History has an interesting way of softening the hard edges of a past president’s term of office. Time, combined with more information coming to light as well as a more complete verdict re: the long-term impacts, good and bad, of policies will do that. As such, the placement along the scale of best to worst of those who sat in the Oval Office is always shifting.
But 39th President James Earl Carter, Jr., who passed away at age 100, is a presidency difficult to encapsulate. Peruse the media obituaries and a common theme will no doubt emerge. That he was a man of personal character and decency, the “real deal.” Indeed, his will be hailed as “the ideal former-presidency” given his image of skating above politics and keeping his focus on initiatives more beneficial to mankind, whether it be building a house for the poor or monitoring elections abroad. It will be said of him that he lived out his Christian virtues staying faithful to the same woman for 77 years.
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