A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety (33 page)

My best and most enjoyable experience with presidents was with George H. W. Bush and his secretary of state, James Baker. Throughout their term in office, they used the resources of our Center as fully as possible, encouraged our involvement in politically sensitive areas, and even sent a plane to bring me directly to the White House for a report after some of my foreign visits.

President Bill Clinton never initiated any request for cooperation with The Carter Center, but he responded to some of my proposals. I appreciated these opportunities for us to help alleviate international tension by accepting requests from contending parties to mediate disputes.

After the contested election in 2000, where the Supreme Court prevented the recount of all Florida votes and ruled that George W. Bush was the elected president, we decided to attend the inaugural ceremonies in January. There were few “voluntary” Democrats present, and the Bush family members were gracious to us. The new president Bush asked if
there was anything he could do for me, and I made my only request of him: that he attempt to complete the peace agreement between North and South Sudan, on which our Center had been working for many years but which had been blocked by previous White House policies. He agreed, and kept his promise. As I increasingly promoted the concepts of peace and human rights in my books, classroom lectures, public statements, and forums, it was inevitable that some differences on these issues would surface. Once President Bush invited me to the White House for a full report to him and his national security adviser after I visited Cuba.

Because I had been out of office for more than three decades when Barack Obama became president, there were few opportunities for a direct association between The Carter Center and the White House. During this period I have enjoyed friendly and adequate contacts with Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Since we maintain an active role in the Holy Land, this has been especially important to us after Secretary Kerry renewed the U.S. effort to bring peace to the region. An additional reason for a reduced relationship with the White House is that the primary work of The Carter Center has shifted over the years from peace negotiations to controlling and eliminating tropical diseases and monitoring troubled elections.

On most occasions, Rosalynn and I have attended the national Democratic conventions and always the inaugurations of new presidents. In fact, it was on one of these occasions, twelve years after I left office, that I met my first Democratic president: when Bill Clinton was inaugurated.

The United States is facing an inevitable reduction in its relative global influence with the rise in economic and political strength of China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other nations. My hope is that our leaders will capitalize on our country’s most admirable qualities. When people in other nations face a challenge or a problem, it would be good to have them look to Washington for assistance or as a sterling example.

Our government should be known to be opposed to war, dedicated to the resolution of disputes by peaceful means, and, whenever possible, eager to accomplish this goal. We should be seen as the unswerving champion of human rights, both among our own citizens and within the global community. America should be the focal point around which other nations can rally against threats to the quality of our common environment. We should be willing to lead by example in sharing our great wealth with those in need. Our own society should provide equal opportunity for all citizens and assure that they are provided the basic necessities of life.

There would be no sacrifice in exemplifying these traits. Instead, our nation’s well-being would be enhanced by restoring the trust, admiration, and friendship that our nation formerly enjoyed among other peoples. At the same time, all Americans could be united in a common commitment to revive and nourish the political and moral values that we have espoused and sought during the past 240 years.

It seems, at least in retrospect, that all the phases of my life have been challenging, but successful and enjoyable. My early childhood on a farm in Archery during the Great Depression, mostly isolated with my own family and my black playmates, was relatively deprived compared to life with modern-day advantages. Still, I have the fondest memories of those days, even without running water or electricity and when I was required to work as hard as anyone. There was a warm and protected feeling, encapsulated with my parents and siblings, and it is hard to remember the discomforts or unpleasant family relationships.

My years in college and the navy were especially gratifying, as Rosalynn and I set up housekeeping and welcomed our growing family. The hardships I shared with my peers were tempered by my enjoyable experiences, and I reached every goal that a young officer could desire. My submarine service was good training in meeting challenges, and an item that appealed to voters when I ran for public office.

As a farmer and businessman for seventeen years, I established a sound financial base for my family, learned how to deal with hundreds of customers, and formed a long overdue partnership with Rosalynn in all the aspects of life.

I have already discussed my years in public office, and I am grateful for having that experience. I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals, and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do in our later years.

The life we have now is the best of all. We have an expanding and harmonious family, a rich life in our church and the Plains community, and a diversity of projects at The Carter Center that is adventurous and exciting. Rosalynn and I have visited more than 145 countries, and both of us are as active as we have ever been. We are blessed with good health and look to the future with eagerness and confidence, but are prepared for inevitable adversity when it comes.

