Jimmy Carter was the compassionate, honourable, peacemaker America needed
In the late 1970s, America was not in a good place; reeling from a war and from Watergate.
Then came a man called Jimmy.
“Jimmy who?” the nation asked.
And so it was that the nation was somewhat dismissive when a peanut farmer called Jimmy Carter announced a run for the White House.
Beyond his home state of Georgia, where he had served as governor, James Earl Carter Jr was not well known.
But it would turn out, Jimmy Carter was just what 1970s America needed.
After the political turmoil of Nixon and Watergate and the quagmire of the Vietnam War, America craved stability, calm and integrity.
The 39th president of the United States did not provide the drama of those who came before him or those who would follow him.
Yet over a remarkably long life, punctuated by a short presidency, Jimmy Carter built a considerable legacy deserving of considerable reflection.
Carter the healer
“Compassionate”, “honourable”, a “peacemaker”, a “healer”.
They are words so often used to describe the American leader who lived a life longer than any other.
Late 1970s America was a nation reeling from the Watergate scandal and the disgraced presidency of Richard Nixon followed by the accidental presidency of Gerald Ford.
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An estimated crowd of over 30,000 people greeted the then-presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in downtown Philadelphia in 1976.
File pic: AP
Jimmy Carter pictured in New York in 1976.
File pic: AP
The wider backdrop was a long war in Vietnam, ending in a humiliating defeat and a fresh blot in a proud nation’s history.
Enter Jimmy Carter, 52-years-old; five feet seven inches – unassuming and unimposing both physically and in character.
Peanut farmer, turned submariner, turned politician; he was a man of the people whose core instinct was that a government is only as good as its people.
His healing qualities, clearly threaded through his life, were displayed on day one of his presidency.
In a bold move he granted unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the Vietnam War draft.
He had said the pardon was needed “to heal our country after the Vietnam War”.
Of the bitter divisions sparked by the war, he said: “We can now agree to respect those differences and to forget them.”
He pioneered a bold vision for compassionate centre-left politics which would, many years later, be emulated by presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden.
Yet Jimmy Carter would survive only one term as president.
In those four years he faced huge challenges – an energy crisis, Soviet aggression and Iran – themes which, it turns out, endure.
A childhood which shaped a presidency
Jimmy Carter was born where he died, in the town of Plains, Georgia on 1 October 1924.
His childhood unquestionably moulded the person and politician he would become.
1930s Georgia was a place of segregation. Two Americas existed side by side, separated by racism.
But Carter’s mother, a nurse, boldly ignored the state’s segregation laws, and so young Jimmy’s upbringing was one of coexistence in a place where there was none.
Decades later Carter would tell American talk show host Oprah Winfrey how every one of his childhood friends was black.
It was an experience which moulded his mind and would allow him to help change history decades later.
Young Jimmy Carter joined the Navy, serving as a submariner – a role that surely takes a particular type of character.
His father’s death in 1953 brought him back to Georgia where he ran the family peanut farm.
But politics beckoned. It was race and racism which lured Carter to activism with the Democratic Party.
By the 1960s it would propel him to the state senate and, by 1970, to the top job in Georgia – governor.
Jimmy Carter as Georgia’s 76th governor.
Pic: Jimmy Carter Library
The long-shot president
He was the dark horse for president; a long-shot candidate who made it all the way.
His childhood experiences of coexistence over division were threaded through his term in office and led to significant yet oft-forgotten achievements.
President Carter recognised and valued the power of American leadership in the protection of human rights.
Global achievements
It was his blunt message to the white rulers in South Africa which helped to precipitate the end of Apartheid and a peaceful coexistence many years later.
His influence in the Middle East was profound, but controversial too.
The Camp David accords represented Carter’s greatest foreign policy achievement. He brought together Israel and its greatest enemy of the time, Egypt.
The image of Carter cupping the clasped hands of Egyptian president Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin on the north lawn of the White House in September 1978 is iconic. It represented the framework on which coexistence in the Middle East continues to be built.
With the deal he did more for Israeli security than any American president since, and yet he maintained a compassion for the Palestinian cause that no other American president has come close to.
Years later, out of office, he was among the first to accuse Israel of its own apartheid regime against the Palestinians.
Jimmy Carter in Washington DC in 1978.
File pic: AP
A presidency dominated by “events”
Under his presidency, the Cold War got hotter. A wary Carter ditched a key arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union. It would raise tensions but eventually help precipitate the collapse of the USSR.
With Britain, he fostered the so-called “special relationship”; he and British prime minister James Callaghan were close.
But “events” overtook his vision and his presidency unravelled.
In Iran, revolution came and US hostages were taken. American diplomats were held hostage for more than a year. A risky rescue ordered by president Carter went wrong, eight US servicemen were killed and Carter was blamed.
After just one term, Carter was out. The American people, struggling economically, chose the Republican showman Ronald Reagan and an optimism they could no longer find in Carter.
Misjudged by history?
