- Jimmy Carter’s life story – His life story highlights the tension between what we plan and what happens, with Proverbs 19:21 “Man proposes, God disposes” being a key theme. He made luck for himself and benefited from blind chance.
- In office – As president, Carter faced the challenge of leading an ungovernable America, but had broader support than almost any of his successors. He was intelligent, disciplined, self-contained, and spiritual.
- Post-presidency – Carter lived a long and full life of purpose, inventing a new post-presidency role for himself, and eventually seeing his record and achievements reconsidered. He could not have received the Nobel Peace Prize had he died at 64.
- Context – It is hard to imagine the America of the late 70s, a country fraying on all its edges, dealing with globalization and environmental constraints, and politically with a Democratic base in the South, and a Republican stronghold on the West Coast.
- Culture and Economics: The US was a country fraying on all its edges, just beginning to absorb the shock of the Vietnam years, in its first wave of grappling with globalization and environmental constraints. Prevailing memories reached back far beyond Vietnam to the Korean War, World War II, and the Great Depression.
- Technology: There were no cellphones then, nor even bulky “portable” phones. Computers meant behemoths at major data centers.
- Civic Life: Richard Nixon’s downfall seemed to have reinforced the idea that there was such a thing as public shame. It was construed as embarrassing for Jimmy Carter that his hard-luck brother, Billy, was in a penny-ante way cashing on the family fame.
- Legislation: In the Senate, Democrats had a margin of nearly 10 seats through Carter’s time. In the House, under Speaker Tip O’Neill, they had a margin of nearly 150 seats. The serious legislative dealmaking was among the Democrats.
- In Office: Jimmy Carter did more than anyone else, before or since, to bring peace to the Middle East, with his Camp David accords. He also changed the composition of the federal courts, deregulated countless industries, advocated for human rights, and saved the US decades of woe with his Panama Canal Treaty.
- Legacy: Jimmy Carter survived to see many of his ambitions realized, including near eradication of the dreaded guinea worm, and his character, vision, and sincerity recognized. He was an unlucky president, and a lucky man.
Published February 21, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read James Fallows’s original post An Unlucky President, and a Lucky Man
