After leaving office, Jimmy Carter engaged in a number of humanitarian and human rights efforts that eventually won him the Nobel Peace Prize. His first action was to establish the Carter Foundation to prevent suffering and promote human rights around the world.
One success of the foundation was the eradication of infectious diseases, including Guinea worm disease, from 3.5 million cases to 23 in 30 years. It also has extensive Diplomatic accomplishments. Among these was a diplomatic mission to North Korea for Bill Clinton, the sitting president at the time. He negotiated a freeze to the North Korean nuclear program as well as a treaty to dismantle it, which he announced without permission from the Clinton administration to make sure the United States had to agree to the treaty. This treaty later collapsed under the Bush administration.
The Carter Foundation also helped to create the 2003 Geneva Accords, which negotiated peace between Israel and Palestine, as well as the 1999 Nairobi Agreements between Uganda and Sudan. Additionally, Carter led expeditions to Haiti, to prevent a US led invasion, and to Cuba, where he was allowed to speak uncensored to the people of Cuba in Spanish. The foundation oversaw recall elections in Venezuela, where Fidel Castro failed to be recalled and upheld the results. Carter also has worked with The Elders, a organization of individuals started by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights across the world.
Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for working "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
Pretty cool to see how Jimmy Carter was able to take his career in a positive direction even after his presidency. While he did some good things in office, many people remember him for his poor handling of the economy and embarrassing inability to take care of foreign issues, however this article shows that he stayed positive and continued working for the betterment of others after he left office. Good information and well written.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting, especially this theme that presidencies, while thought of as the zeniths of a political, professional career, are sometimes not the best fit for those who hold the office. For instance, look no further than William Howard Taft, who is considered a mediocre president, but a great chief justice who reformed the systems and procedures of the high court. Indeed, According to historian Donald F. Anderson, Taft as chief justice "was as aggressive in the pursuit of his agenda in the judicial realm as Theodore Roosevelt was in the presidential." Carter is just one of the many examples of interesting political lives.
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