Jimmy Carter the greatest ex president, thoughts?

[Sea Turtle]

We focus, rightly so, on who will be or who was a great or terrible president, but not so much in real world impact after they leave office.

Carter certainly had a rough go of things while he was in office for one reason or another. But, since he has left office, he has had a really great run of unifying people from all political persuasions to join together the help fellow Americans and many around the world.

If you ask most anyone what good has Carter done since leaving office, mostly people could easily point to Habitat for Humanity or one of his disease eradication programs.

Can people so clearly and easily point to good any others have done after leaving office? I am not just talking the current crop of other living presidents, but all 44 of them.

Thoughts?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Carter seems to be the most admirable of ex-presidents.

Most of them get involved in foundations or charities of some kind after they leave office but it's only been in recent years that we have enough living ex-presidents to observe what they do after they've left the WH. In the old days they mostly didn't live long enough afterwards. Bill Clinton has been working with their foundation. Obama has been writing, and helped produce an Oscar-winning documentary. W has been holed up somewhere in Texas working on his oil paintings, but it's fine with me if we don't see much of him. Nixon also laid low after he resigned. Carter's work with Habitat for Humanity is particularly notable; he's probably one of the best people even if his presidency wasn't the greatest.

[kentuck]

2. Considering what Jimmy inherited, I do not think he was a "bad President".

After all, we were coming out of the Watergate crisis and distrust in government. The Vietnam War had ended and we were left with the huge debt from the war. We had the first oil embargo just before he took over, which accelerated the problem with inflation. (Remember the WIN buttons under Ford)

People were looking for an honest President. Under the circumstances, I think Jimmy did very well.

Just my opinion.

[lastlib]

3. Eight of them didn't leave office standing up.

Woodrow Wilson was partially paralyzed on his left side when he left office, though he did continue to write some after his term ended.

Off-hand, I cannot think of any ex-presidents who have done more good for the world as a whole than Jimmy Carter--the recipient of my first vote for president.

[Sea Turtle]

4. Difficult to express

How much I admire him for reaching out to people from all walks of life and political persuasions, and getting them to join him in a cause for good. That is an amazing leaders ability.

We could spend a lot of time debating both how challenging and how successful his presidency was. But I don’t think there can be a lot of debate about his real world impact for good after he left office. He has worked really hard for over 40 years to get people engaged in a way that has really changed the lives of a lot of people—both on the receiving and the giving end. It changes a person when they start to serve their fellow man and make a positive difference in the lives of others.

I think we are all created to live for more than just ourselves. Carter has created a mechanism to help people engage in that destiny. Our country and world—and many many people are better because of him.

[blueinredohio]

5. I love Jimmy Carter. The first time I voted was for him.

I don't know about being the best president but he most certainly was the most moral.

[Sea Turtle]

6. Agreed

I don’t think anyone on either side of the aisle matches or surpasses Carter. Obama is certainly a dedicated family man. We will see how he spends the next 40 years post presidency and if he catches up to Carter. Year after year, Carter has continued to quietly poor out his life for his fellow man.

For his lifetime of serving, I think he is uniquely respected on both the extreme left and extreme right and everything in between. He has successfully got people of all political persuasions to enthusiastically serve alongside of him. That is a modern miracle.

[lark]

7. Saint Jimmy!

Seriously, no other president has ever made half of the impact for good than Carter - he is simply the best by any measurement of helping people without many resources improve their lives.

[First Speaker]

8. He and John Quincy Adams...

...both very good men who were not particularly good Presidents. Adams spent his last years in the House, fighting slavery to the very end. He was also the only man ever to work with both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln...