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Jimmy Carter Dies at Age 100. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired December 30, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. Thanks for joining us. I'm Anderson Cooper in New York.
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An outpouring of sympathy from around the world as former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was surrounded by family as he died at his home in Plains, Georgia, following two years in hospice care.
The American flag flying at half-staff right now at the White House, where President Carter held the Oval Office from 1977 to 1981. President Biden, on a winter vacation, spoke earlier about his colleague and friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The entire Carter family, on behalf of the world, the whole nation, we send our whole heartfelt sympathies and gratitude. Our gratitude for sharing President Carter with us for so many years.
You know, Jimmy Carter stands as a model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose, a life of principle, of faith and humility. He -- his life dedicated to others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: During his single term in office, Jimmy Carter forged a rare and enduring peace deal between Israel and Egypt, formalized relations with communist China President Nixon had begun, and put human rights at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy.
But his presidential career was only four years long, as voters blamed him for inflation at home. And, of course, the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran, which ended just one day after Carter left office.
The former president spoke several years ago with CNN about what he wanted people to remember about his time in the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What would you like to be remembered
in terms of your legacy for your presidency?
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we always told the truth. We kept our country at peace. We brought peace to other people around the world, and -- and we promoted human rights and never deviated from that commitment. Those are some of the things of which I'm proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Certainly, after the next four decades after the presidency, Jimmy Carter changed the world's view of what American presidents do after they leave the White House, blazing a path forward that's become, certainly, a shining example of doing good for other people.
Wolf Blitzer gives us a look back at President Carter's extraordinary life and career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARTER: We just want the truth again.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Jimmy Carter was elected president barely two years after the lawbreaking and coverups of the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign. His candor seemed like a breath of fresh air.
CARTER: There's a fear that our best years are behind us. But I say to you that our nation's best is still ahead.
BLITZER (voice-over): James Earl Carter was born on October 1, 1924. His father ran an agricultural supply store in Plains, Georgia. His mother was a nurse.
He was smart enough and tough enough to receive an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Just after graduation in 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith.
His naval career took him from battleships to the new nuclear submarine program. But when his father died in 1953, he left the military and returned to Georgia, where he spent the next two decades running the family peanut farm business, and slowly and steadily beginning a political career that saw him elected governor of Georgia in 1970.
JODY POWELL, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: To use an old 1950s term, if there ever was a classic example of an inner-directed man, you know, Jimmy Carter is it.
BLITZER (voice-over): His close friend and associate was press secretary Jody Powell, who died in 2009.
POWELL: He enjoyed people, and he enjoyed talking to people. I think he enjoyed those early days of campaigns when there was much more personal interaction with the voters than he did the latter stages, when it was a series of -- of set-piece speeches and large crowds.
CARTER: My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president.
BLITZER (voice-over): In 1976, the former Georgia governor went from being Jimmy "Who" to the White House. Not everyone in Washington was happy to see him.
TOM OLIPHANT, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": Washington, even more than New York, is the snobbiest city in America. And Carter and the Georgians were treated like dirt: condescendingly and with hostility. If he had a fault, it was that he matched Washington's hostility with his own.
BLITZER (voice-over): Early on, Carter was accused of presidential micromanaging, of excessive attention to detail.
[00:05:03]
OLIPHANT: At his best, Jimmy Carter mastered a subject and then led, sometimes very effectively, because of his mastery of its details.
BLITZER (voice-over): That mastery of details enabled Carter to negotiate the Camp David peace accords, a deal between Egypt and Israel that led to a peace treaty ending decades of war between their countries.
His most difficult presidential days came after Iranian militants took dozens of Americans hostage in Tehran in late 1979. They were held for 444 days, and eight U.S. servicemen died after President Carter ordered an elaborate rescue attempt that failed.
The Iran hostage crisis was only one of the challenges that confronted President Carter.
CARTER: We must face the fact that the energy shortage is permanent.
BLITZER (voice-over): During Carter's term, Americans endured a sharp, steady increase in oil and gasoline prices, which forced everything to cost more.
To some, Carter's stark comments began to sound like moralizing.
CARTER: The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric of America.
