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The un-celebrity president: Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly
- DanielGee 8y agoThe most "un-celebrity"? I'd say carter is the most "celebrity" ex-president we've had in a long time. He has used his celebrity to advocate for his charities ( habitat for humanity for example ) and for human rights ( same sex marriage, race equality, etc ) and political issues ( north korea, iran, etc ). If you equate celebrity with making it rain in clubs, then I guess carter is "un-celebrity". But the guy has been the most visible ex-president in media. Think that makes him the most celebrity ex-president in history.
- freddie_mercury 8y agoI just read a story about Obama and Arethra Franklin yet you think Carter is the most visible ex-president?
- humanrebar 8y agoOK. Second most celebrity is fair. Why downvote a valid opinion, folks?
- freddie_mercury 8y agoI didn't downvote you but my guess: because your "opinion" included facts that were so obviously incorrect that they could only be the result of tremendous amounts of bias that make you unable to correctly judge reality. Which makes your "opinion" not a useful contribution on a site that (tries to) value correctness. If you were able to express your opinion without resorting to tremendous amounts of hyperbolism that make it trivially easy to imagine you as a frothing-at-the-mouth partisan you probably would have been able to more effectively convey whatever it was you wanted to get across to the readers at HackerNews.
- humanrebar 8y agoThat wasn't my post.
- jumbopapa 8y agoThe most "celebrity" ex-president is definitely Obama. Netflix series, Beyonce concerts, you name it - that family eats it up.
- accnumnplus1 8y agoYachts and private islands with Branson...
- siberianbear 8y agoI decided to submit this because I have always been fascinated with Jimmy Carter. What a genuine, decent person. But history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I was in third grade when Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Our teacher gave us an assignment to create a campaign poster for your favorite candidate. I chose Jimmy Carter, and added the campaign slogan, "I will gladly trade peanuts for the American hostages" (referring to to Carter's history as a farmer and to the Iran hostage crisis [1]). I thought I was really clever at the time, but now I think I was just being a stupid smartass. Whenever I have seen Carter in the press since his presidency, it always seems like he is going something unambiguously good, like building houses with Habitat for Humanity or trying to negotiate peace agreements between unfriendly countries as an unbiased mediator. I think we won't have this great man with us for much longer. The world will be a worse place when he departs. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis
- whichwalrus 8y agoI appreciate the submission.. it was a soothing, peaceful read. :)
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoBut history has judged him as one of the worst presidents. I wonder if that is a fair judgement or whether he was just the victim of the economic cycle and external forces.
- mvkel 8y agoEvery president is the victim (or beneficiary) of the economic cycle and external forces. What makes a president memorable is what they do when they’re dealt a “bad hand.”
- peatmoss 8y agoI marvel at what a terrible hand Obama was dealt when he entered office. I don’t support everything he did, but I’ve got to give the guy props for getting anything done. I miss “No Drama Obama.” Obama may not be quite the boy scout that Carter has been, but my expectations are that he’ll become an elder statesmen of the republic that we’ll cherish similarly.
- pmyteh 8y agoJimmy Carter is without question one of the all-time great ex-presidents. Whatever the successes or failings of his administration, he's used his time since to improve the world, and is honest, uncorrupt, and suitably (ex-)presidential.
- humanrebar 8y agoHe's a bit opinionated to be considered "ex-presidential". He was pretty sour grapes with the Reagan administration and generally had plenty of opinions about each of the subsequent ones.
- ryanwaggoner 8y agoPlenty of opinions?? God forbid! Maybe what we need is fewer ex-presidents willing to at most give milquetoast read-between-the-lines statements of vague disapproval at the systematic undermining of our institutions and values.
- Broken_Hippo 8y agoHaving opinions about things doesn't mean one isn't "ex-presidential". Of course he has opinions about things, and has decided to voice them. What makes someone "presidential" (or ex-"presidential") is the way one conducts themselves and voices their opinions. Not the lack of opinions nor the lack of voicing them.
- johnchristopher 8y agoI don't know. Now that I am old enough to see how people praise Bush or Chirac even though `they are the worst presidents ever` I can't help but wonder what it was really like under Carter.
- MrLeap 8y agoMan you're speaking directly to me right now. Reading people on reddit drone on about "TRUMP REALLY MAKES YOU WISH FOR BUSH JR. AMIRITE?" makes me think I'm taking crazy pills. Nothing I've seen Trump do so far is even in the same bad/wrong hemisphere as the patriot act. I eagerly await his attempt, it should be a doozy.
