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.
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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.
Image: An estimated crowd of over 30,000 people greeted the then-presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in downtown Philadelphia in 1976.
File pic: AP
Image: 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.
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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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.