BLITZER (voice-over): In 1980, Carter faced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, who exuded sunny optimism and asked voters a simple question.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
BLITZER (voice-over): Jimmy Carter lost the election, but not his resolve to make a difference. He and Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, in part to promote peace, democracy, human rights, as well as economic and social development all over the world. Carter monitored elections for fairness. He went to North Korea and
Cuba and met with leaders usually shunned by the U.S., including representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian organization both the U.S. and Israel have branded as terrorists.
POWELL: This is a man who -- who has a really unique commitment to public service. It really is a calling with him.
BLITZER (voice-over): In autumn of 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the culmination of an incredible career as a world leader and as a citizen.
CARTER: I'm delighted and humbled and very grateful that the Nobel Peace Prize committee has given me this recognition.
BLITZER (voice-over): He still wasn't done. Carter remained active into his 90s, traveling, writing books, building Habitat for Humanity homes, and to the discomfort of his successors, speaking out on the issues of the day.
He criticized Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, called George W. Bush's international policy, quote, "the worst in history."
BLITZER: But from your definition, you believe the United States under this administration has used torture?
CARTER: I don't -- I don't think it. I know it, certainly.
BLITZER (voice-over): He also took on President Donald Trump.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS'S "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Does America want kind of a jerk as president?
CARTER: Apparently, from his recent elections, yes. I never knew it before.
BLITZER (voice-over): Carter survived a cancer scare in 2015 and kept going.
CARTER: Didn't find any cancer at all.
BLITZER (voice-over): When he attended George H.W. Bush's funeral in late 2018, he was the oldest of America's living presidents. He celebrated his own 100th birthday in 2024.
His beloved wife, Rosalynn, passed away in 2023. She'd been a steadfast partner through 77 years of marriage.
Carter's diminished health prevented him from speaking at her memorial service, so their daughter, Amy, read a letter he wrote to Rosalynn while deployed with the Navy 75 years earlier.
AMY CARTER, DAUGHTER OF JIMMY CARTER: "My darling, every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled, when I returned, to discover just how wonderful you are. While I am away, I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be as sweet and beautiful as I remember. But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again. Does that seem strange to you? It doesn't to me."
BLITZER (voice-over): Husband. Statesman. A connection to an era now gone, Jimmy Carter was a defender of values, forever current.
CARTER: Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice, they are the patriots of this cause. I believe with all my heart that America must always stand for these basic human rights at home and abroad. That is both our history and our destiny.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Wolf Blitzer is going to have more on Jimmy Carter's life and legacy in the next hour here on CNN.
We're getting reaction from former presidents about the passing of President Jimmy Carter. Former President Clinton had this to say: "Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others until the very end. From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia, to his efforts as president to protect our natural resources, he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world. I will always be proud to have presented the Medal of Freedom to him and Rosalynn."
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Former President Bush said this: "James Earl Carter Jr. was a man of deeply held convictions. He was loyal to his family, his community and his country. President Carter dignified the office, and his efforts to leave behind a better world didn't end with his presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations. We join our fellow citizens giving thanks for Jimmy Carter and in prayer for his family."
Tonight, flowers, candles and peanuts paying honor to the former president at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. I want to turn now to someone who had a very close relationship with the former president, Boze Godwin. He's the former longtime mayor of Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia, and a close friend of the Carters.
Boze, I understand you knew President Carter since you were ten years old and in the Boy Scouts. First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss, the personal loss you must be feeling. What do you want people to know about the Jimmy Carter you knew?
BOZE GODWIN, FRIEND OF JIMMY CARTER (via phone): Well, regarding -- regarding him as a personal friend, like you said, I've known him since I was a child. He was not only my friend, though. He's a friend of everybody in town. And we've lost not -- not just a president, but a friend and a person that never forgot the people here, regardless of what a position he held.
COOPER: Well, when you were ten, what was he like when you first met him? GODWIN (via phone): Just like he is now. Just like he was all the
time. Very honest, very straightforward and a very hardworking person and an intelligent person.
COOPER: When you were ten, what was he doing? What was he doing in the town? How old was he --
GODWIN (via phone): In town? Oh, goodness, I don't know. He'd just got out of the service when he came back. I don't know.
COOPER: Just after his dad had died.
GODWIN (via phone): Yes.
COOPER: So, he was just then working as a farmer, working on his dad's farm.
GODWIN (via phone): Yes, his -- his business is right across from our drugstore. And I watched him unload peanuts from the back of a pickup truck onto a conveyor. So, I got -- I got to watch him almost every day.
