Jimmy Carter Book Report

Soldier, farmer, warehouse man, professor, and president are just a few titles James Earl Jr. better known as Jimmy Carter, has held over the span of his life. Born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. He was raised in a rural community by his parents James Earl Carter, a farmer and businessman, and Lillian Gordy Carter, a register nurse. Jimmy and his three siblings: Ruth, Gloria, and Billy grew up during the depression on their peanut farm in Archery. The Carter’s had no electricity or running water, but was still looked up to as being one of the most prosperous families in the community. Jimmy lived the normal farm life. He had various chores that included selling goods and
working on the farm for hours on end until dark. He said, “As a child my greatest ambition was to be valuable around the farm and to please my father.” (pbs.org). James Earl Sr. was a hardworking, self-made man who played a vital role in the community. He was on the local school and hospital authority boards and served in the House of Representatives. One could say Jimmy got his work ethic from his father, but on the other hand he gained his most respectable traits from his mother. The Carters were surrounded by poor white and black families. Lillian Carter paid no attention to the color of anyone’s skin or their financial standings. When medical care was needed she broke the racial barriers and acted as the less fortunate families’ doctor during illness or childbirth. These acts were from the goodness of her heart and inspired her son and impacted him enough that he carried this trait through life and into his presidency. Jimmy Carter attended plains public school system. He continued his education at Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Carter later graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelors of Science in 1946. After, he served in the Atlantic and Pacific fleet where he became a lieutenant submariner. Carter was recruited to work with notable, Captain Hyman Rickover, in the nuclear department working on plants for vessels. Jimmy was in the works of training the crew for the submarine, Seawolf, when his father died. Carter served seven years and was honorablely discharged in 1953. After the passing of his father, Jimmy Carter took on the roles left in Plains, Georgia. He gained the position of farmer, warehouse man, and community leader. In his book, “A Full Life, Reflections at Ninety”, he admitted he had no idea what he was doing when he returned home. While living in government housing, him, his wife, and three sons successfully managed the Carter farm and warehouse after a few bumps in the road into a profitable operation. Jimmy’s service to his community started by being elected chairman of the Sumter County School Board and the president of The Georgia Planning Association. During this time, Jimmy and Rosalynn picked up a few hobbies. Two in particular were golfing and square dancing. Little did the Carter’s know that a membership in a dance club would aid them in the election process of becoming the future president of the United States. They were also very active members at Plains Baptist Church. Both had their own Sunday school class and Jimmy was a deacon. Still unaware of his future role as the President of the United States, Jimmy’s farm, friends, fun, and faith would be the major foundation for his campaign. Carter’s involvement with the school board raised his concerns and interest in politics when he began to talk up the idea of racially integrating all schools. He then decided to run for senate. Shortly after making this decision, a preacher asked why would he want to get involved with dirty politics? Carter wittily replied, “How would you like to be a pastor of a church with 75,000 members?” (“A Full Life Reflections at Ninety”). Carter’s opponent did everything it took to win, even if it meant rigging the votes. Carter confronted Homer Moore in court and won the election in 1962. Jimmy was reliable and dedicated to the body and was elected for a second term. He then ran for governor in 1966 but lost and the next election ran again and became Georgia’s 76th governor in 1971. During that time, Carter became the Democratic National Committee Campaign Chairman. As governor, he increased African American state employees by 40 percent, improved education for prisoners and disabled, and evened out the budget among “rich” and “poor” schools throughout the state.(achievement.org) In 1974, early and eagerly, Jimmy Carter announced he was running for president in the 1976 election. He used a down home approach in the foundations of his campaign and began speaking to small crowds across the country. Carter did not focus on policies and programs, but past failures of the government. At the time, America was thirsting for truthful promises, backed up by morals due to the recent Watergate Scandal by Nixon and the crippling effects of the Vietnam War. Jimmy fed Americans what they wanted to hear and promised not to lie. With the accumulation of his ties with democrats nationwide, the first election after Watergate, and his good natured traits it all added up to help him win the election by the skin of his teeth. During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, he faced many obstacles. It was hard for him to participate in the twisted, corrupt political schemes and deal making. Jimmy held tight to his religious faith and morals. He still wanted common good for all Americans. With that in mind, some consider him to be the most useless president we have had. Some of his best known works as president included the addition of two new cabinets involving the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a policy that focused on conservation energy, price control, and new technology. Carter was also credited with a good note for works in the environment through the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act that was designed to clean up contaminated sites. People also praised when he pardoned all draft evaders of the Vietnam War. Jimmy’s foreign policy accomplishments included the Panama Canal treaties, Salt II, and initiating Camp David Accords. One statement he made was by boycotting the 1980 summer Moscow Olympics in result of the 1979 Afghanistan invasion by the Soviets. Throughout his term, Carter was always a strong advocate for human rights. Some of the negative trends that stood out during his presidency was the decline in marriages, drug use in youth increased, abortions and illegitimate birth rates increased, and crime increased. Other criticism Carter received during his time as president was for the Iranian Hostage Crisis, he was called out for weakening the military, putting too much trust in the Soviet Union, and the downhill motion of the economy with inflation and unemployment rising. Few people defend Carter by saying he started his presidency in a hole created by Nixon that he could not even climb out of. Most would say that the president should have stuck to what he knew best, being a peanut farmer.
In contrast to Carter as the President of the United States, it has been said that Jimmy is the best former president ever.
Sara Mitchell, supervisor archivist involving Carter’s records at the White House, considers his greatest achievements to take place after his life as president. After his term, the Carter family moved back to their 3,000 acre farm in Georgia. Soon after returning home, they realized their business was hurting. Fortunately, the Carter Warehouse was bought by Archer Daniels Midland Company. This helped pull them back on their feet. Jimmy began writing a book from his memoir he wrote while in the White House. Since that time Jimmy Carter has been the author of twenty-nine books. In 1982, he became a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. In partnership with the university, the Carter Center was founded. The center is related to the subject of protection of human rights, democracy, and foreign issues. Through the center, Jimmy has solved international disputes and mediated civil affairs. In result, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter is always working as a peacemaker for human rights and in charitable causes. Him and his wife travel to foreign countries to help where needed and work closely with the Habitat for Humanity organizations by building homes for qualifying low income people. Even with this busy schedule, Jimmy Carter teaches a Sunday school class every week and the past year has battled cancer and successfully beat it.(chicagotribune.com). Carter states in “A Full Life Reflections at Ninety”, “The life we have now is the best of all. We have an expanding and harmonious family, a rich life in our church and the Plains community, and a diversity of projects at The Carter Center that is adventurous and
exiting.”(p.238)
All in all, one can conclude over the span of ninety-one years, Jimmy Carter has lived a full life. He has held many titles all while staying true to his down home southerner foundation in faith and family. If you view him as a terrible president or the greatest ex-president ever, once can draw from Carter as a whole that whether you are just a peanut farmer or the president of the United States your life is what you make of it