Ross: I admit having a soft spot for President Jimmy Carter

The Carter Center announced over the weekend that former President Jimmy Carter is now in hospice.

I admit having a soft spot for Jimmy Carter, because I covered him when he was Governor of Georgia. I’ll always remember his open door policy. The trick was to wait until the press aide outside the office took a break, and then, if the governor’s door was open, you could just walk in. And he would give an interview.

Jimmy Carter, 39th US president, enters hospice care at home

I saw first-hand his determination to follow his conscience — how he would write out a press statement in longhand on a legal pad without consulting his aides.

He wasn’t always the good guy. When he ran for governor he made a shameless play for the white vote. He appealed to segregationists. He campaigned against forced bussing, and criticized his opponent for supporting Martin Luther King.

But then, on inauguration day in Atlanta, 1971, Carter said this:

“I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.”

The applause was rather tepid, because the segregationists knew they’d been played.

“No poor, rural, weak, or Black person should ever have to bare the additional burdens of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, or job, or simple justice,” said Carter.

When he decided in 1974 to run for President, I didn’t get it. He was not a great speaker, and no one knew who he was. But he outworked everybody and won. And speaking from the steps of the capitol, promised to bring that idealism to the White House.

“For we know that if we despise our own government, we have no future. We reject the prospects of failure or mediocrity, or an inferior quality of life for any purpose. Our government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.”

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Unfortunately, there were too many crises – the Iran hostage crisis, a botched rescue mission, gas lines, mortgage rates so high that by 1980 when we bought our first house – I signed a mortgage contract at an interest rate of 15%.

And that year Carter would lose in a landslide to Ronald Reagan.

But the end of his presidency marked the beginning of the longest and most active post-presidency in American history: A Nobel peace prize, the Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity.

He remained engaged in the Middle East – with both sides. He monitored elections around the world.

He also criticized his allies – Bill Clinton for the Lewinsky Scandal; Obama for using drones against terrorists, and for keeping Gitmo open.

It was all part of his mission to give citizens a reason to trust their government.

“And that we had enabled our people to be proud of their government once again,” said President Carter.

That was a tall order in 1977. And despite all his efforts, it’s even tougher now.

At least he tried.

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