COOPER: You know, after serving in the White House, you know, he returned to Plains. He and Rosalynn lived in -- in the same house most of their lives. What do you think it was about -- bout that place that was so part of them?
GODWIN (via phone): I think he felt like he was just part of the community and just like one of us. And like I said before, he didn't forget us. He -- he worked very hard with our Better Home Committee to help develop a motel here, a hotel here, and a -- And you know, also he's going to be buried here.
And it was a very deliberate move to keep people coming by to visit. On his part, he -- even in death, he didn't forgot the town. So --
COOPER: That's important. That was important to him that Plains, Georgia, continue and thrive in the future.
GODWIN (via phone): That's right. Very important to him. It really was.
COOPER: He still -- I mean, they attended the same church. He was still teaching Sunday School for - for a long time, until he got -- until he got sick.
GODWIN (via phone): Got sick. He did. We enjoyed. We had several hundred people almost every Sunday come by to listen. And he took time after the church to take pictures with these people and just make them -- try to make them feel at ease and at home.
COOPER: What were his lessons like?
GODWIN (via phone): Very deep. I mean, he was old, too. It's almost like he was there.
COOPER: So, he was talking from personal experience.
GODWIN (via phone): Yes. Right. He did. He made it very personal. He really did. I'm joking, but he made -- made it feel -- seem real.
COOPER: What -- I mean, it's obviously -- it's a sad day, obviously. But at the same time, I mean, 100 years old, and he spent 77 of those years with -- with Rosalynn. What was your -- what are your memories of her?
GODWIN (via phone): Well, actually, she -- she and I were kin. Her grandfather and my great-grandmother were brothers and sisters.
COOPER: No kidding. Wow.
GODWIN (via phone): And she lived -- Their home was not where I grew up. It was about -- there was a house between us. And I read it. And she was older than I was, so I didn't get to see her too much. But I saw her sister and her brothers.
[00:15:06]
In fact, her brother was one of my teachers and my basketball coach. So --
COOPER: Wow.
GODWIN (via phone): That family -- that family was part of my family, too. So --
COOPER: Did you know Ms. Lillian? Did you know Jimmy Carter's mom? Because, I mean, I learned tonight that -- that she actually delivered Rosalynn Carter, which I just find amazing.
GODWIN (via phone): I didn't know her. Her home was right next to ours. And I really enjoyed Ms. Lillian. She was a character. What came up came out, and it didn't matter who you were. And where you were. If you ask a question --
COOPER: Whatever came up, came out.
GODWIN (via phone): And you didn't want --
COOPER: I love that.
GODWIN (via phone): Right. If you didn't want to know the truth, you darest [SIC] not ask her because she would -- she would tell you.
COOPER: Wow. That's awesome. I actually met Jimmy Carter, since my dad was from Mississippi and was a writer and got invited to Jimmy Carter's White House. And I got to meet Jimmy Carter's sister, who was an evangelist, if I remember correctly.
GODWIN (via phone): Right, Ruth. I really didn't know her. I knew Gloria, his motorcycle sister, but I did not know -- I didn't know the other lady. COOPER: Yes, I loved hearing about his motorcycle sister, who -- whose
tombstone actually says she's in Harley Heaven, which I think is great.
GODWIN (via phone): Right, right. She was -- she was very much like Ms. Lillian, too. Very honest and straightforward.
COOPER: Wow.
GODWIN (via phone): A wonderful lady.
COOPER: Yes. Well, Boze, again, I'm sorry for your -- for your personal loss, but I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. I've really enjoyed it.
GODWIN (via phone): Well, I appreciate you calling very much. And I appreciate your doing this program for President Carter tonight.
COOPER: Yes.
GODWIN (via phone): He was just -- just a good friend. And I --
COOPER: Yes.
GODWIN (via phone): I'm going to miss him tremendously.
COOPER: Well, I know there's a lot of people in -- I'm sure everybody in Plains, Georgia feels that way right now, and it's just devastating.
GODWIN (via phone): I'm sure. I'm sure. Right, right.
COOPER: Well, Boze, you take care. Thank you very much.
GODWIN (via phone): All right. All right. Thank you.
COOPER: Boze Godwin, who knew President Jimmy Carter when he was ten years old.