- ethbro 8y agoIf you're interested in where Carter came from, I can't recommend An Hour Before Daylight [1] highly enough. The man's a great writer, and he grew up in a fascinating time and place. You've also got to give a lot of respect to someone who could have made themselves much wealthier, but said "No." [1] https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Before-Daylight-Memories-Boyhood/dp/0743211995/ https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Before-Daylight-Memories-Boyhood...
- humanrebar 8y agoLots of people take off work to be with their family. Lots of people work for non-profits as a career. Great teachers are notoriously underpaid. Though most of them don't write memoirs.
- yborg 8y agoMost of them were not elected President of the United States.
- iambateman 8y agoNice! Also available as an audiobook on Hoopla through the library for free. Just downloaded it.
- phobosdeimos 8y agoThats very un American and the reason nobody liked the guy and his presidency failed. Humility, thoughtfulness, introspection. Look at who replaced him in 1980. As POTUS you have to look good in front of a oversized American flag.
- rectang 8y agoModest living sets individuals and their ideas free.
- WillPostForFood 8y agoThe tennis court at former President Jimmy Carter’s private home is swept twice a day, his pool is cleaned daily and his grass cut, his flower beds weeded and his windows washed on a regular basis — all at taxpayers’ expense Relatively modest.
- rectang 8y agoI'm fine with "relatively" as an assessment of Carter's lifestyle, but I think that's not germane to my point. The principle that living (relatively) within your means allows you to take bigger risks is way bigger than Carter. Carter doesn't need to stay in good graces with organizations that might pay him to speak. That gives him greater freedom to follow his thoughts regardless of who they might offend.
- mattkrause 8y agoFrom a few lines below in that article: “President Carter would be glad to reduce the frequency of routine maintenance at the discretion of the Park Service,” Ms. Congileo said.” The back story is that he donated the house to the National Park Service. And, as even the Republican who oversaw that said, the cost is essentially a rounding error.
- m_alexgr 8y agoJimmy has his priorities straight. A humble man who tells the truth. And knows what is most important in this life. Hint: it's neither wealth nor power.
- rectang 8y agoI get you, but rhetorical power is just another form of power. Carter maximizes the power of his truths by eschewing wealth and direct organizational power.
- pulisse 8y agoIt's true (pretty much by definition) that rhetorical power is a form of power. But it's a further, cynical step to conclude that if someone acts in a way that confers rhetorical authority, they must be doing so just for the sake of that authority. You're assuming away the possibility that someone might be genuinely acting, at least in part, from principle.
- rectang 8y agoI disagree that it's cynical. I think maximizing the power of your ideas and principles is laudable, and can have great returns. Tying ethics to tangible reality increases the value and urgency of ethical behavior.
- dominotw 8y agoHe is already a wealthy man though. Being wealthy is not just about driving a flashy car, its about having the mental security that if shit hits the fan, you would be taken care of.
- DennisP 8y agoThat's pretty much anyone with a pension, decent insurance, and friends. I guess everything's relative and you can define "wealthy" at whatever level you want, but Carter could be living in a mansion and flying private jets, and chose not to.
- iambateman 8y agoI loved the quip about the presidential cooler that they use to store leftovers. President Carter is the kind of down-to-earth person I would want to hang out with, while at the same time using his position to build thousands of homes and fight river blindness and give vaccines to millions of people. I wonder if another person like him will ever ascend to lead the United States.
- ethbro 8y agoI generally try to vote for the presidential candidate who grew up with greater economic hardship. It tends to be a pretty decent predictor of character. (Admittedly, a pool selected for those who did and who rose to become candidates) No comment on the opposite...
- r00fus 8y agoRegressing one step further you could also vote in the primary for the same criteria (within reason).
- gumby 8y agoLike Cincinnatus, returning home after the war and taking up his plow. Two things have always struck me about Jimmy Carter: 1 - He was willing to nominate Volker to Fed chair even though he knew Volker's plan of raising interest rates massively would cost him (Carter) re-election. I believe he would have survived even the Iran crisis but for that, but it was the right thing to do. Reagan got all the credit for it since it started under Carter's watch and finished under Reagan's. 2 - he has such a reputation for Polite gentility and self sacrifice (see above) yet his maneuvering through the primary season and at the democratic convention was masterful -- he was dispassionate but brutal in putting the (political) knife into rivals, and was happy to do so publicly. That genteel/man of the people schtick extended to his use of the pronunciation "nukular" even though he had worked for Rickover and attended to the navy's nuclear school! A complex guy whether you like him or not.
