"I
would hope that the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting
peace, based not on weapons of war but
on international policies which reflect our own most precious values. These are not just my goals, and they will not be
my accomplishments, but the
affirmation of our nation’s continuing moral strength and our belief in an undiminished, ever-expanding American dream."
President Jimmy
Carter, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1977 [1]
A few years ago, I came across a YouTube
video of President Jimmy Carter speaking to the American people in a televised
address, in what has famously become known as the "Malaise" speech.
On July 15, 1979, he made the address in order to grab people's attentions when
it came to the energy crisis. President Carter said, "Too many of us now
tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer
defined by what one does but by what one owns, and went on to suggest that
consumerism provides people with false happiness. I hadn't been born just yet
during his presidency, but from just hearing those honest and straight-forward words
that President Carter had made, I wish I had been around to witness first hand
his presidency and his rise that led him to receiving a Nobel Peace Prize back
in 2002, all because of his tireless humanitarian efforts. Ever since coming
across that speech, I've become deeply interested in not only his humanitarian
efforts, but the efforts of others who try to make the world a slightly better
place than how they left it.
During President Carter's only term as United States President, which was from
1977 to 1981, he used human rights and the goal of nonintervention as his platform
for determining the course of U.S. foreign policy during his administration. The
president said his reasoning behind wanting to choose human rights was due to
the fact that, "we've been through some sordid and embarrassing years… and
I felt like it was time for our country to hold a beacon light . . . that would
rally our citizens to a cause," and so he sought out a path that would distinguish
himself from what Nixon, Ford, and even Kissinger had done.[2]
That fortitude of human rights by helping others in positive ways helped establish
peace between Israel and Egypt during the Camp David Accords in 1978. Not only
were his efforts effective during his presidency, he has even made great
strides following his presidency too.
When looking at what exactly took place during the Camp David Accords in
1978, which was the brokerage of a peace settlement between the conflicting
countries of Egypt and Israel, President Carter was able to accomplish
something no one else possibly could have. The two countries at been at
conflict with each other for over 30 years, which had resulted in several wars
and the deaths of countless people. The president felt that peace was
achievable and possible, and was thus determined to make it happen, and devoted
his time in helping negotiate an agreement of peace between Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. That settlement was
reached over a period of 13 days in September 1978 by President Carter working
well into the night with the two leaders, being the lead negotiator and truly having
a key part in the bilateral negotiations. He did not allow them to give up, despite
numerous heated disagreements between the two leaders. Even though there were
some other pressing matters that weren't addressed nor settled, especially in
regards to the issue of the Palestinians, but simply having the agreement in
place, it truly made a difference, especially for President Carter at the time.
President Carter's humanitarian efforts have taken him throughout almost all
the corners of the world. Following his presidency, President Carter stuck with
his deep Christian convictions of helping others and established the Carter
Center, which is a non-partisan organization that seeks to prevent and resolve
conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health in areas of the
world. The work that Jimmy Carter has done, especially in regards to the
efforts made by his non-profit organization, is truly a Christian mission and
exhibits many Christian virtues, since he has done many selfless acts in order to
help others, especially his continued efforts with the poor, by finding the
right paths for them to rise up out of their dilemmas.
His tireless efforts in promoting human
rights, eradicating diseases, and spreading democracy has made him a very
important figure in today's world.
That deep conviction would be considered "a central reason for his appeal
as an international mediator is his Baptist-missionary sensibility and honest
broker integrity." Another major feature that President Carter has, is the
ability to disarm people with his empathy, lack of pretense, and overly bighearted
grant of respect towards all people that he meets.
[3]
Erwin C. Hargrove, a political scientist, enlightens to the possibly that
President Carter transcends his church's orthodoxy, and his faith has inspired
him to get himself into the world's struggles. By doing so, President Carter
molded his secular political ideology with his religious optimism, considering
the firm belief that all things are possibly with God, and that He will always
triumph in the end.
