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President, Peanut Farmer and Sunday School Teacher
J
ames Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President
of the United States, was born on Octo-
ber 1, 1924 in the tiny town of Plains,
Georgia. His father, James, Sr., was a
farmer and businessman, and his mother,
Lillian Gordy Carter, was a registered
nurse.
Jimmy was educated in the public school
of Plains, attended Georgia Southwestern
College and the Georgia Institute of Tech-
nology, and received a Bachelor of Science
degree from the United States Naval Acad-
emy in 1946. On July 7th of that year, he
married his childhood sweetheart, Rosalynn
Smith of Plains.
In the Navy, he became a submariner,
serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific
fleets and rising to the rank of lieutenant.
Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the
nuclear submarine program, he was
assigned to Schenectady, New York, where
he did graduate work at Union College in
reactor technology and nuclear physics
while serving as senior officer of the pre-
commissioning crew of the Seawolf.
When his father died in 1953, he resigned
his naval commission and returned with his
family to Georgia. He took over the Carter
farms, and he and Rosalynn operated
Carter’s Warehouse, a general-purpose seed
and farm supply company located in Plains.
He soon became a leader of the communi-
ty, serving on county boards supervising
education, the hospital authority, and the
library. In 1962 he entered politics, winning
election to the Georgia Senate, before
becoming Georgia’s 76th governor on Janu-
ary 12, 1971.
Jimmy Carter was inaugurated President
of the United States on January 20, 1977.
Significant foreign policy accomplishments
of his administration included the Panama
Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the
treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel,
the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union,
and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic
relations with the People’s Republic of
China.
On the domestic side, the administration’s
achievements included a
comprehensive energy pro-
gram conducted by a new
Department of Energy; dereg-
ulation in energy, transporta-
tion, communications, and
finance; major educational
programs under a new
Department of Education;
and major environmental pro-
tection legislation, including
the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act.
While in office, he also championed human
rights throughout the world.
In 1982, he became University Distin-
guished Professor at Emory University in
Atlanta, Georgia, and founded The Carter
Center to engage in conflict mediation all
over the world. In addition, the Center has
monitored 83 elections in the Americas,
Africa, and Asia.
The permanent facilities of The Carter
Presidential Center include the Jimmy
Carter Library and Museum, administered
by the National Archives. The Jimmy Carter
National Historic Site in Plains, adminis-
tered by the National Park Service, is open
to visitors, too.
Jimmy and Rosalynn volunteer for Habi-
tat for Humanity annually, helping needy
people renovate and build homes. And on
the Sabbath, they teach Sunday school at
Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains.
For relaxation, President Carter enjoys
fly-fishing, woodworking and swimming.
The Carters have three sons, one daughter,
nine grandsons, three granddaughters, two
great-grandsons, and four great-grand-
daughters.
In 2002, President Carter was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untir-
ing effort to find peaceful solutions to inter-
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
national conflicts, to advance democracy
and human rights, and to promote econom-
ic and social development.” The author of
25 books, here, he talks about his latest,
NIV Lessons from Life Bible.
Kam Williams: Hi President Carter, I’m
really honored to have another opportunity
to speak with you.
President Carter: It’s a pleasure for me,
too, Kam. Thank you!
KW: Editor/legist Patricia Turnier asks:
What message do you think people will take
away from the Lessons from Life Bible?
JC: I think that what people will get out
of these comments in the Bible, and also out
of my previous book [Through the Year
with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations
from the 39th President] is how pertinent,
how important and how applicable the
ancient texts are to our modern-day life.
That’s what I try to emphasize in all my
Sunday school lessons when I teach at
Maranatha Baptist Church. So, I think the
main message to remember is that we must
accommodate changing times while cling-
ing to unchanging moral values. That’s why
I say the aim is to apply the text to modern-
day life.
as helping to preserve the
peace. And I felt the same
way when I was president.
As a matter of fact,
although we had some terri-
ble challenges and tempta-
tions when I was in office,
we never dropped a
bomb… we never launched
a missile… and we never
fired a bullet. I think that
one of the main require-
ments for a strong military,
like a strong submarine
force, is to prevent war, not
to cause war.
President Jimmy Carter
KW: Larry Greenberg says: It seems like
we are at a point now where books are mov-
ing from bound paper to digital media. How
will this impact the study and reverence for
the Bible?
JC: You can already download any of the
religious texts onto electronic mechanisms
like a Kindle. But I think many people pre-
fer to hold a book in their hands. We recent-
ly gave my daughter Amy a new electronic
device, but since she used to work in a
library, she still insists on reading exclu-
sively from books. I take my Bible with me
to church every Sunday to teach the Bible
lesson. I do that whenever I’m in Plains, oh,
about 35 to 40 times a year. So, I think that
for many people, particularly when reading
Holy Scriptures, a Bible you can hold in
your hands is most appropriate.
haven’t made the jump to reading books
electronically.
JC: [Chuckles] I can understand that.
KW: I still prefer the touch of paper. I still
See CARTER on page 7
KW: Troy John asks: Do you see any par-
allels between the lead-up to the 1980 Pres-
idential Election and the 2012 campaign?
JC: Not really. Back in those days, we
didn’t have massive sums of money pouring
in. We never ran any negative advertise-
ments. I always referred to President Ford
during the 1976 campaign as “my distin-
guished opponent.” That was all. And I
behaved the same way as an incumbent,
when Ronald Reagan ran against me in
1980. And the amount of money we raised
against each other from special interest
groups and from lobbyists for the general
election was zero. Neither President Ford,
KW: Patricia also asks: Are you interest-
ed in writing a memoir focusing on your
more recent accomplishments?
JC: I’ve already written a book about my
more recent accomplishments. It’s called
Beyond the White House.
KW: Leon Marquis says:
You have done more good
after leaving office than any
other United States President,
from traveling the world, to
certifying free and open elec-
tions, to working with Habitat
for Humanity, to traveling to
North Korea. You have
become the “Soul of Ameri-
can Diplomacy.” My question
is: Why can’t the other ex-
presidents get it right?
JC: Well, I wouldn’t say they’re wrong,
Leon, because each one of us is an individ-
ual, just like talk show hosts are different
from one another, and newspaper colum-
nists are different from each other. So, for-
mer presidents are different from each
other, too. Some have gone into relative
seclusion. Some have decided to teach. In
fact, I’m finishing my 30th year as a profes-
sor at Emory University. I’ve found it very
enjoyable and very beneficial to me to keep
active. But I wouldn’t criticize any presi-
dent who has chosen to take a different
route.
The “NIV
Lessons from
Life Bible”
Interview
KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles asks: Is
there a personal moral tension between
being a good Christian and being a good
Commander of a nuclear submarine?
How can an officer—especially one of
great faith—reconcile being asked to lead
troops into battle with the Fifth Command-
ment: Thou Shalt Not Kill?
JC: The most important Bible teaching
that I remembered when I was in the Navy
and when I was Commander-in-Chief, was
that we worshipped The Prince of Peace.
Jesus Christ is The Prince of Peace. So, I
considered myself, as a submarine officer,
May 23, 2012
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