It seems almost inconceivable to remember that President Jimmy Carter managed to get the Prime Minister of Israel and an Arab country counterpart embracing after an historic deal was signed. That was in 1979. Fast forward to 2024 and we have
appalling bloodshed in the Middle East and the prospect of terrible, prolonged regional war.

So what sort of man was Jimmy Carter, who is 100 years old today?

Wrongly, by his enemies, he was caricatured as a sort of “wimp”, forever haunted by a video showing him collapsing with “rubber legs” while jogging, who was unable to strongarm the Iranians after the US embassy in Tehran was taken over by students, with 53 US diplomats being taken hostage. He attempted a rescue attempt but the helicopters got sand stuck in their rotors so it didn’t happen. That is the unfair spin.

In fact, Jimmy Carter had a military background. He studied at Naval Academy to be a Bachelor of Science, and served as an officer, mainly in nuclear submarines, in the US navy for six years. Navy officers hoped that he would opt for a longer career in the US Navy. But instead he opted to run his father’s peanut farm and eventually launch a political career.

It was perhaps this experience that led him to be a US President during a time when, he later proudly recalled “We never dropped a bomb. We never fired a bullet. We never went to war”. That was not an achievement borne out of wimpish pacificism, as some alleged. It was borne out of knowledge and experience of military power, plus a huge commitment to peace. He continued to demonstrate that commitment after leaving the White House through the work of Jimmy Carter Center.

In passing, one should mention Jimmy Carter’s smile, which, apparently, won over large numbers of voters. Then there is a long, happy and productive marriage to Rosalynn, his huge commitment to Civil Rights, borne out of close lifelong relationships with black people in his native Georgia, and the fact that much of his rise to power was due to being a “new broom” Democrat from a rural southern state, previously unknown but presenting a refreshing alternative to President Gerald Ford, who was much tarnished by Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

Just a word about music. Jimmy Carter has been dubbed the Rock and Roll President. He had a particularly fruitful relationship with the Allman Brothers. He said in the film “Rock and Roll President“:

I was practically a non-entity, but everyone knew the Allman Brothers. When they endorsed me, all the young people said, ‘Well, if the Allman Brothers like him, we can vote for him.’

With what we have seen in US politics in the last few years, it is quite salutary to be reminded, through Jimmy Carter’s landmark birthday, of an era where decency and strength led to a period of peace and bridge-building in the world.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.