History is so often cruel and distorted. It would hand many achievements built by Carter to Reagan instead.
It was Carter who laid the foundations for Middle East coexistence, and though he would be let down by partners later, and coexistence seems at times to be very far off, his vision remains at the core of the solution. He has arguably done more to fix the Middle East conundrum than any other American president since.
On the Cold War, it was Carter’s decision to ditch the detente with the Soviet Union which would eventually seal its demise. Reagan would not have been able to demand Gorbachev “tear down this wall” without Carter’s leadership in the years before.
The Democrat presidents since have often borrowed Carter’s core principles and yet the party orphaned him.
In November, as the nation chose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, his spokespeople confirmed that he had cast his vote.
It was not revealed who he had voted for but was widely assumed that his final democratic act was to vote for Kamala Harris.
His son Chip said his father had not voted Republican in his life.
A legacy beyond politics
This “involuntary retirement”, as Carter would later put it, left much undone and it was really only after leaving office that he began to build the legacy he’d want to be remembered for.
With his wife, Rosalynn, he founded The Carter Center, a charity with his principle of healing at its heart.
The charity’s work – conflict resolution, disease prevention and the promotion of democracy – continues to this day. It represents president Carter’s legacy in 80 nations around the world.
In 2002, it was this work which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since then, under his leadership, its work has helped to nearly eradicate Guinea Worm Disease. As of 2021 there were just 15 cases reported globally. An extraordinary achievement.
At home in America, the charity Habitat for Humanity was a central part of the Carters’ fundraising efforts. Over many years, Jimmy and his wife were seen building and renovating homes for some of the nation’s poorest.
The former president used to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build, renovate and repair homes.
Pic: Habitat for Humanity
And away from this spotlight at his lifelong home in Plains, Georgia, president Carter was a painter, a furniture maker, a winemaker, and an author of a remarkable 32 books.
The death of his wife Rosalynn last year must have been an enormous blow for Carter.
She had been at his side always, and so often hand in hand. His best friend, his counsel, his “chief advisor”, his wife since 1946.
So often over the years, he’s been asked to reveal the magic of their bond. His answer: “Never go to bed angry.”
“Always make peace,” he said.
In much more than just marriage, that was president Carter’s defining principle.
He’s survived by his four children Jack, James (Chip), Donnel (Jeff) and Amy, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found guilty of transportation for prostitution following a landmark trial in New York – but cleared of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
The hip-hop mogul was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura, and other crimes including kidnapping, arson and blackmail.
Jurors decided not all the allegations were proven – but Combs still faces several years in prison after being convicted of transporting people across the US, including Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane”, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
However, with the not guilty verdict on three other more serious charges – racketeering conspiracy and two of sex trafficking – the 55-year-old has avoided a maximum possible sentence of life behind bars.
Despite a request by his defence team, he was denied bail ahead of sentencing – which has been scheduled for Friday 3 October.
Combs appeared upbeat in court as the verdict was announced. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
Marc Agnifilo, part of Diddy’s defence team, described the ruling as “a victory of all victories”.
Outside the courthouse, he said the jury “got the situation right, or certainly right enough”.
Another of his lawyers, Nicole Westmoreland, said: “He actually battled for his freedom, for his innocence, and he did it.
“And, you know, a lot of times, people are too afraid to do it. Today is a major win to show what the system can do.”
The mixed result from the jury came not long into their third day of deliberations. In the courtroom in Manhattan, there were cheers from Combs’s family – and the rapper himself held his hands up in a prayer motion, looking at the jury, and hugged his defence lawyer Teny Geragos.
His mood seemed very different to just a day earlier – when he learned the jury had reached a verdict on four of the five charges, but were split on the racketeering charge.
After deliberating for longer on Wednesday, they came to a unanimous decision.
As the verdict sunk in, Combs appeared overwhelmed, kneeling at his chair and bowing his head in prayer once again.
“I’ll be home soon,” he said as he faced his family members. “I love you, Mum.”
Combs later seemed to become overwhelmed with relief. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
The application for bail
Combs’s defence team argued that as he had been cleared of the most serious charges, he should be bailed ahead of sentencing.
His lawyer Marc Agnifilo said he had been a model prisoner and added: “He’s not going to flee. He’s been given his life back.”
But prosecutor Maurene Comey argued Combs had a history of violence, which Judge Arub Subramanian agreed with. “At trial, the defence conceded the defendant’s violence in his personal relationships,” he said.
After being denied bail, Combs attempted get the judge’s attention – but after consulting with Mr Agnifilo, he did not speak.
Casandra ‘Cassie’ was heavily pregnant when she gave evidence at the start of the trial. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
Cassie ‘paved the way’
Reacting to the verdict, Cassie’s lawyer Douglas H Wigdor said that although jurors did not find Combs guilty of sex-trafficking Cassie, she had “paved the way” for the other guilty verdicts.
“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice,” he said.
“We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client, who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial.”