- madengr 8y agoThe Iranian hostages were released the day of Reagan’s inauguration. Reagan would have bombed Iran. Carter’s diplomacy were just about effective as Obama’s lines in the sand. Sometimes diplomacy through a gun barrel is needed.
- godelmachine 8y agoAs Theodore Roosevelt said, speak soft but make sure you carry a big stick.
- detaro 8y agoReagan, whose government later sold weapons to Iran while talking up an embargo to keep Iran away from the Soviets and to potentially help release hostages from Lebanon? Got a source on that claim?
- gumby 8y agoActually internal Iranian records from that period show that the occupation was actually a pain in the neck to maintain on operational and diplomatic grounds, though it was worth waiting until Carter left as a great fuck you to him in response to him having (unsuccessfully) sent in a special forces team.
- ornel 8y agoWe remember him in Panama for signing the treaty that gave us back the Canal and the surrounding military bases. He's the only US president I would shake hands with
- musgrove 8y agoYou should check out "Panama's Rusty Lock."
- pmiller2 8y agoHow has no one pointed out after 8 hours that this man who “shuns riches” receives a pension that puts him in the 97.7th percentile of income[0], a fully funded office, medical benefits, and no housing costs other than property tax? For a majority of America, that would be riches beyond belief. Let’s not forget he plays golf with billionaires. I’m sure Mr. Carter donates a substantial portion of his income and lives rather modestly by choice, but most people don’t have that choice. Edit: slight numerical correction, source. [0]: https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/
- tptacek 8y agoThe article discusses his pension and, if you reread it, points out that he does not in fact get medical benefits from his tenure in government.
- pmiller2 8y agoYes, he gets medical benefits from Emory University. It’s irrelevant. Who cares where he gets them from? The point still stands that he has unimaginable riches compared to the vast majority of Americans.
- mattkrause 8y agoAgain, how much do you think he should he get? He also had power—-and responsibilities and stress—-that are unimaginable compare to the vast majority of Americans. And for what it’s worth, the median household income is around $60k. Three times that doesn’t seem crazy high.
- danso 8y agoBut what does that point have to do with this article, which details how differently Carter lives compared to other former presidents? I think it’s self-evident that Carter, being one of the fewer than 50 men in the history of the U.S. to be elected president, has an existence generally unimaginable the the vast majority of Americans.
- musgrove 8y agoHe's not the exception. Our presidents who leave office and amass enormous wealth (as well as celebrities and wealthy people Americans want to vote into office) are the global exceptions. Most "civil servants" in other countries serve their terms and go back to their regular jobs. The real story would be why America is the cultural anomaly.
- pasbesoin 8y agoTruly, we in the U.S. need to look at ourselves for what we have wrought and currently suffer under. We claim to want these things, then attack those who manifest them. We preach understanding and forgiveness, then refuse to exercise it in understanding limitations others face -- external as well as internal -- and working with them to improve things. No society's perfect. But, America has managed to raise sloth and hypocrisy to new levels. As I've aged and observed, I've come to think of us more and more, as and become a bully nation. Of course, a man like Carter doesn't "fit" into that. Which is a credit to him. Or, depending upon your perspective, his ultimate failing. (Something I associate with all too well.)
- marcoperaza 8y agoHe has yet to apologize for going to Venezuela and legitimizing the re-election of Hugo Chavez, who was violently repressing independent media and rounding up dissidents, by calling the Venezuelan election process "the best in the world".
- humanrebar 8y agoThe downvote brigade in this thread belies the appreciation of a kinder, more civil approach to public life.
- megamindbrian2 8y agoHis privilege is showing. Just like only 10% of the America is rich, only 10% of the world has at most a lower class American standard of living.
- RickJWagner 8y agoAn admirable man. He is doing great work today. His leadership came at a tough time, and he did not bring prosperity. The country did much better under his successor, Reagan. We all have potential for good, in our own ways.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tessi3r 8y agoEasy for a lame-duck to say...