President Carter is in hospice care. At 98 and in declining health, it seems the curtain falls on the remarkable career of the last respectably flawed president.
Carter is both credited and criticized in excess. His presidential accomplishments – the Camp David accords, the longest nominally peaceful period in modern America, and a reinstatement of decency in the presidency after the Nixon/Ford regime – are few but highly publicized. His failings – stagflation, the hostage crisis, the energy crisis, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan – are equally prominent. Most of his shortcomings have one thing in common: they are failures of omission rather than commission. However, it's also true that the US foreign policy in his administration ended up causing atrocities in East Timor and Palestine. [1]
Without condoning or excusing the violation of human rights one iota, it's possible to view Mr. Carter with compassion and respect; in stark contrast with all the presidents who have thus far followed him.
In many ways, Mr. Carter's pre- and post-presidential careers are more successful than his presidency. There might have been some other men to occupy that office of whom one or the other of the statements could be said. (Grant, Eisenhower, and Reagan were arguably better at their first careers; Taft in his second.) However, it is difficult to think of another man whose presidency is a footnote to his pursuits as a farmer before; a peacemaker and volunteer afterwards; and a preacher both before and after.
Every human is flawed, and those in positions of power (whether it's thrust upon them or a fruit of their own ambition) are apt to have their flaws both magnified and spotlighted. Despite this, James Earl Carter, Jr. may be the last president whose flaws haven't consumed the respect he deserves.
Thank you, President Carter, for earning our respect.
