“I would like to see the United States in the future strive to be the number one champion in the world of peace and human rights and environmental quality, and I would say treating everyone equal. If we could do that, we would have a real superpower in the country I love very much.” — President Jimmy Carter, US President, January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981.

Prepared and compiled by MALIK MERCHANT

The following tribute to President Carter is excerpted from the website of the Voice of America.

Former President Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer and Georgia state governor before becoming president, has died at the age of 100.

When Carter took the oath of office as president of the United States on January 20, 1977, he promised a “government as good as its people.”

He presided over four turbulent years. Rising inflation and growing unemployment marred the domestic priorities of his administration. He scored victories in foreign policy with a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel and the Panama Canal treaty. However, a hostage crisis in Iran dominated his final years in the White House and contributed to his defeat [to Ronald Reagan] in the 1980 general election.

But Carter liked to say the end of his presidency in 1981 was the beginning of a new life, traveling the world “fighting disease, building hope, and waging peace.” As the head of the Carter Center, the Carters traveled to more than 80 countries monitoring troubled elections, mediating disputes, and fighting diseases. This active post-White House life eventually led to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He entered politics in the 1960s, serving two terms as a Georgia legislator before becoming the state’s 76th governor from 1971 to 1975.

In the 1976 presidential election, Carter, a Democrat, ran against Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who assumed the presidency after Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Carter narrowly defeated Ford to become president.

The high point of Carter’s presidency came in 1978. Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland to negotiate a peace treaty.

“When I became president, there had been four wars between Arabs and Israelis in the previous 25 years, with the Egyptians in the leadership supported by the Soviet Union,” he said. “They were the only country that could really challenge Israel militarily. And we had success in getting a treaty between Israel and Egypt … not a word of which has ever been violated.”

The Carter Center, under his direction, monitored more then 80 troubled elections and mediated disputes ranging from a nuclear standoff with North Korea in 1994, to a peace agreement between Uganda and Sudan in 1999. The center is also a leader in promoting health and fighting disease in the poorest parts of the planet.

In one of many interviews with Voice of America, Carter reflected on his life in and out of the White House. He said the greatest part of his legacy wasn’t his accomplishments as president or the Nobel Peace Prize, but the eradication of Guinea worm disease.

“There’s only been one disease in the history of humankind, ever eradicated, and that was smallpox,” he said, “So Guinea worm is going to soon be the second disease in history, to be wiped off the face of the earth.”

Thanks to Carter’s efforts, there were only 13 cases of Guinea worm recorded in 2022. Carter led an active life until the age of 99, surviving brain cancer in 2015.

Jimmy Carter last appeared in public during funeral services for his wife, Rosalynn, in November 2023. In one of his last public media appearances, Carter shared with VOA his hopes for the Carter Center’s future.

“I would like to see the United States in the future strive to be the number one champion in the world of peace and human rights and environmental quality, and I would say treating everyone equal,” he said. “If we could do that, we would have a real superpower in the country I love very much.”

Jimmy Carter lived the longest of any occupant of the White House, and his 76-year marriage to wife Rosalynn is the longest of any president and first lady.

Though his final resting place will be on the grounds of his home in Plains, Georgia, the work and the words of Carter live on in the pages of the dozens of books he authored throughout his life. It includes his memoirs, a fiction novel, controversial examinations of the Middle East, and a collection of his favorite poems.

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1998, Granada, Spain: President Carter and Rosalynn Carter at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Gutman Richard notes in his Instagram account that President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, were visiting Granada during the Aga Khan Award Ceremonies in 1998. He alerted those in charge of the event about the visit. The Carters were invited to the welcome banquet and the Aga Khan Award Ceremony itself, which they accepted.

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2000, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Funeral: President Carter and His Highness the Aga Khan as Honorary Pallbearers

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President Jimmy Carter’s son, Jeff Carter, on the BUILDING OF A NEW Jamatkhana in Fayette County, GEORGIA

Jeff Carter, son of President Jimmy Carter, penned a Letter to the Editor of theCitizen.com (Fayette Publishing) in response to a concern expressed in the paper about building a Jamatkhana in Fayette County. The letter was published on August 29, 2006, under “No Need to Fear: Muslim Center will be Peaceful.” The following is the text of the letter:

“I had the pleasure of meeting and dining with the Aga Khan at the Alhambra in Spain several years ago.

“He had just returned from the Amu Darya River in Tajikistan where, he had, at his own expense, hauled 30 tons of broadcasting equipment to the river bank in order to preach across the border in Afghanistan.

“The Aga Khan Foundation is world-renowned for its work in health, education, rural development and the environment, and the Aga Khan himself is one of the most influential proponents of modern Islamic architecture.

“His construction projects are mainly focused in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa but include the Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Program and the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center at Houston which he built after the 9/11 attacks.

“The proposed mosque in Fayette County will almost certainly be a beautiful building architecturally and will just as certainly not be a place of political indoctrination where, as the previous letter writer wrote, “the hatred of Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslims will be taught, refined, and reinforced.”

Jeff Carter
Peachtree City, Ga.
(Mr. Carter is the son of former President Jimmy Carter). 

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President Jimmy Carter’s Grandson, Jason Carter, on Building Hope and Fighting Disease in interview with The Ismaili USA

The Ismaili USA published an interview with Jason Carter, Chairman of The Carter Center based in Atlanta, as part of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center series. The Carter Center, a living legacy of Jason’s grandparents, President Jimmy Carter (d. December 29, 2024, age 100) and First Lady Rosalynn Carter (d. November 2023, age 96), is committed to resolving conflicts, enhancing democracy, and improving health. Please read an overview of the interview HERE. The entire interview can be seen on the YouTube link shown below.

Date posted: December 29, 2024.

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