President Carter then at that point, he wasn't President Carter. He had been in the Navy. He had returned. His dad had died, and he came to take over his dad's peanut farm.
We'll have more of our breaking news coverage ahead. Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president, has died at the age of 100. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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COOPER: Jimmy Carter worked for 40 years after he left the White House for peace and democracy around the world. Joining me is Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. ambassador to the E.U. and President Carter's chief White House domestic policy adviser. He also wrote "President Carter: The White House Years." Ambassador, I appreciate you being with us. I'm sorry for the loss of
-- of your friend and the man you -- you served.
How do you think Jimmy Carter's leadership is going to be remembered around the world? Because I know in your book, you -- you have argued that he probably was one of the most consequential American presidents.
STEVE EIZENSTAT, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE E.U.: That's right. Anderson, I mean, everybody talks about his ex-presidency, the former president. Yes. He was a great former president.
I believe that he was the most impactful one-term president that we've had in modern times. And the reason I say that is that all the ethics laws that we have in the books today are due to him.
We have energy security because of his three energy bills, which deregulated natural gas and oil, created the first renewable energy incentives solar panel on the White House.
He was an environmentalist. He doubled the whole size of our national parks that Teddy Roosevelt had created by the Alaska Lands Bill.
And he was a man who deregulated all transportation: airlines, Democratized airlines, brought it to the middle class; trucking, rail, telecommunications. In fact, there wouldn't be a CNN today, had we not deregulated and allowed cable era to go. And he really enabled, with telephone deregulation, to start the whole era with -- with cell phones.
And abroad, his remarkable human rights embedded in his foreign policy. It's the standard by which every other president is -- is judged. He applied it to Latin America and got thousands of political prisoners released and paved the way for the democracies that occurred during the Reagan administration.
He applied hard power to the Soviet Union, as well as soft power. The soft power was showing that it was a dictatorship, and that we had a better form of government. He got twice the number of Soviet Jews out when he -- when he came in 50,000 a year, and hard power, as well.
Anderson, every single weapons system that Ronald Reagan gets credit for deploying -- and I applaud him for doing it. Every single one was started by President Carter.
He normalized relations with China. When Afghan was invaded by the Soviet Union. He took what even his conservative critics said was a tremendously tough stand.
And so, all of these are enduring. And the one that's the most remarkable -- and I think it's the single greatest diplomatic achievement of any personal president in his actions. And that's Camp David.
Thirteen days and nights, 22 drafts. And one thing that occurred that's really almost humorous now, as we look back on it, the 13th day came, Anderson. No agreement. We were close, but no agreement.
Prime minister Begin comes to Carter's cabinet at Camp David, says, I won't make any more compromises. I want you to get me a limousine, take me to Andrews Air Force Base. I've got a plane waiting.
The president, realizing this would collapse Sadat's great initiative and would be egg on his face, knew that Begin had a great love for his eight grandchildren. He got his secretary to make eight copies of the original photo of the three leaders as they came, personally inscribed it, walked it over to Begin's cabin, and saw his eyes tear and his lips quiver as he read the names of each of those grandchildren to Jimmy Carter, with hopes for peace.
He put down his bags and he said, Mr. President, I'll make one last try.
And that's what did the job.
COOPER: Wow. That's remarkable. What was behind the deregulation? Because I mean, often in history, people will think, oh, well, he was very liberal, so he wouldn't have been for such deregulation. What was the -- the ideological idea behind it?
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EIZENSTAT: The ideological idea was he was a small businessman, and he saw the tremendous number of forms that were piled on, the regulation that occurred. And he saw the lack of competition.
When he wanted to ship his farm goods, he was paying exorbitant rates, because railroads and trucks weren't deregulated.
And I have to tell you, of all the battles we fought in Congress, the two most difficult ones were the Panama Canal, where he got two-thirds of the Senate to do something only 14 started, and trucking deregulation, because the Teamsters were dead set against it. And this transformed our whole surface transportation.
And Anderson, when he came into power, only 50 percent of the seats on airlines were filled. The prices were too expensive for the middle class. By deregulating airlines, he democratized air travel. And now, 95 percent of Americans have traveled on a plane.
COOPER: Yes.
EIZENSTAT: In his era, before he started, it was 40 percent.
COOPER: Wow.
EIZENSTAT: So, he saw this as -- and this is what made him unique as a Democrat. It was not just another great society. It was trying to streamline the economy.
