WEBVTT - How Did President Jimmy Carter Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brainstud a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. American President Jimmy Carter spent only four years

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<v Speaker 1>in the White House, but he worked for decades to

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<v Speaker 1>build peace, democracy, and a better quality of life for

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<v Speaker 1>fellow Americans and people around the world. His presidential stint

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<v Speaker 1>was just a jumping off point for a lifelong devotion

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<v Speaker 1>to making the world a better place. Our thirty ninth

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<v Speaker 1>President was born James Earl Carter Junior in rural Georgia,

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<v Speaker 1>to a father, Earl, who was a peanut farmer and businessman,

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<v Speaker 1>and a mother, Lillian, who was a registered nurse. They

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<v Speaker 1>were a faithful Baptist family. Carter attended public school in Plains,

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<v Speaker 1>followed by university study at two Georgia colleges before graduating

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<v Speaker 1>from the United States Naval Academy in nineteen forty six.

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<v Speaker 1>That same year, he married Rosalind Smith. The two grew

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<v Speaker 1>up just a few miles away from each other. They

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<v Speaker 1>technically first met when he was three and she was

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<v Speaker 1>just one day old, and married once they had both

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<v Speaker 1>finished college. The'd go on to have four children together.

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<v Speaker 1>During his time with the Navy, Carter served the Atlantic

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<v Speaker 1>and Pacific fleets. As a submariner, he achieved the rank

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<v Speaker 1>of lieutenant and was assigned to the nuclear submarine program,

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<v Speaker 1>and then did graduate work in reactor technology and nuclear physics.

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<v Speaker 1>But upon his father's death in nineteen fifty three, Carter

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<v Speaker 1>returned to Georgia to run the family farm and its

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<v Speaker 1>supply company. Back in Plains, he became active in local

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<v Speaker 1>political life, earning a seat in the Georgia Senate by

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty two, a running for governor and losing in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty six, then winning in nineteen seventy, all before

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<v Speaker 1>announcing his run for president in nineteen seventy four. As

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<v Speaker 1>governor of Georgia, Carter was a progressive and a reformer.

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<v Speaker 1>He called for an end to segregation in his inaugural

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<v Speaker 1>address and increased to the number of black staff members

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<v Speaker 1>in the state government. He worked to improve the state

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<v Speaker 1>government's wasteful bureaucracy, was pro environment, and pushed for more

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<v Speaker 1>funding for schools. Carter entered the White House on January

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<v Speaker 1>twentieth of nineteen seventy seven after defeating President Gerald Ford

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<v Speaker 1>with campaign slogans like a leader for a change and

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<v Speaker 1>not just peanuts. He inherited challenges of the post Vietnam era,

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<v Speaker 1>including rising inflation and unemployment. After four years, the Carter

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<v Speaker 1>administration had increased the job market by nearly eight million

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<v Speaker 1>jobs and decreased the budget deficit, though inflation and interest

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<v Speaker 1>rates were still up before the article. This episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Sarah B. Snyder,

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<v Speaker 1>a historian of US foreign relations and an associate professor

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<v Speaker 1>at the School of International Service at American University. She

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<v Speaker 1>explained that during his presidency, Carter helped restore quote American

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<v Speaker 1>faith in US government that had been eroded during the

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<v Speaker 1>Nixon and Forward years. American people came to trust him,

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<v Speaker 1>and by extension, came to regain their trust in the

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<v Speaker 1>US government. Carter talked more openly than most about his

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<v Speaker 1>faith and how it affected his worldview. The focus was

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<v Speaker 1>on personal morality and the way that the United States

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<v Speaker 1>conducted policies. A. Snyder said it was something he was

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<v Speaker 1>very comfortable talking about, and he linked his own faith to,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, his support for human rights. Carter's foreign policy

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<v Speaker 1>was driven by a commitment to human rights, which he

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<v Speaker 1>stated in his inaugural address had to be absolute. Generally,

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<v Speaker 1>his administration did take steps to support regimes that advanced

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<v Speaker 1>human rights and limit cooperation with abusive ones, though critics

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<v Speaker 1>have pointed out that they sometimes overlooked violations and the

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<v Speaker 1>interest of forwarding diplomacy and national security. Some of Carter's

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<v Speaker 1>important foreign policy achievements included the signing of the Panama

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<v Speaker 1>Canal Treaties, which returned control of the canal to Panama

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<v Speaker 1>and removed a significant irritant in US relations with the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the Americas. Carter is also known for the

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<v Speaker 1>Camp David Accords, in which he helped negotiate a peace

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<v Speaker 1>between Israel and Egypt. He also signed the Salt to

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<v Speaker 1>Nuclear Limitation Treaty with the Soviet Union, though it never

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<v Speaker 1>really went into effect, and established diplomatic relations between the

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<v Speaker 1>US and the People's Republic of China. Domestically, the Carter

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<v Speaker 1>administration deregulated transportation industries and oil and natural gas prices,

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<v Speaker 1>leading to lower costs for both businesses and consumers. He

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<v Speaker 1>championed energy security and sustainability and created the Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Energy to handle existing suppliers and research new technologies in

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<v Speaker 1>wind and solar power. His administration pushed for environmental protection

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<v Speaker 1>in other ways, including doubling the size of the national

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<v Speaker 1>park system and tripling the wilderness area through conservation programs

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<v Speaker 1>and places like Alaska. Carter also chanmed education as a

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<v Speaker 1>fundamental right that's essential to democracy, and created the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Education to elevate for the first time, the access

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<v Speaker 1>to learning to a federal cabinet level priority. He often

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<v Speaker 1>struggled with Congress, but found successes like these and in

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<v Speaker 1>other programs like raising the minimum wage, despite his recognized

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<v Speaker 1>skillet diplomacy. The final year of Carter's presidency was plagued

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<v Speaker 1>by the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis.