Just as a true Christian should, when President Carter deals with two opposing groups
in order to reach an agreement, he looks past all the atrocities that both
sides have dealt upon each other. Instead and very simply, he seeks to prevent
further grief in order bring stabilization between the two fractions, as well
as to the region, in order to bring healing and forgiveness.
Despite his best efforts internationally and diplomatically during his time as
president, Jimmy Carter's major accomplishments came after he lost his
reelection campaign in 1980 to Ronald Reagan. Greater accomplishments were made
via the Carter Center, which was created just a year after President Carter
left the White House. The center is a non-governmental, non-profit organization
that he, along with his wife, Rosalynn, founded in 1982, and is in partnership
with Emory University. The Carter Center is guided by five principles:
- The
Center emphasizes action and results. Based on careful research and
analysis, it is prepared to take
timely action on important and pressing issues.
- The
Center does not duplicate the effective efforts of others.
- The
Center addresses difficult problems and recognizes the possibility of
failure as an acceptable risk.
- The
Center is nonpartisan and acts as a neutral in dispute resolution
activities.
- The
Center believes that people can improve their lives when provided with the
necessary skills, knowledge, and
access to resources.
Under his leadership with the Carter Center, and with the help of a coalition
of various federal, private and international organizations, President Carter has made an effort getting rid of many
diseases that mainly strike the impoverished. The Carter Center has truly made
a difference by being able to reduce and nearly
eradicate Guinea worm disease by 99%, in which cases have gone from 3.5 million
per year in 1986 to only 1,060 in 2011, in the very poorest regions of Africa,
most notably in South Sudan.
These statistics mean that the disease could be only the second disease to be
completely eradicated. The disease is an infection caused by a parasite,
which feeds off of another in order to and is commonly spread through drinking
water that contains larvae, the immature forms of Guinea worm and ends up
penetrating the digestive tract and infects people, up to a year later. Generally,
the majority of the worms come out of the legs and feet, and occasionally ends
up leaving those infected with permanent damage to the joints infected and the
joints even becoming locked.
What
former President Jimmy Carter and his organization has simply done to reduce
the disease from spreading, has been distributing cloth water filters to
villagers and educating them about how not to spread the infection. The Carter
Center has also used the larvicide Abate in some cases, which is able to
control the fleas found in the drinking water. The World Health Organization
reports that there were only 521 cases of guinea worm disease as of September
2012, as compared to 1,006 cases during the previous year. Also, it has been found in only four
countries, as compared to being found in 20 countries as far back as 1990.
It's
interesting to note that the former president argues that when we think of
human rights, it's more political and mainly geared towards peoples' civil
rights. But, how we must think of it, is the human right to live and not
suffer, and be free of disease that can most easily be taken care of. Not only
is President Carter's non-profit organization helping eradicate guinea worm, he
has also made it his mission to take on river blindness, elephantiasis,
trachoma and schistosomiasis as well. This project is not the only one. President
Carter has also vigorously taken part in various elections throughout the
world, monitoring nearly 100 elections in 37 countries since he first started
his organization. While in office, Carter was a unyielding supporter of
democracy throughout the Latin American region, and was able to stand up to the
various military tyrants that populated
the region. That
mission continues and he has made sure that he's there to help evaluate the
electoral proceedings and report any findings once the votes have been
tabulated. Most
importantly, President Carter has been able to successfully mediate various
crises that have taken place in Haiti and North Korea, as well as throughout
the Middle East region that could have turned into much bigger and deadlier conflicts. Along with the Carter Center, the president has also helped
pass on more effective farming techniques that have aided more than eight million farmers in 15 African nations.
Those techniques has doubled or tripled the grain production there. Other
various actions that the Carter Center has taken initiative in, include:
- Helping to establish a village-based health care
delivery system in thousands of communities in Africa that now have
trained health care personnel and volunteers to distribute drugs and
provide health education.
- Strengthening international standards for human rights
and the voices of individuals defending those rights in their communities
worldwide.
