Jimmy Carter鈥檚 century: A spirit of community softens Georgia鈥檚 political rifts
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Patrik Jonsson Staff writer
| PLAINS, Ga.
The porch where former President Jimmy Carter has spent countless holidays and family milestones here in Southwest Georgia is wrapped with wisteria boughs that shade a 鈥淲elcome to Our Porch鈥� sign.
Next door, a former boarding house where the iconic Democratic president鈥檚 parents lived as a young couple a century ago also has a porch where visitors can sit for a spell.
The fact that one yard has 鈥淗arris-Walz鈥� signs and the next one over has a 鈥淢AGA 2024鈥� sign captures the current American political zeitgeist. In 2020, 52% of Sumter County voters chose聽Democrat聽Joe Biden; 47%聽wanted to reelect Republican聽President Donald Trump.聽As Mr. Carter became a global icon, his home state became a battleground.
Why We Wrote This
Plains is a politically divided town in the battleground state of Georgia. But the ethos of a peacemaker president is tangible on front porches here.
But step onto either porch, and the spirit of 鈥淯ncle Jimmy鈥� as diplomat and peacemaker still presides.
鈥淗e is a blessing for this town, this state, and this whole world,鈥� says Lisa Ragusa, who owns the house with the pro-Trump sign. 鈥淗e showed us that humanitarianism is important.鈥澛犅�
As Jimmy Carter prepares to celebrate his centennial at his low, white rambler nearby, citizens in his hometown of Plains gathered on Saturday for the annual peanut festival 鈥� one of several events to honor the only聽U.S. president ever to reach the 100-year milestone.聽
The former president, a Navy veteran who opposed racial segregation and pursued a national energy policy and disarmament, has been living quietly at home for more than a year.
On Saturday, folks took a few moments to sing 鈥淗appy Birthday鈥� to Mr. Carter. Two men wearing Trump election regalia were among the loudest belting out the tune.
The Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in St. Marys, Georgia, sent a large framed photograph of Mr. Carter as a young sailor, signed with well wishes. When Kim Carter Fuller, one of his relatives and the current teacher of his former Sunday School class, showed two staunch local conservatives the gift, both teared up.
鈥淐arter is not a saint 鈥� no politician is a saint 鈥� and he鈥檚 not really all that humble either,鈥� says Jonathan Alter, the New Jersey-based author of 鈥淗is Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life.鈥� 鈥淏ut Carter shows you can be a person of great decency and integrity and use your example and grit to change the world.鈥�
鈥淎 Baptist preacher to run the Hells Angels鈥�
Mr. Carter can look back from his Oct. 1 birthday on a remarkable, polymathic life.聽聽
But his centennial also comes at a time when his legacy is being more closely studied.聽
Mr. Carter鈥檚 term in Washington is still under debate. Despite his status as a former president, he wasn鈥檛 invited to the podium during the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver.聽
When he took the reins in Washington, it 鈥渨as like sending a Baptist preacher to run the Hells Angels [motorcycle club],鈥� says Ms. Fuller鈥檚 husband, Mark. 鈥淚t ain鈥檛 gonna work.鈥�
Setbacks overshadowed accomplishments like civil service reform and natural gas deregulation. The Iran hostage crisis, perhaps the greatest challenge of his presidency, along with inflation and high energy prices, soured the country鈥檚 mood.
Mr. Carter鈥檚 coalition crumbled. He lost the Jewish vote because of his support for a Palestinian homeland and opposition to new settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories. He lost the evangelical vote after he opposed tax breaks for the largely white private schools that cropped up throughout the South after integration.
鈥淗e was a very unusual president, and he was actually a pretty consequential president,鈥� says Kai Bird, whose book 鈥淭he Outlier鈥� documents Mr. Carter鈥檚 lasting impacts.聽
鈥淗e put human rights as a central founding block of our whole foreign policy, and no president since then has been able to walk away from that idea,鈥欌�� Mr. Bird says. 鈥淏y talking about human rights and putting pressure on dictatorial regimes, he changed the world.鈥�
From 鈥淧eewee鈥� to peacemaker
For many Georgians, Mr. Carter remains both enigmatic and relevant.聽
Born into the Jim Crow South and known as 鈥淧eewee鈥� as a boy, he played barefoot with Black friends in the cotton fields of Archery, Georgia. He has held dozens of titles, from president to door-to-door missionary, from college professor to master woodworker.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 about the effort, it鈥檚 about the self-mastery, and the legitimate pride he takes in the work,鈥� says Mr. Alter, the biographer.聽 聽
In the 1970s, Mr. Carter broke from Plains Baptist Church after it blocked a Black preacher from taking the pulpit. He and his wife, Rosalynn, later joined Maranatha, a new church with an integrated congregation. Over the years, Mr. Carter鈥檚 Sunday School sermons became a magnet for admirers.聽
Ms. Fuller remembers one session after she took over the class. Mr. Carter was in attendance as she discussed Moses and the burning bush, a story set in a biblical region called Midian. Mr. Carter raised his hand.聽
鈥淯ncle Jimmy, you don鈥檛 have to raise your hand,鈥� she said. He then enthralled the group with a story of his visit to Midian.聽
After his presidency, he returned to his home here, a source of strength for him. But Plains is also a reminder that America is at a crossroads.
Grandson Jason Carter has told multiple interviewers that his grandfather hoped to live long enough to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
Pilgrimage to Plains
John Tompkins, a registered Republican and self-described political junkie, counts former President George H.W. Bush and Mr. Carter 鈥� both one-termers 鈥� as his favorite presidents, largely for the way that they stayed true to themselves.
Mr. Tompkins made a pilgrimage here from Vero Beach, Florida, on Saturday.
A collector, Mr. Tompkins owns a rare signed copy of Mr. Carter鈥檚 鈥淐risis of Confidence鈥� speech, where he reminded the country: 鈥淎ll the legislation in the world can鈥檛 fix what鈥檚 wrong with America. What is lacking is confidence and a sense of community.鈥�
The following year, American voters sent Mr. Carter home and Ronald Reagan to the White House.
It 鈥渆xplains in many ways how we got to where we are today,鈥� says Mr. Tompkins.
But Mr. Carter鈥檚 real accomplishment at his century mark seems equally reflected in the dueling porches across the street, which ask visitors to consider that differences don鈥檛 have to divide 鈥� or alienate 鈥� a community of friends or strangers.聽聽
鈥淐arter reminds us that people really don鈥檛 want to despise each other,鈥� says Mr. Tompkins. 鈥淭hey want to give each other their due.鈥�
