President Jimmy Carter

While it is apparent from news releases and updates and the fact Hospice has been called in to aid former President Jimmy Carter, that many believe his death is imminent. And considering his age and recent illnesses, that is not difficult to believe.

But the former President’s name in the news now brings back so many memories of him to me personally, and amidst prayers for both him and Mrs. Carter, I would like to share some of them and how he has impacted my life..

While I do not think President Jimmy Carter will go down in history as one of the nation’s best and wisest presidents, I do think he will be remembered for his kindness and generosity as a human being and a Christian with a deep faith that he carried, and practiced throughout his life.

And also while I think it is shameful the United States Naval Academy finds it necessary to change the names of historic streets within the Academy campus for the sake of trying to keep everyone happy and forgetting history, I was happy to learn that at the very least, they will honor President Jimmy Carter with a street name. Surely as the President of the United States and a graduate of the Naval Academy he deserves that and to my mind, he should have been honored by the Academy long before now.

Invitation

But for me, the day he invited me and other small town newspaper editors to meet with him at the Executive Office, is one that I will never forget.

I was an editor at the Courier in Middletown during the Carter administration in the late 70s and early 80s,  and we received an invitation from Jody Powell, public information officer for the President, to come to the White House for a meeting of weekly newspaper editors. Matthew J. Gill was Publisher of The Courier at the time, and thought it was a wonderful idea and immediately asked me to go.

My husband and I took Amtrak to Washington the night before the event, so I would be sure to be on time to go to the morning meeting in the Executive Office. There were 26 of us there, all from papers with less than 15,000 in circulation, all newspapers that might affect local populations, but certainly not any national or international incidents. Yet President  Jimmy Carter thought we were important enough to be invited for a press conference.

The Meeting

We were all seated around a spacious board room table when the President walked in, his broad smile and welcoming glances setting him apart from everyone else. He sat at the head of the table and thanked us all for coming, spoke briefly about current situations, then left it up to us to ask whatever questions we wanted. Most of us simply asked about family, living in the White House, his mom, Miss Lillian, or small things, not having the broad background of information to delve into foreign affairs.

But you would think we were the most important journalists on the face of the earth. He answered each question carefully, and I was most impressed with how he looked each of us in the eye, spoke directly, his soft voice and southern drawl almost mesmerizing, and his answers complete and understandable.  We knew the time was limited, we were on a schedule, and lunch was being prepared for us. But the President never made it seem we were in a rush or it would end at a certain time. He was relaxed and acted like he had nothing else to do but talk to us 26 editors from across the country .

The Thanks

When he stood to leave, we all stood at the table and thanked him. He began to walk away, not to his private office, but  towards the door we would be leaving. He stood there, tall and distinguished, and as each of us walked passed him to leave the room, he shook our hand. I don’t know what he said to anyone else, but the President of the United States thanked ME for taking the time to come meet with him at the White House! How can anyone forget that?

The closest I had ever been to a President prior to then was when I stood on the curb in Washington when Dwight Eisenhower was President and he waved as he passed the crowds gathered along the side of the road as his limousine passed in front of us. Now I had a US President thanking me for seeing him!

I did not know until a couple of weeks later when I received a photo in the mail. I had not seen a photographer as I was shaking hands with the President. But the photographer was there to capture the moment for each of us. And the President then took the time to autograph each photo, and sending it along with another of us at the table with him.

Rosalyn

The thrill did not end that morning. After lunch, and it was served to us in another office in the White House, we were back in the same room again, this time to meet with Rosalyn Carter, a woman as serene, gracious, and down to earth as her husband. She chatted with us about running her household, her children, the President’s goals in life and his commitment to the nation. As gracious as he, she also shook everyone’s hand as we left.

    Habitat for Humanity

Years later, when my husband and I were traveling throughout the country living in our RV and volunteering at national wildlife refuges, I once again came across the former President’s  generosity, hard work, and his dedication to always be working for the people. In many states we found Habitat for Humanity built homes,  homes where both Carters demonstrated their commitment to social justice and basic human rights, just as they had done in the White House.  For more than 30 years, the Carters, both of them, have volunteered a minimum of one week a year building Habitat Houses . Jimmy Carter really wielded hammer and saw working on Habitat for Humanity homes, he did not just don an apron and gloves for photos. He and Roselyn stayed and actually  helped built those houses.

We met others who volunteered on refuges with us who had either worked on Habitat with the Carters, or were scheduled for a build with them in the near future.  Their Carter Center in Atlanta Georgia carries on the Carter ideal, working wherever you can to help whoever needs it.

Nobel Peace Prize

I highly respect President Carter as a mediator as well, recognizing in how many countries, in how many areas, in how many disputes he has served as a mediator able to resolve differences without conflict. A Nobel Peace Prize well deserved.

 An Honest Leader

For President Jimmy Carter, it has always been about choice.  And it has always been his choice to follow his faith, profess his strong belief in God, and help others who are in need. He was an honest leader for the United States.

For me, he will always be the President who thought the little man, the insignificant journalist, the small time person, is every bit as important as the world’s best known writers and leaders.