The first election I was eligible to vote in was in 1976 and I voted for Jimmy Carter. He represented a new way forward in politics and a rejection of the stale politics of Nixon and Ford. He was youthful and optimistic and gave the younger generation a new hope. He wasn’t perfect but I always felt he was sincere and honest.
He put a solar water heater on top of the White House in an attempt to show how we could move away from fossil fuels (I still remember the long lines to get gas in 1973 due to the Arab Oil Embargo and that was in Houston). He worked to pass lots of great environmental legislation including protecting the Alaska wilderness and expanding public lands and parks.
He tried to steer American foreign policy to include human rights and basic morality in its implementation. He pardoned the Vietnam draft protesters. He was a Christian who never used his religion to oppress or deny others their basic rights. He rejected the segregationists in the South that helped elect him. He created a lasting peace in the Middle East between Egypt and Israel.
Sadly, America decided to return to the same old tired politics of power and money after his first and only term.
Upon leaving office, he didn’t spend his time fundraising and selling books. He set up the Carter Center to help promote democracy around the world. He worked to end diseases and poverty around the world, including eradicating the awful dracunculiasis (guinea worm). And as most who know him now, worked tirelessly with his wife Rosalynn to build homes for the poor and bring recognition to the Habitat for Humanity organization.
Jimmy and Rosalynn made America a better place.