The un-celebrity president
Jimmy Carter shuns riches, lives modestly in his Georgia hometown
By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan
Photos by Matt McClain
AUGUST 17, 2018
PLAINS, Ga.
Jimmy Carter finishes his Saturday night dinner, salmon and broccoli casserole on a paper plate, flashes his famous toothy grin and calls playfully to his wife of 72 years, Rosalynn: “C’mon, kid.”
She laughs and takes his hand, and they walk carefully through a neighbor’s kitchen filled with 1976 campaign buttons, photos of world leaders and a couple of unopened cans of Billy Beer, then out the back door, where three Secret Service agents wait. I
They do this just about every weekend in this tiny town where they were born — he almost 94 years ago, she almost 91. Dinner at their friend Jill Stuckey’s house, with plastic Solo cups of ice water and one glass each of bargain-brand chardonnay, then the half-mile walk home to the ranch house they built in 1961.
On this south Georgia summer evening, still close to 90 degrees, they dab their faces with a little plastic bottle of No Natz to repel the swirling clouds of tiny bugs. Then they catch each other’s hands again and start walking, the former president in jeans and clunky black shoes, the former first lady using a walking stick for the first time.
The 39th president of the United States lives modestly, a sharp contrast to his successors, who have left the White House to embrace power of another kind: wealth.
Even those who didn’t start out rich, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have made tens of millions of dollars on the private-sector opportunities that flow so easily to ex-presidents.
When Carter left the White House after one tumultuous term, trounced by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election, he returned to Plains, a speck of peanut and cotton farmland that to this day has a nearly 40 percent poverty rate.
The Democratic former president decided not to join corporate boards or give speeches for big money because, he says, he didn’t want to “capitalize financially on being in the White House.”
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said that Gerald Ford, Carter’s predecessor and close friend, was the first to fully take advantage of those high-paid post-presidential opportunities, but that “Carter did the opposite.”
Since Ford, other former presidents, and sometimes their spouses, routinely earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per speech.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it; I don’t blame other people for doing it,” Carter says over dinner. “It just never had been my ambition to be rich.”
‘He doesn’t like big shots’
Carter was 56 when he returned to Plains from Washington. He says his peanut business, held in a blind trust during his presidency, was $1 million in debt, and he was forced to sell.
“We thought we were going to lose everything,” says Rosalynn, sitting beside him.
Carter decided that his income would come from writing, and he has written 33 books, about his life and career, his faith, Middle East peace, women’s rights, aging, fishing, woodworking, even a children’s book written with his daughter, Amy Carter, called “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer.”
With book income and the $210,700 annual pension all former presidents receive, the Carters live comfortably. But his books have never fetched the massive sums commanded by more recent presidents.
Carter has been an ex-president for 37 years, longer than anyone else in history. His simple lifestyle is increasingly rare in this era of President Trump, a billionaire with gold-plated sinks in his private jet, Manhattan penthouse and Mar-a-Lago estate.
Carter is the only president in the modern era to return full-time to the house he lived in before he entered politics — a two-bedroom rancher assessed at $167,000, less than the value of the armored Secret Service vehicles parked outside.
Ex-presidents often fly on private jets, sometimes lent by wealthy friends, but the Carters fly commercial. Stuckey says that on a recent flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Carter walked up and down the aisle greeting other passengers and taking selfies.
Carter is pictured at his house after teaching his 800th Sunday school lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church since leaving the White House. Every other Sunday morning, he teaches at Maranatha, on the edge of town, and people line up the night before to get a seat. The painting at right was done by Carter.
“He doesn’t like big shots, and he doesn’t think he’s a big shot,” said Gerald Rafshoon, who was Carter’s White House communications director.
Carter costs U.S. taxpayers less than any other ex-president, according to the General Services Administration, with a total bill for him in the current fiscal year of $456,000, covering pensions, an office, staff and other expenses. That’s less than half the $952,000 budgeted for George H.W. Bush; the three other living ex-presidents — Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama — cost taxpayers more than $1 million each per year.
Carter doesn’t even have federal retirement health benefits because he worked for the government for four years — less than the five years needed to qualify, according to the GSA. He says he receives health benefits through Emory University, where he has taught for 36 years.
