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Paul M Sotkiewicz's avatar

Steven, a fitting tribute to a man who never wavered in his beliefs and never deviated from what he saw as his mission to help others. Also, intellectually, he may easily have been the smartest man to ever occupy the Presidency. Erudite in history, literature. A nuclear engineer. Naval officer. Self sacrificing (who would lower themselves into a reactor core?? ). And truth teller. All these make Jimmy Carter a role model for the ages.

But unfortunately for us, these traits are not prized in politicians. Carter’s “malaise” speech I remember was the final nail, even though he spoke truth to power. The question is what happened to us as a nation? How did we go from JFK’s “ask what you can do for your country” in less than 2 decades to hedonism and narcissism of the late 70s and the Bed Time for Bonzo B movie actor as president?

Carter set the bar for Middle East peace that has still not been achieved by any US President since. Carter’s vision for breaking the the cycle of petroleum dependence has not happened, but renewable energy is in ascendancy. Carter received blame for Iran, but this fate was set up by the CIA in the 50’s and it is not like things have gotten any better in US-Iran relations.

As a nation, we probably did not deserve Jimmy Carter, but we received him all the same. We needed him. We needed his truth then and now, but we as a nation refused to listen. Shame on us. I am personally grateful all the same for the example of how we all should act and serve among our fellow citizens.

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Leslie Scott's avatar

I cast my first vote for President at age 19 for Jimmy Carter. He had visited my Mississippi university when I was a freshman there and when he had just begun his seemingly quixotic run for President. But I was moved by his sincerity and decency then and remain so to this day. This is a wonderful essay today on President Carter. I'm especially glad you included excerpts from the so called "malaise" speech. He was right to warn us as we can clearly see today. I wish him and family peace and ease during this time.

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