Senator Phil Graham, a conservative Republican, wrote a beautiful op- ed article in "The Wall Street Journal" on his 100th birthday, and he said -- Phil Graham -- that it's because of Jimmy Carter's deregulation of telecommunications, as well, the cable era that you're part of that.
Because of Jimmy Carter, we had the renaissance that we saw in President Reagan's economy and that we enjoy today. Phil Graham said that, and he was absolutely right.
COOPER: Wow. Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, it's fascinating. I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
EIZENSTAT: Thank you for giving me more of our breaking news coverage ahead.
Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president, has died at the age of 100. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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COOPER: Welcome back to our breaking news this hour: the death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100.
He'd been in hospice -- hospice care at home for nearly two years. But his passing, surrounded by family in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, prompts us to look back on his legacy and enduring mark that he left on this country and the world.
Jimmy Carter met his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, in Plains. He -- his mom actually delivered her. She was buried there two years ago. Jimmy Carter will presumably be laid to rest next to her, near her, near their family home.
Before his interment, there will be public observances in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C. That schedule has yet to take shape, but it's expected to be a long period of remembrance, with 7 to 10 days' worth of events.
The impact of former President Carter's policies around the world have been felt long after he left the White House. CNN's Nic Robertson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARTER: I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Jimmy Carter's presidency lived in the shadow of America's Cold War with the Soviet Union. But he refused to be constrained by East-West, communist versus capitalist tensions.
CARTER: We expect that normalization will help to move us together toward a world of diversity and of peace.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): He improved relations with China and tried for the same with the Soviets. In his foreign policies, he pushed for nuclear nonproliferation, democratic values, and human rights. He cut off military supplies to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and
dialed back support for other Latin American leaders in Nicaragua, Argentina and Brazil.
One of his signature White House legacies was the Torrijos-Carter treaties that returned the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.
He also calmed Mideast tensions, brought together Israeli and Arab leaders at Camp David, opening the door to the Israeli-Egypt Camp David accords.
He normalized relations with China, weakened U.S. ties to Taiwan in a vain hope Beijing would weaken ties with Moscow.
But after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, the last year of his presidency, he toughened his Soviet stance, backed the Afghan mujahideen in a war against the Red Army.
The same year, 1979 Islamic Revolution in neighboring Iran dealt Carter a double domestic blow, spiked oil prices and led to a humiliating failed raid: Operation Eagle Claw in April 1980 to rescue Americans captured by the theocratic revolutionaries in Tehran.
CARTER: I can't stand here tonight and say it doesn't hurt.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Events overseas contributed to his 1980 election loss.
CARTER: The people of the United States have made their choice. And of course, I accept that decision.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But out of office and the limelight, his global peacemaking grew. In 1994, he was the first former U.S. president to visit North Korea, met Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of today's leader Kim Jong-un, at a time of U.S.-North Korean tensions; won concessions on North Korea's nuclear program, dialing back tensions for a decade.
But 1994 was his big year of high-profile peacemaking. In September, he went to Haiti. Raoul Cedras, the Caribbean nation's unpopular leader, was holed up in Port au Prince. Carter convinced him to step down quite literally, as the U.S. 82nd Airborne troops were inbound aboard Black Hawk helicopters, ready to remove Cedras by force.
Carter won the day, saved lives. The U.S. troops landed as de facto peacekeepers.
And later that year, Carter went to the dark heart of Bosnia's violent ethnic civil war, met the nationalist Serbs in their mountain stronghold parlay; tried to stop their bloody, murderous siege and shelling of the capital, Sarajevo, to bring an end to the killing that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives during horrific ethnic cleansing.
Success came slowly in steps. Carter helped initiate a short Christmas ceasefire and, by his presence, push the horrific conflict toward greater international attention.
[00:35:13]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have work to do. We have to go back to it now. Thank you very much.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Less than a year later, another U.S. diplomat, Richard Holbrooke, parlayed Carter's brief calm into the war-ending Dayton Peace Accords.
Nineteen Ninety-four marked a peak in Carter's peacemaking, but far from the end of it. He helped found a group of seasoned international diplomats known as the elders, whose works span the Mideast and far beyond.
He helped the charity Habitat for Humanity change lives, building affordable homes, often showing up to help with construction himself.