The Plains general store, once owned by Carter’s Uncle Buddy, sells Carter memorabilia and scoops of peanut butter ice cream in honor of Carter, who was a peanut farmer.
The federal government pays for an office for each ex-president. Carter’s, in the Carter Center in Atlanta, is the least expensive, at $115,000 this year. The Carters could have built a more elaborate office with living quarters, but for years they slept on a pullout couch for a week each month. Recently, they had a Murphy bed installed.
Carter’s office costs a fraction of Obama’s, which is $536,000 a year. Clinton’s costs $518,000, George W. Bush’s is $497,000 and George H.W. Bush’s is $286,000, according to the GSA.
“I am a great admirer of Harry Truman. He’s my favorite president, and I really try to emulate him,” says Carter, who writes his books in a converted garage in his house. “He set an example I thought was admirable.”
But although Truman retired to his hometown of Independence, Mo., Beschloss said that even he took up residence in an elegant house previously owned by his prosperous in-laws.
As Carter spreads a thick layer of butter on a slice of white bread, he is asked whether he thinks, especially with a man who boasts of being a billionaire in the White House, any future ex-president will ever live the way Carter does.
“I hope so,” he says. “But I don’t know.”
A customer leaves the Plains Mtd convenience store in Plains. About 700 people live in the town, 150 miles south of Atlanta, in a place that is a living museum to Carter.
‘A good ’ol Southern gentleman’
Plains is a tiny circle of Georgia farmland, a mile in diameter, with its center at the train depot that served as Carter’s 1976 campaign headquarters. About 700 people live here, 150 miles due south of Atlanta, in a place that is a living museum to Carter.
The general store, once owned by Carter’s Uncle Buddy, sells Carter memorabilia and scoops of peanut butter ice cream. Carter’s boyhood farm is preserved as it was in the 1930s, with no electricity or running water.
The Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is essentially the entire town, drawing nearly 70,000 visitors a year and $4 million into the county’s economy.
Carter has used his post-presidency to support human rights, global health programs and fair elections worldwide through his Carter Center, based in Atlanta. He has helped renovate 4,300 homes in 14 countries for Habitat for Humanity, and with his own hammer and tool belt, he will be working on homes for low-income people in Indiana later this month.
But it is Plains that defines him.
After dinner, the Carters step out of Stuckey’s driveway, with two Secret Service agents walking close behind.
Carter’s gait is a little unsteady these days, three years after a diagnosis of melanoma on his liver and brain. At a 2015 news conference to announce his illness, he seemed to be bidding a stoic farewell, saying he was “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.”
But now, after radiation and chemotherapy, Carter says he is cancer-free.
In October, he will become the second president ever to reach 94; George H.W. Bush turned 94 in June. These days, Carter is sharp, funny and reflective.
The Carters walk every day — often down Church Street, the main drag through Plains, where they have been walking since the 1920s.
“Hello,” says the former president, with the same big smile that adorns peanut Christmas ornaments in the general store.
“Hey,” says a girl in a jean skirt, greeting him with a cheerful wave.
The two 15-year-olds say people in Plains think of the Carters as neighbors and friends, just like anybody else.
“I grew up in church with him,” says Maya Wynn. “He’s a nice guy, just like a regular person.”
“He’s a good ’ol Southern gentleman,” says David Lane.
Carter says this place formed him, seeding his beliefs about racial equality. His farmhouse youth during the Great Depression made him unpretentious and frugal. His friends, maybe only half-joking, describe Carter as “tight as a tick.”
That no-frills sensibility, endearing since he left Washington, didn’t work as well in the White House. Many people thought Carter scrubbed some of the luster off the presidency by carrying his own suitcases onto Air Force One and refusing to have “Hail to the Chief” played.
Stuart E. Eizenstat, a Carter aide and biographer, said Carter’s edict eliminating drivers for top staff members backfired. It meant that top officials were driving instead of reading and working for an hour or two every day.
“He didn’t feel suited to the grandeur,” Eizenstat said. “Plains is really part of his DNA. He carried it into the White House, and he carried it out of the White House.”
Carter’s presidency — from 1977 to 1981 — is often remembered for long lines at gas stations and the Iran hostage crisis.
