Happy birthday, Mr. President
Former POTUS Carter has led an exemplary life
Birthdays of former presidents of the U.S. of A. don’t usually give me pause to say something about them.
I am going to make an exception today, which happens to be the 97th birthday of the longest-living former POTUS, James Earl Carter.
President Carter served a single term as commander in chief. He lost his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. That was in 1980. He stayed in office until Jan. 20, 1981, which makes him the longest living former president since the day he left office. He has been out of office for more than 40 years.
Yes, historians have been unkind to the former president. However, I am not going to climb aboard that historical hay wagon and pile on. I want to point out a couple of things about the Carter presidency.
He joined the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in hammering out the peace accord between those two ancient enemy states; the accord is as strong today as ever.
He also spoke openly, passionately and sincerely about the need to place human rights at the forefront of U.S. policy, both foreign and domestic.
These are two major pluses I get from the Carter presidency.
Yes, there was the hostage crisis that plagued him for his entire final full year in office. The Iranians released the hostages almost at the moment that President Reagan took office.
But all told, President Carter has been an honorable, peaceful man who has led a constructive life since leaving the White House. He has built homes for needy people around the world, has monitored elections to ensure they are conducted freely, fairly and legally, and he has taught Sunday school at his Georgia church almost weekly.
This is a good and honorable man who has been married to the love of his life for more than 70 years.
Happy birthday, Mr. President.
johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com