Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of United States (1977-1981) died on 29th December 2024. He was 100 years old. I feel he was the most honest and decent president that the US had in the last 50-60 years. 

My experience of Carter

I met him briefly in 1975 when I was a graduate student at the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, Florida. One day in the later part of January 1975 I was coming back in the evening to my department office from my campus dorm when I saw posters all over the campus announcing that Jimmy Carter the Democratic presidential candidate will speak at 8 p.m. in the McCarty auditorium.

I normally used to go to my dorm around 5 or 5:30 p.m. to cook and after dinner would usually come back to my office in the department to study or do experiments in the lab till about 12 or 12:30 a.m.  The quiet atmosphere of the office at night was very conducive to studying.

Hence when I saw those posters in the evening, I thought it might be worthwhile to go and see what a potential President of the US is all about.  Coming from a political family in India I was curious about the politics in the US and the talk by Jimmy Carter provided an excellent opportunity to find out more.

Thus I went a little early to the auditorium and sat in an aisle seat near the back so that if I got bored, I could leave the talk without disturbing other people.

At exactly 8.00 p.m. Jimmy Carter entered the auditorium from the back smiling his toothy smile and shaking hands with the audience as he passed by.  He shook hands with me and casually asked where I was from to which I replied India, and he moved on.

His thick southern accent was difficult to follow but his smiling face and charming and gracious manners captivated me and so I sat through his speech. After the lecture came the question/answer time.  A black woman got up and literally lit into Jimmy Carter accusing him of racism since he came from the South and calling him names etc.  Throughout this tirade Jimmy Carter simply kept on smiling and answered the question without any rancor or irritation.  He never appeared to be perturbed or rattled at all.  I was extremely impressed by his demeanor and behavior.

So I came back to my office around 9:30 p.m. and told my office mates that I just saw the next President of the US. One of my officemates got livid and told me that I had been in the US for only a month and how dare I pass judgment on the U.S. political candidates. “The next President will be Ronald Reagan”  he told me. I had no idea who Reagan was but somehow my gut feeling told me that Jimmy Carter may become the next President.  I became so interested in his campaign that I used to read everything about him that came in the newspapers. 

So I used to go to the main library on UF campus and read editorials in New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald etc. and became quite knowledgeable about Jimmy Carter and his policies of healing the nation post Nixon/Ford Watergate fiasco. I was delighted when he became the President.

I used to debate with my American friends and officemates regarding the pros and cons of Carter candidacy and they were amazed at my knowledge. That is when I felt that Americans had become quite illiterate since they hardly read the papers and formed their opinion only from the news bytes on TV. My crowning glory came when I persuaded my officemate to vote for Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election.

Another indirect connection to Jimmy Carter was my wife Nandini Nimbkar’s thesis committee member Dr. A. J. Norden.  Dr. Norden was a distinguished peanut breeder and professor at UF. More than 80% of Jimmy Carter’s peanut farm in Plains, Georgia was under Dr. Norden’s peanut variety.  He used to tell his students, including Nandini, how simply the Carters lived and their old-world family values.

I think Jimmy Carter was one of the most decent and honest occupants of the White House who probably was undone by the Washington establishment who always considered him an outsider. His presidency was called a failed one, though in retrospect people feel he did not get the credit due to him.

Carter's beliefs and practices

Carter was a visionary and believed in renewable energy and reducing environmental pollution. He believed that large-scale solar energy use in the U.S. will help the country get away from the clutches of mid-east oil.  He therefore set up the world’s first Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) - now renamed National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.  My professor Dr. Erich Farber played an important role in planning it though the politics triumphed over talent and ultimately the directorship of SERI went to Denis Hayes an environmental politician.

Carter spent most of his post-presidency life doing community service through his Carter Center and received many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Besides setting up a new Department of Energy and Education, Carter also showed to the future presidents the power of setting up presidential foundations which can do philanthropic work.   Thus Bush, Clinton and Obama all set up their philanthropy foundations inspired by the Carter Center.

He was active till the end, advising and negotiating with leaders across the globe.              

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian engineer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra. He can be reached at anilrajvanshi50@gmail.com.  His podcasts can be accessed at  https://anilrajvanshi50.podbean.com and his books at https://nariphaltan.org/publications/akrbooks.htm)