“I may have overemphasized the plight of the hostages when I was in my final year,” he says. “But I was so obsessed with them personally, and with their families, that I wanted to do anything to get them home safely, which I did.”
Visitors watch a video about Carter’s life in the theater at Plains High School. Carter attended the school, which served first through 11th grades. Today, the school is home to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.
He said he regrets not doing more to unify the Democratic Party.
When Carter looks back at his presidency, he says he is most proud of “keeping the peace and supporting human rights,” the Camp David accords that brokered peace between Israel and Egypt, and his work to normalize relations with China. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
“I always told the truth,” he says.
Carter has been notably quiet about President Trump. But on this night, two years into Trump’s term, he’s not holding back.
“I think he’s a disaster,” Carter says. “In human rights and taking care of people and treating people equal.”
“The worst is that he is not telling the truth, and that just hurts everything,” Rosalynn says.
Carter says his father taught him that truthfulness matters. He said that was reinforced at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he said students are expelled for telling even the smallest lie.
“I think there’s been an attitude of ignorance toward the truth by President Trump,” he says.
Carter says he thinks the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has “changed our political system from a democracy to an oligarchy. Money is now preeminent. I mean, it’s just gone to hell now.”
He says he believes that the nation’s “ethical and moral values” are still intact and that Americans eventually will “return to what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s decent and what’s indecent, and what’s truthful and what’s lies.”
But, he says, “I doubt if it happens in my lifetime.”
On Church Street, Carter points out the mayor’s house with his left hand while he holds Rosalynn’s with his right.
“My mother and father lived in that brick one,” he says, gesturing toward a small house across the street. “We use it as an office now.”
“That’s Dr. Logan’s over here.”
Every house has a story. Generations of them. Cracked birdbaths and rocking chairs on somebody’s great-grandmother’s porch. Carter knows them all.
“Mr. Oscar Williams lived here; his family was my competitor in the warehouse business.”
He points out the Plains United Methodist Church, where he spotted young Eleanor Rosalynn Smith one evening when he was home from the Naval Academy.
He asked her out. They went to a movie, and the next morning he told his mother he was going to marry Rosalynn.
“I didn’t know that for years,” she says with a smile.
They are asked if there is anything they want but don’t have.
“I can’t think of anything,” Carter says, turning to Rosalynn. “And you?”
“No, I’m happy,” she says.
“We feel at home here,” Carter says. “And the folks in town, when we need it, they take care of us.”
‘A heart of service’
Every other Sunday morning, Carter teaches Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church on the edge of town, and people line up the night before to get a seat.
This Sunday morning happens to be his 800th lesson since he left the White House.
He walks in wearing a blazer too big through the shoulders, a striped shirt and a turquoise bolo tie. He asks where people have come from, and from the pews they call out at least 20 states, Canada, Kenya, China and Denmark.
He tells the congregation that he’s planning a trip to Montana to go fishing with his friend Ted Turner, and that he’s going to ride in his son’s autogiro — a sort of mini-helicopter.
“I’m still fairly active,” he says, and everyone laughs.
He talks about living a purposeful life, but also about finding enough time for rest and reflection. Then he and Rosalynn pose for photos with every person who wants one, including Steven and Joanna Raley, who came from Annandale, Va., with their 3-month-old son, Jackson Carter Raley.
“We want our children to grow up with a heart of service like President Carter,” says Steven, who works on Navy submarines, as Carter once did.
“One of the reasons we named our son after President Carter is how humble he is,” Joanna says.
Carter holds the baby and beams for the camera.
“I like the name,” he says.
A modest life
When they reach their property, the Carters turn right off the sidewalk and cut across the wide lawn toward their house.
Carter stops to point out a tall magnolia that was transplanted from a sprout taken from a tree that Andrew Jackson planted on the White House lawn.
They walk past a pond, which Carter helped dig and where he now works on his fly-fishing technique. They point out a willow tree at the pond’s edge, on a gentle sloping lawn, where they will be buried in graves marked by simple stones.
They know their graves will draw tourists and boost the Plains economy.
Their one-story house sits behind a government-owned fence that once surrounded Richard Nixon’s house in Key Biscayne, Fla. The Carters already have deeded the property to the National Park Service, which will one day turn it into a museum.
