Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter

The following is an excerpt from the article “Jimmy Carter: A Remembrance” by William Grover ’78, which appeared in Trout Unlimited on January 2, 2025.

As a young journalism major and editor of my college newspaper, I covered Carter’s campaign speech at Moravian College in Bethlehem in the lead-up to the 1976 Pennsylvania Democratic party primary. He won that primary and went on to defeat incumbent President Gerald Ford, who assumed office upon Nixon’s resignation. Years later I would be the second scholar to visit the newly opened Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta to do research on a book about the presidencies of Carter and his successor, Ronald Reagan.

An open-minded president      

In today’s climate of political polarization and rampant cynicism, it may sound hopelessly nostalgic to think that a Presidential candidate could campaign on a platform emphasizing the positive aspects of political life. Today a candidate Carter—America’s first born-again Christian President—might be eviscerated by his political opponents as nothing short of a “radical leftist.” In his day, Carter was criticized for, among other things, expending his early political capital on the Panama Canal Treaty, his handling of a struggling economy, the widening energy crisis, and of course, the seizure of U.S. hostages in Iran as a result of the Iranian revolution. Indeed, Carter was scorned (and challenged in the 1980 Democratic primary) by the likes of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion who distrusted someone with so little experience in the hardball world of Washington politics. Carter, the moderate Democrat, took it from all sides.

Carter was open-minded, not a doctrinaire. His penchant for picking policy advisors with contrasting liberal and conservative viewpoints—think Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State and Zbigniew Brzezinski as National Security Advisor—paved the way for Reaganism in his final two years in office, as he instinctively moved to the right on economic and national security policy. He was capable of rethinking his earlier positions, even on one of his most significant accomplishments, the 1978 Camp David Accords, signed between Egypt and Israel. The Accords were specific on Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula, but vague on how to achieve recognition of the “legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” Decades later he would revisit the Middle East conflict, writing Palestine:  Peace Not Apartheid, a book that won him acclaim but also incurred the wrath of many supporters of Israel, including fellow Democrats and board members of his own foundation.

Much more than just a President

Carter, of course, lost his reelection bid in 1980. Yet America’s longest-lived President reasonably can be thought to be the nation’s greatest, most exemplary “ex-President.” Author of more than 30 books on a wide range of topics, Carter returned to Plains and embraced his post-presidency as an engaged citizen, mostly shunning the pomp, power and lucrative corporate speaking engagements that await contemporary former chief executives.

Along with his wife Rosalynn, he devoted himself to decades of humanitarian work, much of it under the auspices of the Carter Center they co-founded in Atlanta. Long an advocate of and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Carter immersed himself in worldwide humanitarian causes, including advocacy for women’s rights and serving as an international election monitor in troubled regions around the world. Among the many accolades he received after leaving the White House, his ceaseless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.   

Presidential angling

Beyond the tumult of political controversy, he took time to regain his bearings and immersed himself in the quiet of nature, most notably with a fly rod in his hand. He invited many luminaries in the world of fly fishing to Camp David in for what he called his “fly fishing summit” where, as a willing student he initially learned how to fly cast and tie flies. He enjoyed fishing Hunting Creek just down the road from the presidential retreat in Maryland. He became famous for his recreational stealth, landing at Camp David, slipping the Press, and taking off again in a helicopter to land 40 minutes away in the field of his friend Wayne Harpster along Spruce Creek in Pennsylvania. Of his clandestine trips to fish with Harpster, he wrote: “These jaunts were among our best-kept secrets in Washington.” In fact, he made sure to fish the green drake hatch on Spruce Creek with Harpster for some forty years thereafter.  

William Grover teaches at Montana State University, Bozeman. He is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. 

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A Second Appearance at Moravian

On October 15, 1990, under the sponsorship of the Cohen Arts & Lecture Series, established by Berte Cohen ’37 and Bernie Cohen, former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Moravian. With wit and warmth, he engaged his audience before addressing a list of significant global issues with a brief commentary on each.

And in his closing, he urged that all of us contribute to a better world: “If an issue is important to you, learn about it, consult with others, and try to change the world for the better. You’ll find [it to be] unpredictable, maybe costly in time, but gratifying, pleasant, adventurous, and it will expand your life. What you think is a sacrifice, I guarantee it will turn out to be one of the greatest investments of your life.

“It’s the essence of America, to be strong and to share our strength. And not to forget our basic moral values: servitude, friendship, partnership, compassion, and if you’ll excuse the expression—love.”

You can view the entire video of Carter’s presentation here.