Jimmy Carter

Here is a fascinating interview with Jimmy Carter, President of the USA from 1977 to 1980 and now leading a very active retirement whilst living in a modest bungalow in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Most interesting is his defence of his presidency, often considered to be a failure because it only lasted one term and ended in the shambles of the failed Iranian hostage rescue. During those four years, he says,


"We kept our country at peace. We never went to war. We never dropped a bomb. We never fired a bullet. But still we achieved our international goals. We brought peace to other people, including Egypt and Israel. We normalised relations with China, which had been non-existent for 30-something years. We brought peace between US and most of the countries in Latin America because of the Panama Canal Treaty. We formed a working relationship with the Soviet Union."

This policy came in for considerable criticism at the time, but in from today's perspective, looks to be an increasingly impressive claim.

PS: You can read more about the work of the Carter Center here