Their house is dated, but homey and comfortable, with a rustic living room and a small kitchen. A cooler bearing the presidential seal sits on the floor in the kitchen — Carter says they use it for leftovers.
In a remodel not long ago, the couple knocked down a bedroom wall themselves. “By that time, we had worked with Habitat so much that it was just second-nature,” Rosalynn says.
Rosalynn Carter practices tai chi and meditates in the mornings, while her husband writes in his study or swims in the pool. He also builds furniture and paints in the garage; the paint is still wet on a portrait of a cardinal that will be their Christmas card this year.
They watch Atlanta Braves games or “Law and Order.” Carter just finished reading “The Innovators” by Walter Isaacson. They have no chef and they cook for themselves, often together. They make their own yogurt.
On this summer morning, Rosalynn mixes pancake batter and sprinkles in blueberries grown on their land.
Carter cooks them on the griddle.
Then he does the dishes.
QUESTIONS
Please write 300 words in response to this nonfiction report, which appeared in The Washington Post.
Answer some of these questions: Is this an effective portrayal of the lives of its subjects? Why or why not? What are the details in this story that seem the most compelling to you as a reader? What is missing in this story?
Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan beautifully portray the life of the former president, Jimmy Carter. The piece is somewhat effective. I believe it’s an effective portrayal because it mentions the day to day things he does. It mentions his love for teaching at the church but also how he has taught at Emory University for 36 years. The authors mention little things about his life after the presidency. They also include where he lives and what other people say about him. For example, people refer to him as “a good ‘ol southern gentleman”.
The details in this story that seem to be most compelling to me are the numbers. They really emphasize how much of a normal guy Jimmy Carter is. They mention how much tax paying dollars he has spent after his time in the office. For instance, “Carter costs U.S. taxpayers less than any other ex-president, according to the General Services Administration, with a total bill for him in the current fiscal year of $456,000, covering pensions, an office, staff, and other expenses.” In the text, they compare various things with other former presidents and it just comes to light the fact that Carter is just a normal person like me and you. Additionally, The federal government pays for an office for each ex-president. Carter’s, in the Carter Center in Atlanta, is the least expensive, at $115,000 this year. The Carters could have built a more elaborate office with living quarters, but for years they slept on a pullout couch for a week each month.” This quote contributes to the afterlife of Carter and compares how economic Carter comes out as a former president.
What seems to be missing in this story is more input from Carter himself. I feel like some more quotes from him could’ve been more effective in terms of showing his humbleness. Not only that but an increase in community quotes would’ve been helpful. Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan portrayed nicely the life of Carter.
I like your emphasis on the day-to-day aspects.
This piece is an effective portrayal of the lives of Jimmy Carter and his wife. I was impressed by the ability of the author in describing his daily life in every situation. He is a very honest and humble person and the difference between him and other US presidents is underlined throughout the piece. After reading this article, I have a good reputation about him because it is not easy to continue to live a modest life after being the most powerful man of the world. Nowadays everything is controlled by money and the powerful people always demand for more power and privileges but it is good to know that people like him are still alive. Jimmy could have lived in a bigger house and he could have earned more money by making speeches but he put his dignity and his honesty at the first place. I really like when it is asked to them If there was something that they would like to have and they respond that they are happy with everything in their possession. Jimmy and his wife are happy because they were able of not changing their mind set and their view of the world. Most of the times power is something that could make a human being metaphorically blind and shifts his real values. A detail that impressed me was the repetition of many sentences that served to underline the humbleness of the character and how important are many actions to him and his wife. He is considered by the community of his hometown as a good guy and “a good ‘ol southern gentleman”. I personally think that people like him should have more impact on society in order to try to re-establish a common sense of honesty and humility.
This piece is not an effective portrayal of the real “Carters;” it is actually a biased misrepresentation.
Out of the Carters’ 90+ years of living — including a marriage, careers, children, teaching, and a White House presidency — the Washington Post chose to write about the last years of their eventful lives. Now any adult over the age of 60 could easily say that the person they are now is not the same person they were when they were younger.
