39 - James Carter

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39 - James Carter

1cyderry
Editado: Jun 15, 2009, 8:36 pm

Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency
lindapanzo




Election Carter (297 electoral votes) vs. Ford (240)

Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital.
Carter was one of three presidents to attend a military academy. He went to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Jimmy Carter is a speed reader. He has been recorded reading 2000 words per minute.
Carter studied nuclear physics at Annapolis.
In 1953 he returned to Georgia to take over the family peanut farm. He improved production and became a millionaire in the peanut industry by 1979.
Carter was the first president sworn in using his nickname, Jimmy.
He was the first president to send his mother on a diplomatic mission.
When he conducted the first presidential phone-in, over nine million people tried to call.

2lindapanzo
Editado: Jul 15, 2009, 1:31 pm

Somehow, I've managed to read two biographies of Carter. Of the two, I preferred the Bourne book over the Kaufman book.

Peter Bourne wrote Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography from Plains to Post-Presidency. This is roughly 500 to 600 pages. As its title indicates, it is comprehensive.

The other one I read focused more on Carter's presidency. Burton Kaufman's book is The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. Around 300 pages or so.

After reading these two, I doubt I'll read anymore Carter bios anytime soon.

3lindapanzo
Jul 15, 2009, 1:30 pm

I read about this one in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. Though I'm committed to reading the presidential bios in order, I have moved this one up to the near-term TBR pile.

What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?': Jimmy Carter, America's 'Malaise,' and the Speech that Should Have Changed the Country by Kevin Mattson.

This is the book about Carter's "Malaise speech." Today is the 30th anniversary of that speech.

4varielle
Jun 14, 2013, 9:07 am

I just finished Jimmy Carter's book Our Endangered Values. It was written seven years ago and is his take on the invasion of government by religious right wingers. Very disturbing and unfortunately things have gotten worse. He reflects on his presidency and how he upheld laws that were not in keeping with his religious beliefs because that was what he was sworn to do. I will have to digest this one a little more. Mr. Carter reminds me of that fictional character Ned Stark, an honorable man, but when you are surrounded by those who have not an ounce of honor among them they tend to eat your lunch and then some.

5ccarson
Jun 20, 2013, 10:16 am

The best two books on Carter, to date, that I've read include Douglas Brinkley's The Unfinished Presidency and President Carter's book Turning Point. Carter has set the standard for what it means to be a productive, if not controversial (at times), ex-President.

6Garp83
Jun 20, 2013, 3:04 pm

I think much more of Carter in retrospect than I did during his Presidency. It was unfortunate that he became paralyzed by the Iranian Hostage Crisis, because much of his other endeavors as POTUS are quite admirable. Still, if had not been for the Ted Kennedy challenge and the Jon Anderson run, he would have surely been re-elected.

7drneutron
Mar 25, 2015, 11:58 am

Finished Jimmy Carter by Julian E. Zelizer from The American Presidents series. He clearly sees Carter's presidency as a failed one. Some interesting thoughts, but because of the series format, nowhere detailed enough.

8swimmergirl1
Editado: Fev 11, 2018, 11:53 am

Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography From Plains to Post Prsidency by Peter G. Bourne.

He accomplished so much more after his presidency and was a true humanitarian. All ex-presidents should devote themselves to such "good works".

9Hamburgerclan
Editado: Fev 20, 2022, 9:29 pm

His Very Best
by Jonathan Alter

Jimmy Carter is a man I did not respect when he was president. Of course, I was in high school at the time and was foolishly following the fashion of disrespecting authority. After his presidency and my adolescence, the more I heard about the man, the more I grew to like and respect him. But overall, I really didn't know all that much about him. So I was looking forward to getting to his biography and filling in the gaps in my knowledge.

Mr. Alter tells the tale of a hard working perfectionist. The appeal of that protagonist--at least for me--varied as Carter's life unfolded. As a kid growing up as a working class farmer, and as a young man attending the Naval Academy and serving in the Navy after World War II, Carter was likable. When he returned to civilian life to run the family business, his appeal dimmed. A big reason for that was his inaction while the Civil Rights movement came to his backyard. His early political career was likewise tarnished, up until the point he was elected governor and surprised everyone by announcing that "the time for racial discrimination is over." (Mr. Alter puts forth the theory that Carter's later work for human rights stem is fueled by his regret for not doing more for civil rights back in the day.)

As president, Jimmy Carter is portrayed as a political outsider who is bit too idealistic and ends up failing to make the compromises necessary to better achieve his goals. Of course, some things that plagued his administration, such as the economy or the Iran Hostage Crisis, were not of his making, and would have caused grief for any president. On the positive side, Mr. Alter makes case after case of things that Carter did accomplish which lacked immediate impact, but set the stage for later benefits. Sometimes his logic is a bit of a stretch, but that's bound to happen when folks are trying to interpret history.

All in all, the portrait of Jimmy Carter in His Very Best is one of an exemplary man who could be a quite annoying at times.