Watch: Reflecting on the life of former US President Jimmy Carter
It has been forty-four years since Jimmy Carter vacated the presidency until the moment of his passing.
Four decades appears to be a lengthy duration – a milestone for a past US president – yet numerous issues confronting America in 2024 are strikingly similar to those that Carter encountered, and at times capitulated to, in the late 1970s.
While Carter was in office, the US dealt with a crisis of trust. Americans were facing domestic economic chaos along with various challenges to US dominance internationally. Fast forward forty years, and the actors and dilemmas seem remarkably alike – the economy and the environment, Russia, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. Time has passed, the leaders have altered, yet the obstacles remain.
Carter showcased the strength of US diplomacy by mediating the Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1978, yet the brilliance of this achievement was short-lived. The constraints of American influence were painfully clear during the Iranian hostage crisis the following year, when US embassy personnel in Tehran were taken captive.
It required over a year of vigorous undertakings – both diplomatic and military – to secure their release. The feeling of American impotence played a role in Carter’s significant election defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980, with the hostages’ eventual release occurring mere hours after Carter exited the presidency.
The struggle to influence international developments, even from the globe’s foremost position of power, continues to afflict US leaders. President Joe Biden first experienced this harsh truth amid the tumultuous US retreat from Afghanistan in 2021, which concluded two decades of fruitless American nation-building and allowed the Taliban to regain control.
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Carter and Biden in 1978
Recently, Biden and his diplomatic team were unable to prevent the 7 October Hamas assault on Israel from escalating into a regional catastrophe and a severe humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Both Carter and Biden, humbled by seemingly overpowering regional forces in Iran and Afghanistan, also faced the territorial aspirations of major global powers. Carter faced criticism for inadequately addressing the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan and was subsequently condemned for the action he ultimately took – instigating a boycott by US athletes of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Biden has seen more initial success in countering the invasion of Ukraine, rallying allies to assist and equip Kyiv’s soldiers in resisting the Russian assault. Yet as the conflict continues, American determination has been challenged. The prolonged bloody struggle transformed Afghanistan into a hub of instability that ultimately spawned al-Qaeda and a global jihad.
The enduring ramifications of the war in Ukraine could bring their own unforeseen and deadly outcomes – all of which may be attributed to this president’s administration.
In the Middle East, Carter’s success at Camp David has shown itself to be a partial achievement, securing tranquility between Israel and Egypt but failing to tackle the Palestinian dilemma, which, due to the Gaza conflict, has once again emerged as a pressing international issue. For over a year, the fighting has served as a continual reminder of the limitations of American – and Biden’s – authority.
The US was unsuccessful in preventing the conflict from escalating into Lebanon and involving, for the first time, direct confrontations between Iran and Israel. The latter, America’s closest ally in the area, has repeatedly seemed to dismiss Biden’s advice and pursued a more belligerent course independently.
Biden has also faced the task of managing a strained relationship with a rising China, whose current global position owes much to Carter’s choice to normalize relations with the nation in 1979.
That pivotal moment charted a path for the country to emerge as a significant economic and military power – ultimately resulting in the geopolitical rivalry with the US that Mr. Biden has had to navigate.
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President Carter facilitated the Camp David Accords which resulted in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty
International crises often extend into domestic issues as well, and forty years ago Carter encountered environmental and energy dilemmas partly fueled by unrest overseas.
Though the present danger of global climate change differs from the Middle East oil embargo that Carter confronted, numerous elements of his policy strategies—such as conservation, a shift to renewable resources, and government investment—formed the foundation of the environmental initiative Biden assisted in navigating through Congress in 2022.
The haunting concern of uncontrolled inflation recently experienced by the US also calls to mind the Carter era. The rapid increases in consumer prices during the initial two years of Biden’s administration, exacerbated by the shock of the global Covid crisis and the conflict in Ukraine, served as a reminder of the bleak times of the late 1970s.
A significant distinction was that, in contrast to Carter’s predicament, employment growth remained solid and the US economy, barring one quarter, has continued to expand. Nonetheless, this fact may provide little solace to Biden, whose popularity has yet to rebound from the public discontent related to inflation.
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Carter was the longest-living leader, reaching the age of 98.
Carter was also among the initial contemporary US presidents to confront an issue that has evolved into a critical political truth for every succeeding leader — the pervasive distrust of the US government and its institutions by the American populace.
In a speech from July 1979, Carter described it as a “crisis of confidence”.
“Our citizens are losing faith, not only in the government itself but also in their capacity as citizens to act as the ultimate leaders and architects of our democracy,” he commented.
Public confidence in his administration to act in the right manner at least “most of the time” was at 34% when he commenced his presidency, plummeting to 27% by March 1980, based on data from the Pew Research Center. That figure has only surpassed 50% once since Carter’s tenure—with the spike occurring in the month following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
At one point, it may have appeared that the public’s low regard during the Carter era was a simple effect of the residual impacts of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, when net approval figures first slid into negative numbers.
Watch: Joe Biden honors Jimmy Carter
The truth, however, is that skepticism towards government has become a constant aspect of American political life. Under Donald Trump, the proportion of citizens believing the government would frequently act rightly lingered in the higher teens. Biden was unable to alter this pattern during his administration—an aspect that Trump exploited against the individual who overcame him in his relentless bid to reclaim the White House.
It’s hard to ignore the parallels between Carter and the most recent single-term president, Biden.
This is a comparison frequently invited by twice-elected Trump. His political beliefs were solidified in the 1970s and 1980s, and he occasionally invokes Carter’s name to provoke Democrats.
“I notice everyone is comparing Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter,” Trump commented in one of his tweet-like press statements in 2021. “It seems to me this is quite unjust to Jimmy Carter. Jimmy mismanaged one crisis after another, while Biden has engineered crisis after crisis.”
Carter himself did not remain quiet about the 45th president, expressing to the Washington Post that Trump was a failure “in human rights, in caring for people, and in treating individuals fairly.”
At the very minimum, the two present an intriguing distinction. Both were political novices who achieved their presidential terms against significant challenges. Both encountered difficulties with insider political dynamics in Washington.
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After exiting the White House, President Carter dedicated his time to volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and establishing the Carter Center
Carter aimed to fulfill his duties in the White House with modesty. He donned cardigan sweaters, handled his own luggage on Air Force One, and forbade the presidential hymn Hail to the Chief from being played upon his entrance. Trump appeared to take pleasure in the pomp and prestige of power, from extravagant Fourth of July events to utilizing Air Force One as a setting for his re-election rallies.
Moreover, there is the aspect of life after the presidency—or, in Trump’s case, a presidential hiatus. Following his re-election defeat, Carter returned to his modest two-bedroom residence in Plains, Georgia. He distanced himself from domestic politics and engaged in charitable work with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. He initiated the Carter Center, aimed at addressing global health issues, advocating for human rights, and serving as an impartial observer for democratic elections. In 2002, he received a Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump concentrated on contesting his 2020 election loss and laying the groundwork for his 2024 presidential bid immediately after leaving office. His electoral victory and the now-looming return to the White House was a scenario that Carter never publicly entertained, as he decisively shut the door behind him upon exiting office.
Carter was merely 56 years old upon his exit from the White House, and his obituaries highlight as much his achievements post-presidency as those during his time in office. They also reflect the transformations America has undergone over four decades—and the aspects that have remained unchanged.
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