That is the case especially for the Carters as they worked tremendously and put tears, blood, and sweat into their careers to get what they have gone. Travelling to senior citizen Pres. Jimmy Carter in his retirement years is not accurately representative of who he is. Just because he sings lullabies and picks berries and peaches with his nieces every weekend, doesn’t mean he would hesitate commencing war on our nation’s enemies. In this piece, Carter is portrayed as a very caring, nice, gentle, sweet, soft old man – not the powerful, tough, brave, masculine leader of the free world he was back in the day.
Just because President Carter doesn’t want to work in elite hedge funds on Wall Street or ride around in Lamborghini’s doesn’t mean he is a unique president or far different than the others. Yes, the presidents vary in political beliefs, choices, likes, dislikes – but Carter isn’t just ‘a good ‘ol southern gentleman.’ This piece is missing the troubles, obstacles, milestones, experiences, sacrifices, developments that the Carters had to endure throughout their experience and White House presidency. The Carters probably have a plethora of experiences and knowledge to offer, especially to this piece, but to focus it on their retirement years where they spend their lives in their hometown and with the people they love doesn’t do them justice.
I believe this piece could’ve been shifted to be centered on Carter’s reflections on their time at the White House, narrations of their past experiences, and their political lives. It is biased to compare a retired President at age 94 to President Trump or Obama, who are still young and active in their careers.
“The un-celebrity president” written by the duo Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan was meant to portray Jimmy Carter as a modest man. Their effort to communicate this idea is a success since I came to believe that Carter is a humble man.
First of all, the details they opted to share such as “paper plate” or “solo cup” reveal that he’s not dining in the finest French restaurant like we would have thought, but he’s in the comfort of his own home. It shows that carter is not materialistic and it reinforces the idea that he prefers the simplest things in life. Furthermore, there’s a lot of comparisons of Carter’s lifestyle with other former presidents, especially about their annual revenue. Carter is satisfied with the amount of money he gains. Moreover, they added opinions of others about Carter, but just not any random person, they chose to interview those who are familiar with Carter like the “the two 15-year-olds” who live in the same neighborhood as him or even Maya Wynn, who grew up in Church with him. We become intimately close with Carter, as if we are part of his friend group. Finally, the mention of his hobbies, such as teaching and writing, make him seem more relatable.
The details that are appealing to me are the fact that the writers didn’t try to erase his past. If they acted like his presidency never happened or that it doesn’t have any consequences on his social life than that would have seemed unrealistic. Another detail I appreciated is the meeting with baby Carter. At first, I was confused by the fact they decided to focus on this moment, I thought that it didn’t have its place in the report, but when the name of the baby was revealed I understood why it was relevant to the story.
This piece is the perfect example of a well written report.
Yeah, I was a big fan of the use of the Solo cup in this! Like your attention to the details in the piece.
“The Un-Celebrity President” by Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan gives an effective portrayal of the lives of ex president, Jimmy Carter, and his wife, Rosalynn Carter. They depicted the Carters as humble, regular people, the complete opposite of what you expect presidents to be like after their presidency. The authors, Sullivan and Jordan, do this by including small details of activities the Carters take part in, in their day to day lives. For example in the text it states, “Every other Sunday morning, Carter teaches Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church on the edge of town, and people line up the night before to get a seat. This Sunday morning happens to be his 800th lesson since he left the White House. He walks in wearing a blazer too big through the shoulders, a striped shirt and a turquoise bolo tie.” The fact that he is willing to teach at his church and give back to the community shows that he didn’t let being a president and the “fame” associated with being one separate him from his community. Also, the addition of describing what he was wearing just adds to it by showing the readers that he dresses like everyone else, not in perfectly tailored suits.
The details that seem the most compelling to me are the comparisons of the presidents before and after Jimmy Carter. The stark difference in how they lived their lives after their presidency compared to Carter makes Carter seem just that much more humble. One instance is when they compared the Carters’ 2 bedroom house to Trump’s “gold-plated sinks in his private jet, Manhattan penthouse and Mar-a-Lago estate.” Another instance is the comparison between the prices of the presidents’ offices. Carter’s costs “$115,000,” whereas, “Obama’s, which is $536,000 a year. Clinton’s costs $518,000, George W. Bush’s is $497,000 and George H.W. Bush’s is $286,000, according to the GSA.” By comparing ex president Jimmy Carter to other presidents, the authors are showing the readers that Carter had the opportunity to make money after his presidency but chose not to.