I am very grateful to Alice Mayhew and the other editors and designers at Simon & Schuster. This is the twelfth book that they have helped with their beneficial suggestions and questions. For more than thirty-five years, Dr. Steven Hochman has closely examined the texts of my books, to help ensure their accuracy and clarity, and the contributions of my wife, Rosalynn, have been invaluable. My secretary, Lauren Gay, has joined the staff of our presidential library in helping to choose the paintings and photographs that are interspersed throughout the book.

JIMMY CARTER
was the thirty-ninth President of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. In 1982, he and his wife founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He is the author of more than two dozen books, including
An Hour Before Daylight, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid
, and
Our Endangered Values
. He lives in Plains, Georgia.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

SimonandSchuster.com

authors.simonandschuster.com/Jimmy-Carter

ALSO BY JIMMY CARTER

A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter

Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President

White House Diary

We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land

A Remarkable Mother

Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope

Palestine Peace Not Apartheid

Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis

Sharing Good Times

The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War

The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

Christmas in Plains: Memories
(illustrated by Amy Carter)

An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood

The Virtues of Aging

Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith

Living Faith

The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer
(illustrated by Amy Carter)

Always a Reckoning and Other Poems

Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation

Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age

An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections

Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life
(with Rosalynn Carter)

The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East

Negotiation: The Alternative to Hostility

Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President

A Government as Good as Its People

Why Not the Best?

Courtesy of the author and artist, pages
6
,
9
,
15
,
18
,
27
,
37
,
153
,
205
,
209
,
231
.

Courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Carter Family Photo Collection, pages
50
,
54
,
120
.

Courtesy of the United States Navy,
page 60
.

Charles Rafshoon, courtesy of the Estate of Charles Rafshoon,
page 74
.

Courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, pages
82
,
115
,
194
,
233
.

Photograph by Louise Gubb,
page 213
.

Courtesy of Habitat for Humanity International. Photograph by Ezra Millstein,
page 224
.

A note about the index:
The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.

Page numbers in
italics
refer to paintings and photographs.

Abbas, Mahmoud,
219
–20

abortion issue,
112
,
181
,
183
–84

as ongoing,
200
–201

Abourezk, James,
161

Adams, John,
118

Afghanistan,
151
,
181

Soviet invasion of,
146
,
150
,
187
,
203

AFL-CIO,
182

Africa,
140
,
168
,
216
,
235

Carter Center programs for,
208
,
210
–12

Cuban involvement in,
186
–87

See also specific countries

African-Americans,
101
–4

Carter family’s relationships with,
7
,
26
,
28
,
66
,
227

discrimination against,
see
racial discrimination; segregation

JC’s boyhood friendships with,
11
–12,
22
,
24
–25,
33
,
227
,
237

on JC’s staff,
113
–14,
142

JC supported by,
99
,
114

in LBJ’s election campaign,
90
–91

in Republican party,
28

women’s prison population of,
178

Agnew, Spiro,
106

agriculture, Carter Center’s programs in Africa for,
211
–12

see also
farming

Ahtisaari, Martti,
189

Alabama,
59
,
80
,
87
,
91

Alaska,
226

oil exploration in,
170
–71,
199

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA),
169
–71,
199
,
202
,
203

Albania,
150

Albright, Madeleine,
215

Algeria,
129

Allen, Jimmy,
132
–33

All the President’s Men
,
121

Always a Reckoning
(Jimmy Carter),
10
–11,
227

American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),
220

Americus, Ga.,
4
,
38
,
78
,
87
,
89
,
104

Amin, Idi,
142

Ancestors of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
(Jeffrey Carter),
4

Andrews, Frank,
55
,
58

Andrus, Cecil,
170

Angola, Cuban troops in,
187

Annapolis, U.S. Naval Academy at,
30
,
103
,
178
–79

JC’s education at,
33
–36,
42
,
53
,
63

Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986),
178

Antiquities Act (1906),
170

apartheid,
116
,
140
–41

Arafat, Yasir,
219

Archery, Ga.:

African-Americans as predominant population of,
11
,
22
,
24
,
26
,
33