Jimmy Carter's complex legacy
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The 39th president of the United States has died at his home in Plains, Georgia. Jimmy Carter was 100 years old. He'd been in hospice care since February of 2023. As soon as he heard the news, NPR's Stephen Feller headed for the Carter Center in Atlanta, home to his presidential library. In a lot of ways, it's a lot like his legacy, kind of understated behind the scenes. There's a steady stream of Atlanta traffic going by.

Somebody just came by, dropped off a jar of peanut butter and lit a candle because Jimmy Carter was the peanut farmer from Plains. And there's going to be several days of remembrances and events in Georgia, in Plains, where Carter's from, and in Washington, D.C. So things for now are quiet.

Carter will, of course, be remembered for his achievements in office, the Camp David Accords, for example, where he helped Israel and Egypt seal a historic peace deal, or the agreement he signed with Panama to transfer control of the Panama Canal to the Central American nation.

But it was maybe after he left the White House that Carter seemed to come into his own. He did more in his time and his decades out of office than in his four years in the White House. I'm at the Carter Center, where he was known for waging peace through things like fighting diseases. He monitored democracy and elections across the world. He fought for equality and human rights everywhere.

And he worked for Habitat for Humanity, building houses and volunteering well up into his advanced age. So consider this, Jimmy Carter's legacy is complex. And coming up, we turn to a couple of NPR political correspondents who have spent years covering the White House to hear their take on Carter's legacy. From NPR, I'm Andrew Limbaugh.

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It's Consider This from NPR. Former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. He spent a single four-year term in the White House and went on to live more than 40 years after he left office. To hear more on Jimmy Carter's legacy as president and a former president, we turn to two NPR correspondents who have spent years covering the White House.

In a moment, we'll hear from national political correspondent Mara Liason. But first, here's senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith describing a statement on Carter's passing issued by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

They talk about over six decades of friendship with Jimmy Carter, calling him a dear friend. And they talk about his legacy. They also, in this statement, the part that stands out to me, and I'll just read you this quick paragraph, it says, "...to all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning, the good life, study Jimmy Carter."

Wow. That's a strong statement. What kind of relationship did the two of them have? Yeah.

Yeah. So they go back many, many, many years. President Biden was a young senator when Jimmy Carter ran for president. And he was one of the first people to endorse Jimmy Carter way back when. And and then they have continued to be in public life together. President Biden visited Jimmy Carter and his now late wife, Rosalyn, in

in the Biden presidency and they had a strong relationship. And, you know, there's this idea of President Carter as a one-term president, as maybe not someone you would want to associate with as a politician, but that certainly wasn't the case with President Biden and certainly wasn't the case with Jimmy Carter simply because his legacy was

His post-presidency is something that essentially every president aspires to and none can quite achieve. He had a 40-year post-presidency that really redefined life after the White House. Yeah. Mara, what do you see as Jimmy Carter's lasting impact on politics? Well, I think that Jimmy Carter's lasting impact on politics is going to be

how he conducted himself as a citizen. He had an incredibly long post-White House career where he devoted himself to public service, to eradicating diseases, to building homes for people who couldn't afford them, and for basically living a life that was rooted in simple American values. He taught Sunday school almost his entire life. He lived in the same small town that he grew up in. These are

almost bygone values. I think in terms of his presidency, it will be remembered that he governed at a time of stagflation, high unemployment, high inflation. That's one of the main reasons that he lost. We just saw another president lose under a similar economic situation. But also there was the hostage crisis. And

And that was a – his presidency was held hostage by Iran basically who waited until he was out of office to release the hostages. So I think he will be considered a much more successful ex-president than he was –

as a president. And we happen to have a metric in this country that you can't really be considered a successful president if you don't serve two terms, which he did not. Tam, I want to hit on that point a little bit that Mara just said that how successful of a record he has, you know, after his after leaving the Oval Office. Does that kind of color his legacy with Democrats? Yeah, I mean, I do think that

Because Jimmy Carter had 40 years to have a post-presidency, because he had all of this time to really make a difference in the world, win a Nobel Peace Prize and dedicate himself to public service, it in a way allows him to have – maybe the first line is one-term president. But then the second line becomes –

Nobel Peace Prize winner, man who did all of these incredible things. One thing I was talking to a historian about this last week in looking at the parallels between President Biden and President Carter is that President Biden will now also only be a one-term president. But unless he –

Yeah.

Have we heard any other notable reactions so far since learning of President Carter's death? Yeah, absolutely. They have been rolling in. There is a post on Truth Social from President-elect Donald Trump who said that he had just heard the news of Jimmy Carter's passing and said that those of us who have been fortunate to have served as president understand this is a very exclusive conversation.

And only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the greatest nation in history. He adds,

Another statement that came in that stood out to me was from Mitch McConnell, the Republican from Kentucky, former or former majority leader in the Senate. And and he talked a lot about Carter's.

simple life. His faith, his American dream going from being a devoutly religious peanut farmer from a small town in Georgia to someone who was president of the United States and then made a real stamp on the world in his post-presidency. He says President Carter served during times of tension and uncertainty both at home and abroad, but his calm spirit and deep faith seemed unshakable.

Jimmy Carter served as our commander in chief for four years, but he served as the beloved unassuming Sunday school teacher at Marantha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, for 40. And his humble devotion leaves us little doubt which of those two important roles he prized the most. That was from Mitch McConnell. You know, these are all very kind, measured responses. Mara, what's the usual view of Carter from the Republican side of the aisle?

Well, I think that Republicans would say he was a one-term president. He failed. He didn't bring the hostages home while he was still in office. But I think that history has a wide-angle view, and I think there have already been a couple of books written that reexamine Carter's legacy. And one of them, actually, by Jonathan Alter, says that Carter was the most misunderstood president in American history, and that

Historians of Jimmy Carter say he was ahead of his time. He put a solar panel on the White House roof. Of course, it was a symbolic solar panel. But he also was focused on reducing fossil fuel use way ahead of his time. He expanded the number of people of color who had federal judgeships. But the other thing that was interesting is when Jimmy Carter ran for the presidency, his motto or his tagline was, I'll never lie to you. And that was very significant because

The country had just gone through the experience of Richard Nixon, who lied to the country.

And he ran that he would never tell a lie. That seems absolutely quaint looking back now because truth is not – telling the truth is not a prerequisite for being president. And lying flagrantly is not a – you know, something that disqualifies you from being president. Yeah. That's national political correspondent Mara Liason. Also with us was NPR's White House correspondent Tamara Keith. Thank you so much to you both. You're welcome. Thank you.

This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Mia Venkat, and Jordan Marie Smith. It was edited by William Troop and Timby Ermias. Our executive producer is Sam Yannigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Andrew Limbaugh.

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