This piece written by Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan most definitely gives an effective portrayal of former President Jimmy Carter. In order for them to acquire this genuine portrayal of Carter, they needed to document all the mundane actions he goes through on a daily basis, which they did with flying colors. My father always instilled in me that ones true character is not shown when under the light of a camera, it’s how he/she acts off camera that is the real indicator. Carter was a man that did not care for the spotlight, he wanted to spread goodness in the world just for the sake of making people happy, not to use later as a marketing tool. Without wanting anything in return, Carter would teach “Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church on the edge of town, and people line up the night before to get a seat.”
While there were many things in this piece that caught my eye, the details surrounding Carter’s peanut business stood out to me the most. Carter could have been/done anything he wanted in life after his time of being President. Yet, he went back to his old life. He experience all the glitz and glamour of being President, the private planes, fancy hotels, and gourmet food. Still, he wanted to live a simple life of selling peanuts. Carter went from living in the most luxurious and well known house in the world, to “a two-bedroom rancher assessed at $167,000, less than the value of the armored Secret Service vehicles parked outside.” This baffled me.
Although, this was a well written informative piece I do believe it is missing one key component, his life before it all. What was he like as a kid, teenager, and early adulthood. I think these details could have been very valuable.
Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan were able to effectively portray the lives of the Carters. They successfully illustrate how Jimmy Carter who was the 39th president of the United States who served from 1977 to 1981 lives humbly given his past accomplishments. Most people would expect former presidents living lavishly and eating on fine china but this is not the case for Carter as described in the piece. Carter actually uses paper plates for his meals and plastic Solo cups to drink bargain brand chardonnay at his friend’s house which is littered with 1976 campaign buttons among other relics. He is contrasted with other former presidents who have made tens of millions of dollars on opportunities that come easily to them allowing them to live a life of wealth. Carter turned down various opportunities to make large profits as he did not want to do it for the sole reason of him having served as president in the White House. It is commonly known that ex-presidents and even their spouses could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for a simple speech but the authors remark that Carter passed up these chances as his ambition was never to have been rich.
There is a multitude of details throughout this piece that comes across as compelling to me as a reader. One point specifically that stood out for me was the point in which a trust that Carter had held at the time of his presidency was over one million dollars in debt that he easily could have saved by capitalizing on his time served as president but he instead made the decision that his income would come from writing. Another point that stuck out was how Carter could afford to travel using private jets but he opts for flying commercial which comes as a shock to me as I feel like flying private would be a better experience overall in comparison to flying commercial where you are bound to luggage restrictions and increasingly uncomfortable seats. After reading the piece, I feel as if most of my questions regarding Carter have been answered but there could have been more information about his pre-presidential life included in the piece such as his childhood as they might have given context for Carter’s altruistic nature.
“The un-celebrity president”, a story about Jimmy Carter’s life after his presidency, tells the readers about the modest and humble lifestyle of once the most influential post in the entire world. To our surprise, the former president has quite a modest life, spending his time teaching parishioners in the local Baptist Church, contributing to his local community, and even demolition the wall in Carter’s old house with his own hands. Such a lifestyle is hard to associate with a person who back in the day was dealing with the most powerful political entities in the US and worldwide.
This text came quite unexpected and sometimes even shocking for me. Hearing about the former president who is trying to save taxpayer’s money by limiting some of the generous federal benefits given to him and living in the old house he built himself was a surprise for me. Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, the authors of the piece, provide a detailed description of Jimmy Carter, and create an effective portrayal of the former president. They managed to do so by focusing on Carter’s everyday life and telling the readers about him as a person rather than selling his ideas or discussing his political career. In my opinion, while Carter’s accomplishments and failures would be enough for the history books, only watching the everyday life of the former president and seeing him as a regular man can provide us with a true insight into his character.
While the authors did a fine job portraying Carter’s after-presidency life, there’s something that this text lacks. In my opinion, the idea of this piece is either too blurry for me to understand or just simply missing. After reading the text, I wanted to double-check the website I’m currently on. It felt like I just finished going through a Wikipedia page that simply states the facts from one’s biography. For me, it remained unclear, what was the authors’ idea behind the text and why didn’t I hear their voice guiding me through the piece. After scratching my head for a while, I realized that I was simply lucky enough to come across an unbiased paper describing a person who was once in the middle of our very biased world.