Cassie, who testified heavily pregnant just three weeks before giving birth, displayed “unquestionable strength”, he added, and “brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit”.
Videos of “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts were shown to jurors only during the seven-week trial, with the footage kept private from members of the public and media in court.
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Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
Former employees, along with escorts, hotel staff and police officers were among those to give evidence.
Cassie and Jane, who used a pseudonym, also testified. They told the court they were coerced into drug-fuelled “freak offs” – which were also referred to as “hotel nights” or “wild king nights” – with male escorts, and abused throughout their relationships.
Combs’s defence team presented a very different picture to show that sexual acts, including freak offs, were consensual.
They conceded the music star could be violent, had a bad temper and used drugs. He also had multiple relationships at the same time. But crucially, they said, while he was “not proud” of some of his behaviour, none of it made him guilty of the charges against him.
After hearing evidence of flights and travel for escorts and Cassie and Jane, paid for by Combs, as well as hotel bookings across the US and the Caribbean, jurors found him guilty of the transportation to engage in prostitution charges. However, they did not find that the allegations against the rapper amounted to sex trafficking or racketeering.
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CCTV footage shows Diddy ‘attacking’ Cassie in hotel
The Cassie hotel tape
Combs, known variously as Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and Diddy over the years, was once one of the most influential figures in hip-hop – famous as a producer, founder of Bad Boy Records and manager of the late Notorious BIG in the 1990s, as well as a rapper in his own right.
As an artist, he won three Grammys during his career, and had hits including I’ll Be Missing You, Come With Me, and Bad Boy For Life.
In September 2023, he received the “global icon” award from MTV and was given the key to New York City at a ceremony in Times Square, just a few miles away from the streets in Harlem where he spent his first years.
Allegations first came to prominence in November 2023, when Cassie filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing him of coercing her into unwanted sex sessions, as well as blackmail and several incidences of violence.
The suit was settled in 24 hours – for $20m, it emerged during the trial – but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor in 2016.
He apologised after the video aired, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”
Footage from the hotel incident was shown during the trial.
Following the verdict, the rapper now awaits sentencing. He also still faces several civil lawsuits, most of which were filed in the wake of his arrest in September 2024.
A man has pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminal justice student, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings.
He was accused of sneaking into the rented home in Moscow, Idaho, which is not far from the university campus, and attacking Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kohberger previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and burglary.
It comes after he agreed to a plea deal, just weeks before his trial was set to begin, in a bid to avoid the death penalty.
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Bryan Kohberger during a hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho. Pic: Reuters
Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Xana’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin
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It is certainly big – 940 pages long – but on the question of beauty, Congress is divided.
Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has sparked ugly debate – both for its ambitious scope and for the political manoeuvring that’s gone on around it.
Elon Musk branded it “political suicide” for Republicans and threatened to fund challenges against those who back it in next year’s midterm elections.
But the president hit back, suggesting he would consider cutting Musk’s lucrative government contracts or even deporting him back to South Africa.
The “big, beautiful bill”, or HR 1 to give the proposed legislation its proper title, is Mr Trump’s signature spending and tax policy.
It extends tax cuts he secured in 2017 and bankrolls his second-term agenda in the White House.
File pic: Reuters
Here is a summary of the key points:
• Permanent tax cuts: Extending relief from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Small business support: Doubling the small business expensing limit to $2.5m (£1.8m) to help businesses expand and hire staff
• Child tax credit: Expanding the child tax credit and making it permanent, benefiting 40 million families
• Making housing affordable: Expanding the low-income housing tax credit to kickstart construction of affordable homes
• Defence and border security: Allocating $170bn (£123bn) for border security alone, including $46bn (£33bn) for completing the border wall
• Made-in-America incentives: Providing tax breaks and incentives for domestic manufacturing to promote US industry
• Healthcare and social welfare: Implementing restrictions on Medicaid, which provides healthcare for millions of Americans, and reducing funding for certain healthcare and nutrition programmes.
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Clash over ‘monster’ debt bill
Musk, Mr Trump’s former ally and the man who established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claimed the bill “raises the debt ceiling by $5trn, the biggest increase in history.”
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” was President Trump’s response.
The national debt currently stands at $37trn (£27trn) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill could add $2.4trn (£1.7trn) to that over the next decade.
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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk
Bill splits Republican ranks
Republican Senator Thom Tillis voted against the bill and, following criticism from the president, announced he would not seek re-election in North Carolina.
He said he couldn’t support it due to his concerns about the impact cuts to Medicaid would have on people in his state.
Democrats in the Senate forced a full reading of all 940 pages and then a vote-a-rama, a series of marathon voting sessions.
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In the House of Representatives, it passed by a single vote, 215-214. In the Senate, Vice President JD Vance, had to cast the deciding vote to break a tie (50-50).
Legislatively, the progress of the bill has been a case study in the complexities of American law-making.
Strategically, it represents a mammoth effort to consolidate the president’s policy agenda and secure his legacy.
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