This obituary for former US President Jimmy Carter highlights his unexpected rise to power, his commitment to civil rights, his successes as a peace broker, and the challenges he faced during his presidency. It also notes his enduring legacy as a man of principle and integrity.
Jimmy Carter obituary: Former US president was unwavering champion of civil rights and a peace broker in the Middle East
From then on, however, he was an unwavering champion of civil rights, and his presidential bid attracted some 85 per cent support from the black community. The early death of his father saw his return to the family business and a gradual immersion in the Democratic politics of Georgia. Although opposed to segregation – as a member of the Baptist Church he spoke openly against racism and attempts to segregate worship – he tempered his approach when he ran for office, even courting the arch-segregationist Wallace vote.
Carter was actively engaged on the world stage, from day one, hoping above all to broker peace in the Middle East. He invited Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to the presidential lodge Camp David in September 1978 with the negotiations resulting in an end to the state of war between the two countries, Egypt formally recognising Israel for the first time, and the creation of an elected government in the West Bank and Gaza.
President Jimmy Carter is congratulated by Senator Robert Drinan and presidential candidate senator Ted Kennedy after giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention, New York, August 1980. Photograph: David Hume Kennerly/Getty “The precedent created by Carter has facilitated the enormous involvement in Ireland of his successors,” Ireland’s then-ambassador to the US, Sean Donlon, has written.
His administration established the department of energy and the department of education. He also created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. He installed solar water heating panels on the White House and wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat.
After leaving the White House, he became an activist former president, ploughing a largely solitary but effective furrow. In the view of many it is his retirement that will be seen as his singular legacy.
JIMMY CARTER US PRESIDENT CIVIL RIGHTS PEACE MIDDLE EAST
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