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<v Speaker 1>This was a situation following the revolution that overthrew the

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<v Speaker 1>US backed monarchy in Iran. The Carter administration granted the

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<v Speaker 1>deposed king asylum in America for cancer treatment, and in protest,

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<v Speaker 1>a group of students took sixty six Americans hostage at

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<v Speaker 1>the US embassy in Tehran, demanding the Shah's extradition. The

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<v Speaker 1>crisis went on for four hundred and forty four days,

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<v Speaker 1>with the final hostages only released on the last day

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<v Speaker 1>of Carter's term. Failures to negotiate and to rescue the

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<v Speaker 1>hostages became a political liability. It painted Carter as being

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<v Speaker 1>weak or indecisive, and thus, despite gains and trust and jobs,

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<v Speaker 1>Carter failed to win a second presidential term. Ronald Reagan

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<v Speaker 1>defeated him in a landslide victory. Reagan took four hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and eighty nine electoral votes to Carter's forty nine, one

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<v Speaker 1>of only ten incumbent presidents to fail to be re elected.

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<v Speaker 1>Carter left Washington, d c. In nineteen eighty one, but

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<v Speaker 1>his national and international humanitarian work was just beginning. Jimmy

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<v Speaker 1>and Rosalind Carter established the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia,

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty two in collaboration with Emory University. The

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<v Speaker 1>Center is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization dedicated to, in

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<v Speaker 1>their words, resolving conflict, promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and

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<v Speaker 1>preventing disease and other afflictions. The building itself is coupled

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<v Speaker 1>with the library and museum and opened in nineteen eighty six.

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<v Speaker 1>During the summer, they host a local farmers market on weekends.

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<v Speaker 1>Haustuffworks also spoke with Deanna Kong Gilio, who was at

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<v Speaker 1>the time the director of Communications for the Carter Center

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<v Speaker 1>and president and Missus Carter's press secretary, As she said,

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<v Speaker 1>when they left the White House, they weren't ready to retire.

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<v Speaker 1>They were looking for some way to use the influence

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<v Speaker 1>they had and continue working on the issues that were

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<v Speaker 1>important to them. Since its establishment, the Carter Center has

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<v Speaker 1>operated in eighty nations around the world and been a

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<v Speaker 1>pioneer on many fronts. Just for one example, their campaign

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<v Speaker 1>to eradicate guinea worm disease has produced cases from three

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<v Speaker 1>and a half million worldwide in nineteen eighty six to

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<v Speaker 1>fewer than one hundred today. It's also observed more than

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and twenty five elections in countries abroad, working

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<v Speaker 1>to share knowledge of democratic processes and standards. The former

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<v Speaker 1>president was also named a University Distinguished Professor at Emory

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty two, and he spoke at classes and

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<v Speaker 1>hosted town halls and luncheons every year since nineteen eighty four.

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<v Speaker 1>President and Missus Carter were also known for their involvement

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<v Speaker 1>with Habitat for Humanity International, which works to help people build, repair,

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<v Speaker 1>and finance affordable housing in the US and beyond. The

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<v Speaker 1>image of a former president personally doing construction work changed

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<v Speaker 1>the way that people thought about a post presidency and

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<v Speaker 1>gave the organization a boost. In two thousand and two,

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<v Speaker 1>Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades

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<v Speaker 1>of extraordinary humanitarian work, of just one of four American

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<v Speaker 1>presidents to receive the honor and the only one cited

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<v Speaker 1>for his work outside of office. Carter continued to teach

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday school at a Baptist church in Plains up until

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<v Speaker 1>he was sidelined by the COVID nineteen pandemic. Hou stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works also spoke with Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, it is all about service. He really has

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<v Speaker 1>lived his faith in such a con assistant way. Reckford

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<v Speaker 1>noted that he had been with Carter in situations with

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful people in the world and with the

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<v Speaker 1>least powerful, and found him to be the same person

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<v Speaker 1>in all of those situations. One famous story about the

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<v Speaker 1>Carter's first trip with Habitat for Humanity sums up the

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<v Speaker 1>couple's character. In the volunteer housing, only one bedroom was

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<v Speaker 1>available and it had been reserved for the Carters, But

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<v Speaker 1>when they learned that a couple had decided to celebrate

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<v Speaker 1>honeymooning by volunteering with habitat. The Carters gave the bedroom

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<v Speaker 1>to them and slept in the common area with everyone else.

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<v Speaker 1>Rosalind Carter passed away in November of twenty twenty three,

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<v Speaker 1>and her husband followed her a year later, surrounded by

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<v Speaker 1>family in Plains. He was one hundred years old, making

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<v Speaker 1>him America's longest live president. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article a Portrait of Jimmy Carter, America's oldest living

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<v Speaker 1>President ever on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Kerry Whitney.

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<v Speaker 1>Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with hostufforks dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts

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