Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024

Jimmy Carter is my favorite President. There are a number of reasons why, but above and beyond all of them, he is the one person who I sincerely feel attempted to govern based primarily on the bedrock of fundamental human decency.

I am not arguing that all other American presidents were indecent curs. I am not taking some sort of backhanded swipe at anyone else. I am not saying that every single other one of those men didn’t care about people.

What I am saying is that Carter was the only one who very explicitly, very pointedly spoke of the centrality of human rights to his presidency. Human rights was not a policy but rather a central organizing feature. He very clearly thought about human rights differently, which to me has long meant that he thought about human beings differently.

It is not a simple matter to be guided by faith in humanity. Humans have a great many ways of challenging such faith. I think though that a real commitment to human rights is inextricable from faith in humanity. Indeed for Jimmy Carter, this faith in humanity was tightly connected with his faith, a faith I have long regarded as deep and genuine, one based in service and responsibility, not based in command and obligation, or worse, based in exclusion and contempt.

Even in the face of what can sometimes seem like overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I continue to believe in humanity, in the centrality of human rights, in our collective core decency. We should be constantly uplifting one another, not through extreme exacts of heroism or martyrdom, but as a basic way of being. Friendly. Polite. Decent. There’s still ample room in all of that for disagreement and dissent and differences. There’s also ample room in all of that for us to get a lot of things wrong. But wrongs rooted in respect are different from wrongs rooted in animosity.

Even though his election was 48 long years ago, Jimmy Carter still represents to me the idea that there is a prominent place in our body politic for a platform profoundly rooted in commitment to human rights. Yes, as fragile humans, we will sometimes slip, falling prey to any number of divisive tactics. We cannot look at that as paramount evidence of who or what we are, but only of when and where and how we are - not that these are minor things. But our potential and capacity are better than this.

We here will continue the quest for love and harmony on earth.

Jimmy and Rosalynn, reunited again, may you forever rest in peace.