EDITORIAL - Jimmy set the standard

As the US is preparing to welcome a new president on January 20, they also bid goodbye to a previous one, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter who died at 100 years old on Dec. 29, 2024.

Those who are younger may not be familiar with the name. But those who are familiar with history must have known how he was just a one-term US president serving from 1977 to 1981 and how the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran was the likely reason he lost a second bid at the White House to the storied Ronald Reagan.

While it is tempting to compare the president who just died and the one who is about to resume his second term, doing so wouldn’t be fair to Carter or President-elect Donald Trump. Both men were different kinds of presidents, both men were a product of different times, and both led the US under very very different circumstances.

It must also be said that Carter will be remembered most for what he did after he stopped becoming the US president.

After leaving the White House, Carter threw himself into humanitarian work. He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded an organization based in Georgia dedicated to conflict resolution and advancing human rights, public health, and democracy around the world.

His advocacy for peaceful conflict resolution would eventually win him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children," he said after receiving the award.

His organization also monitored elections in areas and countries where fairness and rule of law became suspect, calling attention to practices that disadvantaged voters.

He also built houses for Habitat for Humanity even well into his nineties and even after he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Of course, he was not perfect, but no other former US president has been more vocal, active, helpful, or impactful as Carter after leaving office. His life after the presidency should be set as the mold, the standard that politicians should follow after they have left public office.