Back in the (‘90s) day, I was living in Atlanta and doing some work for Americus-based Habitat for Humanity. I had written about HFH, and now I helped out with Jimmy Carter Work Projects. The first one was in Houston. My job was to help with the media who always wanted more time with former president/expert carpenter Jimmy Carter. It was always more time than Carter or the Secret Service preferred, but the benefits of informing others about such projects and the ongoing need for volunteers and donations was a HFH priority.
My first impression of Carter was his genuine politeness and signature smile. Here was a former president who had brokered a Mideast peace and had earned an appreciative and laudatory global reputation for his post-presidential work and advocacy of public health and human rights. He didn’t spend time giving well-compensated speeches.
A couple of moments are especially memorable.
I once accompanied a Secret Service agent to try and coax Carter down from a house roof where he was feverishly working. It was mid-day, mid-summer with uncomfortable Houston humidity, and he was in his mid 70s. We implored him to come down for a hydration break. He did. Eventually. When he had finished.
It was an up-close reminder that he wasn’t using Habitat as a political forum (who doesn’t like sweat equity and volunteerism?), as so many politicians did. He was literally helping to build houses—not a political career. He was genuine. He wanted to help people more than be helped by people. “You’ll get a lot more out of it than you put into it” was his mantra.
Later that day there was a standard, Baptist-tinged ceremony to celebrate a finished house with its new, sweat-equity owners. We all gathered where President Carter would lead the dedication. After a longer-than-usual moment of silence, it was apparent: President Carter wasn’t there.
And then we heard his Southern comfort voice: “Please move that over a little bit to your left. No, a bit more. Perfect. Thank you.” As it turned out he was next door, at a house that only needed landscape touches. It was a reminder of his micromanaging manner, previously seen in the White House. Then he came over and humbly presided and embraced the new owners.
When he recently died at 100, Carter ended an unsurpassed post-presidential era. And how ironic that flags will still be at half mast when Donald Trump is sworn in. Another reminder that we will not see Carter’s kind again. But we shouldn’t give up on finding someone to “Make America Gracious Again.”