Jimmy Carter died. He was the president of my political awakening – I was in middle school during his presidency, and I transitioned from being merely an echo of my parents’ politics to starting to form my own opinions. For my parents, Carter was too ‘establishment,’ and too far right. My own opinions of that time leaned more libertarian, as they took shape – possibly under the influence of my uncle Arthur (for whom I’m now caretaker in his senescence).
Anyway, I’m not sure I really agree with the current hagiography. He was quite guilty – as any Democrat in his era – of playing “both sides” of race issues. There was no other way to get elected, in Georgia, at the time of his governorship. I’m not sure much has changed. Looking back, historically, I am also painfully unimpressed with how his administration handled the situation in South Korea – among many other foreign policy fiascoes. Arguably, decisions made by Carter’s national security team led directly to the Gwangju massacres of the democracy activists, who were protesting against the ruling dictatorship of the time. No, Carter was no saint.
That said, I came very close to meeting him. And I did meet his wife, Rosalynn – I had a fairly involved conversation with her. This was when I was living in Mexico City, in 1986. Jimmy and Rosalynn were visiting the refugee center where I volunteered, teaching English. These were refugees from Central America. I had individual friends among the refugees who had been imprisoned and tortured by US-backed governments and/or paramilitary groups – e.g. ‘contras‘ (depending on the country). The refugee center was run by the Mexico City Quaker community, so the Carters, in a ‘progressive, interfaith’ mode, visited. It was a way to score points, I imagine, in the opposition to Reagan’s wars in Central America. I missed meeting Jimmy because he was late catching up to his wife, and I had to leave because of something related to my job. But anyway, Rosalynn Carter is possibly the most famous person I’ve ever had a conversation with.
