Events, positive and negative, can shape a president’s legacy as much as policies and intentions. Jimmy Carter had more than his fair share of both, but his legacy is unassailable. He was a president of integrity and principle who did what he thought was right for the country and accomplished far more than many realize.
Two early events that gave Carter a lift came from Connecticut’s U.S. Sen. Abe Ribicoff.
As soon as Carter started his presidential campaign, he faced questions about his earnest Southern Baptist Christianity and his comfort with evangelicals. Ribicoff empathized with Carter. His 1954 run for governor in Connecticut provoked questions about whether the state was ready for a Jewish governor. Thus, as a U.S. Senator in 1976, Ribicoff let fly an angry statement denouncing discussion of Carter’s religion, demanding that he be measured by his politics and leadership, not how he prayed.
As president-elect, Carter made clear his interest in pursuing a peace settlement in the Middle East. Just days after his victory, Senator Ribicoff led a delegation to Israel and Egypt to discuss the sale of nuclear power plants. The co-chair was his best friend in the Senate, minority leader Howard Baker. I had joined Ribicoff’s staff a few weeks before and was along for what would be an historic ride.
The Ribicoff agenda covered more than technology and laid important groundwork for the president-elect. The Israelis reiterated long-standing openness to peace talks. A stunning surprise came at a meeting with Egyptian President Sadat in Cairo. Sadat welcomed Ribicoff’s question regarding peace with Israel.
Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’
It was time, Sadat said, explaining that Egypt could never attract investment and prosper without a peace settlement. It had a poverty problem: 30 percent of Egyptians lived on bread and sweetened tea. Responding to Ribicoff’s questions, Sadat affirmed he meant a real peace with Israel: mutual recognition and establishment of embassies.
Senator Ribicoff praised Sadat’s leadership, and to convey respect stood to applaud him. It was an emotional moment; the 11 other delegation members rose to join the applause.
At a press conference in Cairo, Ribicoff said their meeting had demonstrated that at least some in the Arab world were “ready to accept that Israel is here to stay, that Israel has a right to exist.”
Carter immediately had an unexpected path to one of his main goals. The Ribicoff/Baker delegation report to the Senate underscored that an opportunity for an Egyptian-Israeli peace settlement was at hand.
The way was tough sailing. Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin were obstinate, colorful negotiators. Carter kept Ribicoff involved during the tense Camp David negotiations and included him in some private meetings with the participants. But the president was front and center all the way.
He has been variously remembered as a weak, soft-spoken, micromanaging even inept president.
The truth is, he literally prevented both Sadat and Begin from leaving Camp David, sometimes serving as personal go-between to resolve differences. In his 2020 book on Carter, historian and Carter biographer Jonathan Alter called it a “virtuoso performance.” I recall the senator from one meeting and confiding that an Israeli General said he never wanted to face Carter in battle: the most tenacious person he had ever met.
The ultimate agreement was dramatic, the official announcement filled with references to beating swords into plowshares. That treaty endures despite the prospects for a basic peace settlement being more remote today than it was almost 50 years ago.
Carter enjoyed other successes. A major one was executive branch diversity: more women, African-Americans and Hispanics appointed to judgeships and senior positions than all his predecessors combined. Another was unusually effective legislative leadership: Congress passed 76 percent of his initiatives.
Biographer Alter notes that Carter signed 14 major environmental bills and was “the first leader anywhere in the world to think about climate change.” He was also a staunch defender of the Panama Canal Treaty, prepared by several predecessors but ripened during his term. Its passage was bitter and costly. Still, Carter saw it in the best interest of both the United States and Central America.
But happenstance was often unkind. Carter successfully negotiated the second Strategic Arms Limitation Talks treaty with the Soviet Union only to see it die because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. All that work and no victory.
Inflation during his tenure brought painfully high interest rates, coupled with high unemployment and an energy crisis. Carter went off track with what has been dubbed his “malaise” speech (although he never actually used that term). When Americans craved optimistic solutions, he called for sacrifice and urged us to turn down our thermostats.
Then, the coup de grace. It was November 1979, heading into the last year of Carter’s first term and into his reelection campaign. Iranians seized our embassy in Teheran and imprisoned diplomats for over a year. A rescue attempt ended with helicopters crashing in a desert sandstorm.
Throughout, Carter worked to free the prisoners. But now we know, he was up against more than the Iranians. In March of this year, in as crisis of conscience, Ben Barnes, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, revealed he and his mentor, John Connally, travelled to several Middle East capitals and convinced leaders to pass a message to Iran: hold the hostages until after the election. The gambit worked, sabotaging Carter’s reelection and ensuring Ronald Reagan’s victory. The hostages were freed January 21, 1981, moments after Reagan’s inauguration.
Carter’s quest for a second term met another painful reality: Senator Ted Kennedy challenged the sitting president for the 1980 nomination.
Carter was plagued by unplanned events he could not control. Still, his legacy deserves admiration and, for many a reboot.
Note that his post-presidency, too, underscores the depth and authenticity of his values. Into his 90s, he continued to pound nails for Habitat for Humanity, teach Sunday school in Georgia and fight disease, foster fair elections and promote peace through the Carter Center.
Jimmy Carter was a model public servant who tried his best in the face of unexpected and sometimes cruel happenings. We could use more tenacious and principled leaders determined to do what’s right for the country while accepting what history serves.
Arthur House of Simsbury was U.S. Sen. Abe Ribicoff’s chief of staff. He served on a presidential commission under President Carter.
