Jimmy Carter, who has died aged 100, once famously said that “I am a better ex-president than I was a president.” It was a typically self-deprecating and charming comment, but also one that wasn’t true. His White House years have been reassessed several times over the decades and many former critics have come to view them with more benevolent eyes than they did in the 1980s.
He won the 1976 election, beating incumbent Gerald Ford, despite entering the presidential race as a little-known former governor from Georgia. Ford had presided over America’s months-long bicentennial celebrations earlier that year and later remarked that the “nation’s wounds had healed” in the act of marking the country’s 200th anniversary. In truth, the scar tissue left by the humiliating retreat from Vietnam and the scandal of Watergate was still very evident in US society.
As Carter’s campaign gathered pace through the autumn, it helped in that febrile moment that he was a Washington outsider and, perhaps, the world's most famous former peanut farmer. He carried the popular vote by the narrowest margin, winning 50.1 per cent of the ballot.
His four years in office delivered key diplomatic wins, notably the Camp David Accords, a regional peace deal between Egypt and Israel, and the Salt-II treaty with the Soviet Union to set limitations on nuclear weapons. He was also an early champion of renewables during the energy crisis of the 1970s, placing him decades ahead of his time, and an honest and compassionate leader who sought consensus in government and progressive change in society.
Above all, he exuded the type of dignified and calm leadership people so often yearn for in politicians today, but ultimately, foreign and domestic woes would hasten his departure from Washington DC in 1981.
The US economy stagnated in the late 1970s, which he tried and failed to fix through Congress, but the 39th president was almost certainly undone by the long-running hostage crisis in Tehran and the unsuccessful mission to rescue the 52 Americans held captive by revolutionaries who had earlier stormed the US embassy in Iran.
Above all, he exuded the type of dignified and calm leadership people so often yearn for in politicians today
The power of Ronald Reagan’s charismatic campaign to “make America great again” at home and abroad swept Carter out of office after a single term. Reagan won 44 of the 50 states in the 1980 election with a little under 51 per cent of the popular vote, while the hostages were eventually released minutes after he was sworn into office in January 1981.
After leaving the White House, it would have been easy for Carter to retreat from public life rather than rush towards it, which he did, with vigour.
Carter Centre work
The Carter Centre, which he co-founded in 1982 with his wife Rosalynn, became the hub for his four decades of work following his four years in DC.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and led the centre’s work with energy and purpose.
It is hard to put a number on how many people the Carter Centre has helped since it was established. Its peace programmes have monitored more than 100 elections in 39 countries. The centre works ceaselessly on conflict resolution.
Its health programme has led the fight to eliminate preventable diseases, including Guinea worm and river blindness. The centre’s mental health programme has improved access to treatment, and its mental health journalism fellowship scheme has trained and supported reporters and editors around the world on how to report fairly and accurately in that field.
The National is the Carter Centre’s country partner in mental health journalism in the UAE and it has been my honour to administer the fellowship programme in the Emirates for the past six years.
Carter led a life of devoted service and leaves an enduring legacy.
Long into his nineties, he exhibited a clarity of thought and expression that many of us struggle to find even in our best moments.
The last time I saw him speak was at the Carter Centre in the immediate pre-Covid period when the term “in-person meeting” would have been considered a redundancy.
Carter's legacy
He and Rosalynn, who died in 2023, hosted A Conversation with the Carters and fielded questions from an audience of a few hundred guests in Atlanta.
Even from seats far back in the centre's auditorium it was possible to detect the twinkle in his eyes as he discussed everything from married life – he and Rosalynn wed in 1946 – to the turbulent White House years of Donald Trump, as well as the urgent foreign policy solutions that were required for Iran, Syria, Yemen and North Korea.
On every issue he had a thoughtful and fair perspective. There was neither bitterness nor rancour towards those who succeeded him in Washington DC.
Most presidents end up consumed by the burdens of office when they are in power. So often, too, the post-White House years are a short postscript.
Carter, of course, disrupted that convention, finding fresh spirit and purpose after returning to Georgia and living a long and fulfilling life. He was thoroughly reconciled to the slings and arrows of his presidential years.
As it transpired, his presidency was a mere prelude to one of the most successful and longest running second acts ever in the US. In hindsight, the first act seems very good, too.
The world has lost one of its great post-war western leaders this week and a tireless campaigner for social justice.
Jimmy Carter's life – in pictures
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch
Power: 710bhp
Torque: 770Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds
Top Speed: 340km/h
Price: Dh1,000,885
On sale: now
Background: Chemical Weapons
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
THE DEALS
Hamilton $60m x 2 = $120m
Vettel $45m x 2 = $90m
Ricciardo $35m x 2 = $70m
Verstappen $55m x 3 = $165m
Leclerc $20m x 2 = $40m
TOTAL $485m
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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