Jimmy Carter … a century of service and conviction 
Former US President Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the US from January 1977 to January 1981, passed away on Dec. 29, 2024. Carter died at the remarkable age of 100, having been born on Oct. 1, 1924.
Carter’s life offers valuable lessons in public service and political leadership. His career demonstrates that a politician’s influence extends far beyond their time in office, as evidenced by his long legacy of public service compared with his four years in the White House. His life exemplifies the importance of thorough preparation for public office.
After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946, Carter’s career took a pivotal turn that would shape his political future. As a naval officer, he witnessed the military’s transformation into the nuclear age, serving during the navy’s pioneering development of nuclear-powered vessels and missile systems.
In 1953, following his father’s death, Carter made the decisive choice to resign his commission and return to Georgia, taking the helm of his family’s peanut farming business. This return to his southern roots would prove crucial to his political ascent.
His success in Georgia politics stemmed from a powerful combination: building a loyal grassroots following while maintaining the courage to challenge the status quo. During his eight years in the Georgia State Senate (1962-1970), Carter emerged as a progressive voice advocating for the end of racial segregation, which he condemned as unconstitutional and morally wrong.
Carter’s political influence reached new heights with his election as Georgia’s governor, serving from 1971 to 1975. He cultivated an image as a Washington outsider, frequently highlighting that he had never met a Democratic president during his governorship.
His successful 1976 presidential campaign resonated with an American public hungry for moral leadership. His promise to restore ethical governance to the White House, reinforced by his visible devotion as a Baptist church deacon, struck a chord with voters who chose him over incumbent Gerald Ford.
In office, Carter transformed human rights advocacy into a diplomatic priority, particularly confronting Communist bloc violations. His administration’s support for imprisoned Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov — creator of the Soviet H-bomb and later dissident — exemplified this new approach.
His domestic achievements included deregulating aviation, establishing the departments of education and energy, and installing the first solar panels on the White House.
Carter’s most enduring impact lies in his ambitious foreign policy agenda. Before taking office, his administration began with a bold vision, gathering at the Smithsonian Institution to chart a course for a new world order. These early idealistic ambitions, however, soon collided with the harsh realities of global politics.
Carter’s presidency faced mounting pressures on multiple fronts. At home, he weathered fierce criticism over the Panama Canal Treaties, which ceded control to Panama. But it was the dramatic fall of the Shah in February 1979 that sparked a series of escalating crises. The subsequent seizure of American hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran, coupled with the disastrous rescue mission in April 1980, dealt severe blows to his administration’s credibility and effectiveness.
During the final months of Carter’s presidency, Poland’s Solidarity labor movement emerged as a bold challenge to Communist rule in that country. However, this democratic uprising failed to deter the Soviets from maintaining their grip on Afghanistan after their invasion of Kabul in late 1979.
Notably, Carter established the “Carter Doctrine” on Jan. 23, 1980, declaring that any assault on the Gulf region would be considered an attack on vital US interests.
Remarkably, many issues his administration faced with China, Somalia, Nicaragua, Iran and Afghanistan continue to challenge US presidents today.
Carter transformed the role of former president into that of global humanitarian. Through the Carter Center, he tackled disease prevention worldwide, while personally swinging hammers alongside volunteers building homes for the poor. These efforts culminated in the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.
A prolific author, Carter penned numerous books and articles on a range of topics, from aging gracefully to American values.
However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained a central focus of his post-presidential work. Despite brokering the historic Camp David Accords in September 1978 and the subsequent Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in March 1979, in his later years he emerged as a pointed critic of Israeli policies, most notably in his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
As scholars continue to reexamine Carter’s White House years, a more favorable and complex picture is emerging of his presidency. Even in his advanced years, Carter remained actively engaged in public service.
American historian Douglas Brinkley perhaps best captured Carter’s extraordinary life in the title of his biography, “The Unfinished Presidency,” acknowledging that Carter’s true legacy transcended his four years in office.
• Dr. Abdulaziz Turkistani is a former Saudi ambassador to Japan. @aziizturk
