January 11, 2025 – Jimmy Carter
Perspective from a political activist
Dear All, I have been around for several decades participating in our democracy. I thank my genes and my attempt at healthy living for allowing me to be where I am today. There are so many things to ponder. My hope is that there is value in sharing my activist life with you. I am an Iowan who was gone for a number of years. One reason I came back, besides falling in love with a local farmer, is that Iowa was a purple, nearly blue state. I thought “Yep, I can live here.” Now I am not so sure but my roots are here and this is where I will remain.
Thank you all for being paid subscribers and free subscribers. I grateful to all of you.
Official governmental ceremonies and rituals offer a glimpse of the pomp and circumstance when our country honors its outstanding citizens. Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral captured me by the solemnness of the Biblical readings, the singing and the eulogies; the magnificent church, the military honor guard, the orchestra and choir and the people present to pay respects to a former leader. The service was conducted with the dignity and respect that President Carter deserved.
I listened to the letters from President Ford and Vice President Mondale read by their sons. Ford died in 2006 and Mondale in 2021 but the words they wrote had as much to do with today’s politics as they did in the 1970s. Jimmy Carter was a devout Christian, taught Sunday School and was a great humanitarian. The word “truth” echoed throughout the service. He was an outsider and was not welcomed into Washington D.C. political circles, but there are policies that happened that people remember today.
I was newly married when Carter was elected and as a faithful Democrat, I voted for him. As his tenure unfolded he was besought by many issues that would be difficult for anyone. Our country was entering a time of high interests rates and inflation, one that would lead to the Farm Crisis that wiped out thousands of farmers in Iowa and across the country. Although it was the next administration of Reagan that inflamed the Farm Crisis, started during the Carter era.
The positive things I do remember from that time are Carter’s attempt to educate people on climate change. It was not called climate change then, but the oil crisis of the 1970s was a precursor to what we are experiencing today Carter approached the energy crisis by creating the Department of Energy in 1977. He also appealed to the American people to cut back on consumption and to be more conservation minded. He put solar panels on the White House that were removed during the Reagan administration. In my opinion, if the citizens of our country had adopted some of the advice from Carter, we would not be in the fix we are now with the current weather phenomena.
President Carter also started the Department of Education, so our education system in this country would continue to be strong and meet the needs of all Americans. Many Americans are expressing a deep concern as this next administration has the Department of Ed on the chopping block. This can be witnessed in Project 2025, that will soon be a part of our daily lives; it is the framework to dismantle many governmental institutions.
Jimmy Carter was a man of integrity and became a role model on a post presidency life. He and Rosalyn worked side by side to promote world peace, build houses and sought to bring diseases under control in developing countries through sanitation and vaccinations.
My memory was jogged away from Carter’s kindness and goodness when I read this recently published piece by Jasmine Romero on Code Switch, an NPR podcast hosted by journalists of color. Carter Is No Saint in my House:
“Let's take a stroll through history: It's early January and we're a few weeks away from the inauguration of a new Republican president following a single-term Democrat who has been criticized for providing an extraordinary amount of military and financial aid to a foreign government accused of human rights violations. Sound familiar? No, I'm not talking about President Biden and his administration's support of Israel. It's January 1981, President Jimmy Carter is on his way out and the foreign government his administration is supporting is El Salvador's.”
I had a vivid flashback that has connections to today’s immigration plight. In the early 1980s our family and many friends were not just waking up to the Farm Crisis, but were made aware of the emerging crisis in Central America. The American Friends Service Committee in Des Moines sought the help of Iowans throughout the state to become involved in the Sanctuary Movement, a religious and political based movement. This movement provided sanctuary to those fleeing El Salvador after Bishop Romero and four Catholic nuns were assassinated. The Central American Sanctuary Movement.
This jolt to my memory reminded me that my whole life has been witness to conflict - Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Environmental Rights, Anti-War and that those conflicts are still preset. It also reminded me on how the pendulum swings back and forth between strong political beliefs in the way our democracy continues to unfold.
The juxtaposition, the contrast between what could be done politically during the Carter administration and the way politics work now could not be more stark. A restart button needs to be pushed to get people back to the basics of working together for the betterment of our country and the world.
Can we as a country return to the respect and dignity of treating our fellow citizens equitably? Can we bridge the divide of us versus them and work for the good of all?
Our next president is a convicted felon and has indicated that fear and division will be a top priority. Cronyism is rampant with the appointment of loyalists to cabinets, ambassadors and advisers. Will regular Americans, the ones that Jimmy Carter respected, be acknowledged in the next four years with billionaires dismembering democracy for their personal gain?
As a political activist my question is how can I survive for the next four years? It is not possible to hide my head, brain or heart from the political landscape. Activism seized my being in my earlier years and I cannot ignore what I am called to do. Who knows what will happen as we enter a critical time in our democracy. Balance, we must find balance.
Respect for regular Americans! Politics aside, we must live Jimmy Carter's legacy!
Thank you, Denise. So good to be reminded of what we have lived through and now what we must continue to fight for—with balance, if we are to have the stamina for what is ahead.