Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States who put southern culture in the national spotlight for four years and later became perhaps the most popular former president in our lifetimes, passed away Sunday, according to a statement from The Carter Center in Atlanta.
Carter was 100 years old, the first ex-president to live that long.
His time in office, even in its best light, can be described as complicated.
The biggest achievement for President Carter -- and so far an enduring one -- came when he brokered the peace deal between Egyptian and Israeli leaders at Camp David in 1978.
But those were also the days of the "misery index" references and stagflation back when most economists had not previously believed we could have rising unemployment and inflation at the same time (the two indicators typically have an inverse relationship).
The 444-day Iran hostage crisis probably sealed Carter's fate against Ronald Reagan in 1980. Among controversial policy moves include the Carter administration's giving up control of the Panama Canal.
You might even hear that one debated over the coming months.
It was in the character category where Carter's approval soared. He served in the Navy and worked his family's peanut farm in Plains, Ga. before he got into politics. Later, Carter spent his post-presidency building homes with Habitat for Humanity, monitoring elections, advancing public health, negotiating ceasefires and teaching Sunday school in Plains with Rosalynn, his wife of 77 years.
And let me say that my photos in Facebook feed are a testament to the Carters' ability to get unlikely friends through the doors of a church.
In 2015, when Carter was 91 and remarkably active, he spoke with The Associated Press about the future for himself and Rosalynn, who died last November:
“Like every other human being, we also have to be prepared for the end of our life when it comes. We’re not looking forward to it, but we are prepared to face it when it comes.”