I like how you got modest and humble right into your first sentence, and then backed it up with evidence.
I think the author wonderfully summed up the reflective, introverted personality of John Carter, America’s humblest character. The article perfectly displayed the presidency of John Carter. It highlights the governance he established. The Government was sensitive to the peoples’ needs, understanding and well-controlled, it was competent, well-managed, efficient, economical, purposeful, and a government of which the people were proud. He arrived back in Georgia poverty-stricken, the victim of poor management of the blind trust he created as a demonstration of his commitment to cleaning up government. From there, he rebuilt himself as a crusader for peace and preserved human rights. He promised and strived towards achieving justice around the globe through conflict-resolution and elevating issues of racial discrimination. He has extensively contributed in charitable organizations to serve the underprivileged. Being the oldest president, Carter founded the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The center, began in 1982, Established in 1982 with the purpose of protecting human rights and resolving issues related to democracy. In addition to his affordable home in Georgia, Jimmy and his wife love spending weekends with the neighbors that describe him as an ordinary induvial. He prepares his own breakfast with his wife and does not feel shy in purchasing clothes and essentials from the Dollar Tree. He has been seen eagerly shaking hands with passengers on commercial flights. Carter’s modest lifestyle is sharply different from those of other living former presidents as highlighted in the article. I appreciated how the Washington post wrote about his views on the current president and Carters’ remarkable adherence to truth, justice and simplicity. The unique characteristics that allowed him to contact to the hearts of thousands of people nationwide till this day.
I believe the Washington post should have taken highlights from the presidency of Jimmy Carter and how he was deeply engaged in foreign crises during his term in office. It would have been interesting for the reader to learn about Carter’s role as an ambassador for multiple international missions and nuclear weapon disputes he faced during his presidency. The article should have called attention to Carters’ presidential administrations, domestic affairs and foreign affairs.
This nonfiction report is basically like a check-in with the lives of the Carters. It shows how they live a “fairly” simple life and do not cost the taxer payers much. Honestly, something that I really appreciated about this piece is how humanizing it is. Too many times we see people who hold positions of power or wealth or popularity as above us. Superhuman in a sense. But this writing brings one of them down to earth. Personally, as a reader, I found myself at ease. At least for certain parts. It keeps a calm mood and positive energy, essentially taking you for a tour around his town. It does not focus on his presidential campaign, nor much of his life before it. It more or less just seems like a day in the life.
As I don’t know him and his family personally. I cannot say anything about how it represents him as a person. I do think that it glorified him a lot. Those who were against his presidency did not describe him as a bad president or person. But rather ineffective, he promised a lot, delivered a lot. But also lacked a lot. Even from the reading “Carter’s presidency — from 1977 to 1981 — is often remembered for long lines at gas stations and the Iran hostage crisis.”
I would have loved to hear more from him. There were too many quotes from other people talking about what a great guy he was, and they made it seem kind of forced. Something I did love about this reading though was that they were able to create a perfect image. Somehow it felt like I was watching a documentary about my local area or a news segment. It went into great detail where it was needed but left a lot of questions still.
Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan effectively portrayed the lives of America’s 39th President Jimmy Carter and his wife in their piece, “The Un-Celebrity President”. This piece underlines the day-to-day life of them. “Simplicity” is the one-word description of their life that is portrayed throughout Sullivan and Jordan’s work.
The most compelling thing to me in this story is how the writers show the love Carter has for his hometown, Plains and vice versa. Plains was within the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s heart even when he was in the capital doing his Presidential duties. Presidency took the man away from Plains but could never take Plains away from Carter. As Stuart E. Eizenstat said, “Plains is really part of his DNA. He carried it into the White House, and he carried it out of the White House.” Therefore, he returned to the town and his simple life immediately after his life as President. Not only did he love the county but so did the people in Plains loved him. The story provides with a number of evidence where Carter is seen having a very friendly relationship with the people as they mentions him at times as “He’s a good ’ol Southern gentleman” while other times as “He’s a nice guy, just like a regular person.” Another thing that compels me is how different he is from the other Presidents. He leads a very simple and humble life. The story contains statistics which show how less the government must pay for him compared to other Ex-Presidents.
