Carter

Syracuse University faculty are offering thoughts on the passing of Jimmy Carter, the nation’s 39th president.

“In the aftermath of Watergate, Jimmy Carter helped to bring decency and honor back to the White House,” said Maxwell History and Political Science Professor Margaret Susan Thompson. She offered this on Carter’s passing at the age of 100. “Perhaps the shining achievement of his presidency were the Camp David Accords, the first notable peace agreement between Israel and one of its powerful Arab neighbors. He was an environmentalist before most people had ever heard of climate change or sustainability, installing solar panels (later removed) at the White House. When President Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980—due largely to both economic downturn and the Iranian Hostage Crisis—neither he nor the American people knew that his most notable achievements were yet to come.”

Through the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter continued to fight for democracy and human rights throughout the world. He helped to bring an end to Guinea Worm Disease, as well as River Blindness in both Africa and Latin America. Well into his mid-nineties, Carter quietly worked to build homes in dozens of communities through Habitat For Humanity. A devout Evangelical Christian, Carter left the Southern Baptist Convention but not his faith in his seventies, because among other things he disagreed with its rigid opposition to expanding the roles and opportunities for women. He affiliated with the more progressive Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and continued to teach Sunday School in his local community well into the 21st Century. He and his wife Rosalyn have been happily married for over three-quarters of a century, enjoying the longest-lasting marriage of any first couple.

Jimmy Carter unquestionably earned virtually universal appreciation as the most accomplished former president in US history. Over thirty years after leaving the presidency, he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime of service on behalf of peace, democracy, and social justice—although he would continue to work on their behalf for another two decades. As he famously said: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something…. My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” For nearly a century, there is no doubt that he continued to practice what he preached.”

Additionally, Maxwell Political Science Professor Grant Reeher discussed Carter’s legacy with Fox LiveNOW. Reeher called Carter “the right president and the right person for the times.”