Jimmy Carter Turns 100

Today (October 1st, 2024) marks former President Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday. Our nation’s 39th President and 76th Governor of Georgia is the longest-lived president in our nation’s almost-250-year history. He is also the first president to have lived to be 100 years old. The Democratic statesman is now in Hospice care as he lives out the twilight of his life. The fabric of our nation is far richer for his service to our country both during his one term in office (1977-1981), and his long and illustrious post-presidency. Jimmy Carter is hard to put in a box, as many of his successors would describe in their dealings with him. Yet through it all his love of country and his belief in the better angels of our character have remained steadfast. Our nation is in debt to him as he served in our nation’s submarine fleet. We are equally in debt for his efforts on the Camp David Accords, the establishment of the Departments of Energy and Education, the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and the tumultuous end of his presidency with the negotiations surrounding the Iran Hostage Crisis. Reporting has since shown that Republican operatives were responsible for the pro-longing of the hostage crisis to elect President Ronald Reagan.

After his defeat in the 1980 General Election to President Reagan, President Carter refused to go gently into that goodnight. He would go on to serve as an official and unofficial diplomatic envoy on behalf of the President and the American people. Carter would often spar with the ever growing list of succeeding presidential administrations over issues close to his heart from Nuclear disarmament to peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. He would also establish The Carter Center, which tackles everything from foreign and domestic policy to their efforts to eradicate the guinea worm, a task they have almost fully completed. Through it all, the peanut farmer turned president accomplished his policy agenda with the help of his beloved wife Rosalynn. They had wed in 1946 and were married until her death in 2023. If you thought he was a force to be reckoned with it only took one look at their relationship to see it was in large part due to the First Lady.

This leads me to my experience with the former one-term President and First Lady. I had been invited to preach at Maranatha Baptist Church where the Carters attend church. No pressure, right? I thought I preached a decent sermon, and the former President wasn’t half-bad either. The crowds were all there for him but I’m lucky they chose to stay for the photo-op withe President Carter after my sermon. As the large crowd dispersed my family was left alone with the President, the First Lady, and their Secret Service detail (Presidents are now afforded a Secret Service detail for the entirety of their lives as a former president). We chatted and President Carter complimented my sermon. I was electric, but it got better from there.

The President carefully pulled out his wallet (that had JC for Jimmy Carter embossed on the side of it) and retrieved a delicate piece of lined notebook from it. He looked at my wife Stephanie and said, “Can you cook?” Stephanie paused for a moment and then replied in the affirmative. President Carter’s face lit up and handed over the paper that contained within it the recipe of Rosalynn Carter’s lasagna. He commented she had not been cooking much any more, yet he craved it for this evening’s meal. If we could figure it out we’d be welcome to dine with the President and First Lady for later that night. We quickly returned to where we were staying and faithfully went over the steps and ingredients, cooking lasagna for the 39th President of the United States. We were cooking for a man who had wielded the most powerful forces that our world can fathom. We were about to dine with a man who had dined with everyone from Willie Nelson to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The dinner was unlike anything I have ever attended prior or since.

This powerful man was concerned far less with wielding power and far more concerned with engaging us in figuring out how we conducted ourselves in the world. I tried my hardest to ask questions about Camp David, about the solar panels on the White House, or even how he went from a Dark Horse candidate in 1976 to President of the United States of America. Yet each question was volleyed back with a question in return about our lives, or how we imagined our lives might go. I was humbled by the former president who sought more to know us for who we are rather than us knowing him for what we have read. The conversation continued well past our allotted time, and for that I will be forever grateful.

The world is better off because of President Jimmy Carter. The world would not be the same without his trust placed in Rosalynn and his God. The wold is better because of President Jimmy Carter.

Happy birthday, Mr. President.

Faithfully,

Rob

The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Lee, IV