- Pioneering new public health approaches to preventing
or controlling devastating neglected diseases in Africa and Latin America.
- Advancing efforts to improve mental health care and
diminish the stigma against people with mental illnesses.
Looking
at President Carter's Christian virtues, one cannot argue that it would be humility
and the determination of helping others. Even though President Carter didn't
officially promote his Christian beliefs while in the White House, his actions
proved otherwise. President Carter has stated:
"We worship the Prince of
Peace, and one of the key elements of my life as President in challenging times was to keep our country
peaceful. I was able to deal with challenges without
launching a missile or dropping a bomb. My commitment to peace was an aspect of my Christian faith. Also, basic human
rights are obviously compatible with the teachings
of Jesus Christ, and I made human rights a foundation of foreign policy."
Because of President Carter's strong Christian fortitude, he has tirelessly
been working around the world to make it a slightly more peaceful place than
how he found it, even long after serving in public office. Through his selfless
actions, President Carter has made people realize that there are still
injustices taking place in the poorest of regions still and doing the most
simplest of things, such as placing a cloth over drinking water or setting up
mosquito nets for those that need it, can treat those injustices. He has made
sure that people not only deserve the freedom of living a just life, but also, a
life filled with the freedom of democracy. President Jimmy Carter's actions
truly deserve special credit, considering he has lived a truly moral and selfless
Christian life. Most importantly, he reminds us that there are better alternatives
to conflict, stating once that "we’ve fought fire with fire, never
thinking that fire is better quenched with water."
* 1.) Carter,
Jimmy. Inaugural Address of President
Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum. http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/speeches/inaugadd.phtml.
Jan. 20, 1977.
* 2.) http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Kennedy-Bush/Jimmy-Carter-Human-rights.html
* 3 & 4.) Brinkley, Douglas. Jimmy Carter's Modest Quest for Global Peace.
Foreign Affairs. Issue 6. Nov/Dec 1995.
* 5.) Nelson, Roxanne. The Last Worm. Scientific
American. July 2012, Vol. 306, Issue 7.
* 6.) Center
for Disease Control. Parasites - Dracunculiasis (also
known as Guinea Worm Disease). http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/gen_info/faqs.html.
* 7.) World
Health Organization. Dracunculiasis. http://www.who.int/dracunculiasis/en/.
November 5, 2012
* 8 & 9.) The Carter Center. Major Accomplishments:
Overview. http://www.cartercenter.org/about/accomplishments/index.html. 2012.
* 10.) Pulliam
Bailey, Sarah. Q&A: Jimmy Carter on his Faith-Filled Presidency.
Christianity Today.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/januaryweb-only/interview-jimmy-carter.html.
January 9, 2012.
*11.) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=727
Calvary Cemetery contains a monument
dedicated to the approximately 430 people who died with the sinking of the Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan in 1860. Most of those lost in the
tragedy were from Milwaukee's Third Ward
Irish community and is the second greatest loss
of life seen on the Great Lakes.
The chapel was built in 1899 using Cream City brick and decorated with stone trim. An arched portico with limestone columns and a rose window set the entrance while three hemispherical apses flank the other three sides. It is crowned by an octagonal tower with a peaked roof and clerestory windows. Dedicated on All Souls Day in 1902, the chapel held mass on Memorial Day and All Souls Day until 1950, when the building's deteriorating condition made this impractical.
Calvary Cemetery contains a monument
dedicated to the approximately 430 people who died with the sinking of the Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan in 1860. Most of those lost in the
tragedy were from Milwaukee's Third Ward
Irish community and is the second greatest loss
of life seen on the Great Lakes.
The chapel was built in 1899 using Cream City brick and decorated with stone trim. An arched portico with limestone columns and a rose window set the entrance while three hemispherical apses flank the other three sides. It is crowned by an octagonal tower with a peaked roof and clerestory windows. Dedicated on All Souls Day in 1902, the chapel held mass on Memorial Day and All Souls Day until 1950, when the building's deteriorating condition made this impractical.