What I find missing in this story is more of his personal opinion about his life while the story covered mostly what people surrounding him thinks about Carter. Other than that this is a great work by Sullivan and Jordan.
“The un-celebrity president” was a very interesting read, I have never read a narrative about a politician that had a perspective like this. Authors Sullivan and Jordan make several points through plain observations. Even the title of the piece— only The is capitalized while the epithet for President Carter is lowercase. This says something about Carter, its evidence to support his modesty, humility and plain life that is described throughout the story.
As for if this is an accurate depiction, this story sounds organic and candid but I can’t say I know anything about Carter or his presidency. So I don’t know if this perspective matches up with what is usually said about him.
I thought this piece was heartwarming and demonstrated a man’s simple life and the simple pleasure of it when you strip down the rest. I found some irony in the fact that they kept talking about he doesn’t wanna be a celebrity or a hot shot but his whole town has all these things and places named after him and people come from around the country and internationally to see him. I think that this piece sheds light on a lot of good things one can do by having humility and selflessness. The inclusion of how The Carters will one day be buried on their property and how they shared with the authors that they know it will do positive things for their communtis economy is a prime example of this.
This piece didn’t seem like it was written that recently however, only the small inclusion of Carter’s comments on Trump is the only indication of modern day, i think this is good in a way for that the focus is on this man’s life after presidency and retirement. But i also think a lot of more important things can be said if we heard Carter’s input on what is happening currently in the political climate of today.
“The un-celebrity president” by Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, portrays the character in the story exactly as what the title suggests. Jim Carter, a former president of the US, was depicted as a humble and non-materialistic individual. His persona was portrayed effectively because I have no idea who Jim Carter is and based on this piece, I believe that he is a very simple and humble person.
This was a very effective portrayal of Jim Carter and his wife because the writer went into details by telling us stories about his life. They included what other people thought about him. According to the writer, unlike a lot of former presidents who pursued wealth after presidency, Carter wasn’t concerned with riches. He didn’t take advantage of being president by capitalizing from it but instead he earned money from his pension and from writing books. He lived in a regular house, he took normal flights and he was a professor for many years. This was enough to make me see Carter and his wife in a positive light.
The details that compelled me most was when the writer mentioned that he had owed one million debt from his peanut plantation after presidency, he and his wife were really worried about the situation and they thought they were going to lose everything. Instead of taking advantage of being ex-president to generate money to pay off their debt, Carter decided that he will do so by selling his books and using his pension. I think this detail was most effective in showing us the type of person Carter is, since even though he was placed in a bad situation he still stayed true to his character.
I wish they had spoken about his life before being president instead of after and during it. This piece left me wondering if he was always this type of humble individual or was it a situation he faced in his presidential role that made him become who he is.
The humble ex-president. Admittedly not knowing much about Mr. Carter as a president, or as a person, before I read this article made me realize how humble Mr. Carter truly is. This piece transplants the reader right into the daily routine of the Carters couple as they go about their business in and around their house. This helps to paint the picture of what Mr. Carter is truly like right away, and without any “filters” that a reader might have. It is extremely easy to be biased just by thinking what an ex-president should or should not be like, based on our perception of the presidents that we have seen during our lifetime. We get accustomed to what we perceive as the norm, on president’s and ex-president’s behavior and think that every president was exactly the same. This article dives right into the upkeep numbers to effectively communicate the difference between Mr. Carter and pretty much every modern president that took the office before or after him. This is an effective way to carry the point across with solid facts that are easily checked. The authors then take on the high-level view of Mr. Carter’s life in general, showing us that Mr.Carter actually had the same frugal way of life before and during his presidency as well. It’s impressive that he did not let the fact that he served as a president get to him. He set his path according to his own vision and stuck to it throughout his life.
Even this article gives reader a glimpse into private lives of Carters, more perspective from third party characters would be a welcome addition to the storyline. The authors did include a few sentences from the interviews taken from the people who came to see Mr.Carter teach at the Sunday school. More interviews from different people would complete the immersion into the Carter’s lives as it would add perspective and different angles.
There is something in the piece that does go back to what you call “daily routine,” and I guess I’m always interested in that day-to-day stuff that people do. I guess I think it can add up to a lifetime.