Mr. Carter lived his life in service to his country, to his community and to the world. He worked to eradicate the Guinea worm, he helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity.
What he did not do was work to amass wealth for himself. He didn't obsess over people saying nice things about him or criticizing him. He wasn't consumed with vengeance.
He was a good man.
Which is something that nobody will ever say about P-45/7. The lauditory things that people will be saying over the next few days will never be uttered about him. And, if he has an ounce of self-awareness, he has to know that.
A great loss. He did the right thing and kept doing it.
ReplyDeleteEck!
The Carter Administration could never grasp the levers of power
ReplyDeleteIn the space of two days in July, 1979, President Jimmy Carter fired five Cabinet members. Gone were his secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; secretaries of the Treasury, Transportation, Energy; and his attorney general. The rolling fashion and hectic nature of the departures over two days made it seem vaguely comical. It came to be known as “the purge” in some quarters.
https://slate.com/podcasts/whistlestop/2017/08/whistlestop-on-carters-cabinet-purge
HST was smitten by his law day speech, but later regarded him as an abject failure.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/law-day-address-the-university-georgia-athens-georgia
It begat Ronald Reagan.
A decent man, a failed presidency
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article282506513.html
Absolutely the only President, who I am proud to state that I voted for.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as has been pointed out in social media, Carter made one last play in his death: the flags will fly at half-mast for a month by law....and during the inauguration. Mourning in America.
ReplyDeleteHCR has a remembrance:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-29-2024
It's been noted by others that the endnote credits in a number of the obits say that one or more of the reporters who worked on the obits years ago have since died.
ReplyDelete(I assume most people know that the obits of famous/notable are written far in advance and periodically updated.)