{"id":127068,"date":"2023-03-08T09:21:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T15:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=127068"},"modified":"2023-03-07T20:46:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T02:46:47","slug":"the-view-from-the-balcony-jimmy-carter-a-life-well-lived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-view-from-the-balcony-jimmy-carter-a-life-well-lived\/","title":{"rendered":"The View From The Balcony: “Jimmy Carter: A Life Well Lived”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1976 I was a junior Church Music major at William Carey College<\/strong> in Hattiesburg, Mississippi,<\/strong> and Jimmy Carter<\/strong> was running for President. I proudly displayed my support of Carter with a green bumper sticker (I like green) on my mustard-yellow Datsun station wagon. (Yes, even back then I had class.) It\u2019s the only time in my life that I had a bumper sticker torn off my car. The irony was that Carter was a Southern Baptist and I was at a Southern Baptist college. Go figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carter was running against Gerald Ford <\/strong>who came into the Presidency as a result of Richard Nixon<\/strong>\u2019s resignation. Ford was the only person to become President who was not elected President or Vice President. He was a stabilizing force following what he called \u201cOur long national nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter won the election and was sworn in as President in 1977. His record as President was, shall I say, less than stellar. It was not all Carter\u2019s fault, though. Politics being politics, it rarely, if ever, is. In the next election cycle Carter was trounced by Ronald Reagan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter could have sailed off into the sunset to live a quiet life in his hometown of Plains, Georgia<\/strong>, but that was not his style. Carter was a hands-on type of guy. He liked getting his hands dirty in the service of others. He became the greatest publicist for Habitat for Humanity<\/strong>, a faith-based organization that helps low-income families build houses domestically and internationally. Carter and his wife Rosalynn<\/strong> were familiar faces on Habitat building sites, not for photo ops, but for the actual work of measuring, sawing, and hammering away. It is estimated that Jimmy Carter personally helped build 4300 homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through The Carter Center<\/strong> at Emory University<\/strong>, Jimmy Carter has led global efforts for peace, health, and social justice. He was instrumental in the Camp David Accords<\/strong>, historically significant political agreements between Egypt<\/strong> and Israel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n