A Republican celebrates President Carter’s 100th birthday | Opinion

As a conservative Republican, I did not vote for President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and often disagreed with his policies and public statements. But I have far more respect for Carter than I do for most politicians – of any party. Indeed, it is difficult to think of another political leader with such an enduring commitment to his Christian faith, integrity, courage, hard work and helping others. Whether serving in the U.S. Navy, on the Sumter County School Board, in the state legislature, as governor, president, head of the Carter Center or Sunday school teacher, Carter dedicated his entire wonderful life to the service of others. Whether he likes his policies or not, he has conducted himself with grace and honor.

And there is much to admire about so many Carter policies and statements. As Georgia’s first non-segregationist governor, he declared that “the time for racial discrimination is over,” installed a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the state capital and appointed a record number of black Georgians to public office. He streamlined state government by merging many departments and agencies, improved state prisons and, with the help of his wife Rosalynn, reformed Georgia’s psychiatric hospitals.

As president, he was a great environmentalist because he protected more land from development than any other president. Despite the opposition of many in his own party, he deregulated banks, railroads, trucks and airlines, allowing many more Americans to afford to fly.

In foreign policy, he repeatedly tackled seemingly intractable challenges that his predecessors avoided. He got the Panama Canal Treaties, giving back what was seen as colonial property, improving U.S. relations with Latin America. Through tireless personal diplomacy, he secured the Camp David Peace Accords, which have kept peace between Israel and Egypt since 1979. He ensured that the US lived up to its belief in freedom by strongly pushing for greater human rights for everyone around the world. including our allies. This gave Latin Americans enormous hope and contributed to the region’s dramatic move toward democracy in the 1980s. Carter also signed the SALT II nuclear arms control treaty with the Soviet Union to slow the Cold War arms race.

Carter dared to pursue another major controversial policy initiative that he believed would help the entire world. In 1979, Carter became the first American president to normalize relations with communist China and even hosted Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping at the White House. Carter and Deng began supplying the guerrillas fighting the Russian army’s brutal occupation of Afghanistan. With the help of the US and China, the Russians withdrew from the country in 1989. Carter and Deng also initiated what would become the massive Sino-American trade, which benefited both economies immensely.

During his presidency from 1977 to 1981, the US never bombed, shelled or invaded anyone anywhere in the world, and Carter led a scrupulously honest administration that was free of any significant scandal. How many presidents can say something like that about theirs?

A retired president since 1981, Carter spent forty years traveling the world to bring about peace; to ensure that the elections were fair; promoting human rights; supporting agricultural and economic development in developing countries; to save so many lives in Africa through vaccination; and to build homes for poor people in America – even his own 90s after hitting brain cancer.

Carter has done so much to help people on a macro and micro level. Long after he retired from electives, he continued to visit poor families with fruit, host underprivileged children in his home and play tennis with them, and in 1998 helped establish a public swimming pool for impoverished black children from southwestern Georgia. He and Rosalynn Carter were even there when the opening opened for them to swim.

The three best Sunday School experiences of my life were in Carter’s classes at Plains, Maranatha Baptist Church in Georgia. Arriving alone with his Bible, he eagerly asked where everyone was from, commenting on his connection to each location. He then updated us on his and Mrs. Carter’s latest travels before reading the Scriptures, teaching his lesson for the day, and ending with prayer. After the service, he and Rosalynn patiently stood for a photo and shook hands with each of us.

Whatever policy differences we may have had with President Carter – and I had many – can any of us honestly say that our politics and government would not be dramatically better if even a quarter of our leaders had the faith, the vision, the work ethic and the had decency? by Jimmy Carter? He really is that rare great man in history who is truly good. Thank you very much, a very well deserved happy 100^e birthday, and may God bless you, kind sir.

Dr. Douglas Young is an emeritus professor of political science who taught government and history for more than 33 years and whose essays, poems, and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications in America, Canada, and Europe. His first novel, Deep in the forestwas published in 2021 and the second, Because of the southpublished in 2022. His first book with essays, This little opinion plus $1.50 will buy you a Coke: a collection of essayspublished in 2024.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author.