It has been said many times, but it’s important to remember that Jimmy Carter’s most important and impactful years as a leader in the United States came after he left the presidency in 1981. That’s more than four decades, starting in his late 50s, during which President Carter showed the world by example what a public servant could be, what a public servant should be, and how a person’s ideas can grow and change as time brings more clarity to the true tenets of progress.
In 2019, President Carter spoke at a church service about his 2015 cancer diagnosis, saying, "I said a prayer about it. I didn't ask God to let me live, I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.” His presence among us has been a blessing, and his memory will remain one long after he has shed this mortal coil.
Here are some stories to remind you what a lodestar in progressive politics Carter has been—the positive feelings, the fun times, and most importantly, the hope Jimmy has been able to offer all of us over the years.
President Jimmy Carter is a national treasure. He has spent the better part of his life performing a decades-long mitzvah for the world. Like many of the truly great, he has shown us what we can be when we are our best selves. His memory is and will always be a blessing.
Markos and Kerry are joined by Aaron Rupar today to discuss what he is seeing in the right-wing media landscape. Rupar is an independent journalist whose Public Notice Substack is a must-read for those who want to know how truly outrageous the conservative movement is. We are addicted to his Twitter account, with its never-ending stream of Republican lunacy all captured on video.