Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-presidencyHe is known as the Great Peace Maker, a man whose humanitarian ideals prompt his diplomatic intervention in places like Haiti, North Korea, Bosnia, the Middle East. Whether negotiating a cease-fire in shell-shocked Sarajevo or building houses for the homeless in Appalachia, Jimmy Carter can be found at the helm of a vast array of humanitarian efforts. An annual nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, he embodies the qualities that the American public mourns having lost in its politicians: integrity, honesty, ethics, and dedication. Yet Jimmy Carter, thirty-ninth president of the United States, is curiously apolitical. Despite his two diligent battles for the governorship of Georgia (he succeeded in 1970) and his "coup d'etat" election to the presidency in 1976, his was always less a political agenda than a moral one. He saw the office as a vehicle for constructive change, propelled by firm and very Christian convictions about right and wrong. To understand James Earl Carter, one must understand his upbringing, his faith, his unwavering beliefs. Peter Bourne traces Carter's dogma to its roots in Plains, Georgia, deep in the Baptist South, where the imbalanced society created by inherited wealth and segregation could not suppress the everyman farm worker who held dear the tenets of social justice and strove toward the highest goals. Tenacity and self-confidence would propel Carter from the Naval Academy to the governorship to the presidency. Along the way, he remained devoted to Rosalynn and his family, to his religion, and to the ideology that the state and government have a responsibility to create a better society. As Bourne reveals, there would be no need for Carter to "reinvent" himselfafter public office. James Earl Carter went on to build houses for Habitat for Humanity; to create the Carter Presidential Center to focus on international conflict resolution, the Global 2000 program to reduce hunger and disease in Africa, and the Atlanta Project to address the most intractable inner city problems, all out of devotion to his life-long convictions. Jimmy Carter provides an insightful, intimate, and frank portrayal of the thirty-ninth president of the United States from a close friend and advisor of more than twenty-five years. |
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Page 81
... knew how stubborn he was , and that once he had made up his mind , he was unlikely to change it . “ She almost quit me , " Carter later said of the conflict . Rosalynn could not change his mind but continued to be resentful and angry ...
... knew how stubborn he was , and that once he had made up his mind , he was unlikely to change it . “ She almost quit me , " Carter later said of the conflict . Rosalynn could not change his mind but continued to be resentful and angry ...
Page 99
... knew where Jimmy stood . You knew that Jimmy also was a per- son who had no truck with that kind of stuff . You knew that Jimmy was a severe critic of the way in which they treated Clarence Jordan and his folks . at Koinonia . You did ...
... knew where Jimmy stood . You knew that Jimmy also was a per- son who had no truck with that kind of stuff . You knew that Jimmy was a severe critic of the way in which they treated Clarence Jordan and his folks . at Koinonia . You did ...
Page 153
... knew slightly from his role with Kirbo in the Quitman County case . Gunter and Gambrell , who would become the campaign finance chairmen , then went to see Philip Alston , senior partner of Alston , Miller and Gaines , an Episcopalian ...
... knew slightly from his role with Kirbo in the Quitman County case . Gunter and Gambrell , who would become the campaign finance chairmen , then went to see Philip Alston , senior partner of Alston , Miller and Gaines , an Episcopalian ...
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