In 2002, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts; to advance democracy and human rights; and to promote economic and social development.
It was a path he'd picked, a post-presidency with meaning, and he followed it right up to his death.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And joining me now is CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod.
David, I'm going to read your own tweet back to you, but only because I think a lot of people will appreciate the perspective. You said, "In politics, many believe the worst epitaph is loser. Some are not strong enough to cope with defeat. Jimmy Carter lost an election and spent the rest of his life settling conflicts, conquering disease and building homes for the homeless. He was in every way a winner."
Talk about his life post-presidency and how that may define him.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Anderson, we've never seen anything quite like it. We -- President Clinton President Obama, President Bush, all the presidents since Carter have undertaken humanitarian missions through foundations and so on.
But the scope and the span of Carter's activities: monitoring elections all over the world to -- to protect democracy; negotiating in conflict zones; you know, eliminating the guinea worm in Africa, which was a persistent health problem in Africa. I mean, the scope of it is breathtaking.
And the thing I think that is the through line here, both in his public office -- years in public office and out, was his view of his purpose in life, which was service. He was, as you -- you know, all of these fascinating interviews you're
doing are so great to listen to, and they underscore the fact that his principles were informed by his faith. And he believed in the dignity of people, all people. And so, he fought for civil rights, for human rights. And that became a cause that he continued to work on through the -- right up until his 90s.
So, you know, just a remarkable life. And yes, I think, you know, in Washington, you measure yourself -- or people measure you by wins and losses. And he -- he suffered a brutal defeat in 1980. And I think for -- he became sort of a pariah, frankly, for Democrats for a long time because of that, because he was identified as a loser. And we've seen more recent examples of people who categorize people by that way. We've -- we've seen a president who couldn't accept defeat, not so long ago.
So, but he contemplated what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. And he decided that he was going to have the greatest impact he could possibly have and use the platform that the presidency had given him to make a difference. And he made a huge difference. And it's just so impressive.
COOPER: You know, the guinea worm is so interesting to me. It's something that somebody, as somebody who travel -- has been -- started traveling in Africa when I was a teenager, I've long known about guinea worm disease. And I mean, a lot of people don't know about it.
But at the time, when Jimmy Carter took this on, there were about 3.5 million people who were impacted by this. This was a parasite that you would get from drinking water that hadn't been strained through a cheesecloth or hadn't been sanitized.
And ultimately, a worm would grow in your body that was 3 to 4 feet long, and it would take about a month for that worm to leave your body slowly, and you had to twirl it around a branch or a pencil or something.
[00:40:04]
I mean, he basically eliminated this. I think there were 12 cases of it the last time this thing was measured, I think, last year.
So, it's extraordinary that he took on this - what is, to many, this relatively obscure disease. But which impacted -- I mean, it literally destroyed the lives of millions of people.
AXELROD: Yes. Listen, he -- wherever he saw problems that were afflicting people, and particularly people who were at a disadvantage, all over the world, he tried to do what he could and had enormous impact.
And, you know, I -- just so admirable. I was -- you know, I think we should note Stu Eizenstat's interview with you just a few minutes ago, because Carters presidency is undervalued.
He -- you know, it was defined by two things. By inflation, largely as a result of the energy crisis that was exacerbated by the events in Iran. And then the -- the hostage crisis.
But, you know, he was so ahead of his time. And the biggest thing, Anderson, was he was someone who brought a sense of ethics to office. Stu mentioned this.
But remember, he followed the partial term, at least, of Richard Nixon. He resigned two and a half years before Carter took office. Gerald Ford did an admirable job, but he was connected to Nixon, having been his vice president.
And along comes Jimmy Carter, the Sunday school teacher, a guy who was devout and who believed very much in ethics and truth and transparency and, you know, disclosed his tax returns, never been done before. Inspectors general, independent to oversee the federal government.
And he challenged. He was an outsider who challenged the status quo, who challenged institutions but challenged them for the purpose of trying to make them more responsive, not as a nihilistic kind of thing.
So, you know, his presidency has been diminished in ways that are unfair. But his post-presidency was something to behold.
COOPER: Yes. David Axelrod, great to talk to you tonight. Thank you, as always.
AXELROD: Thanks.
COOPER: More of our breaking news coverage ahead. Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president, has died at the age of 100. We'll be right back.
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[00:45:54]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As the nation continues to mourn President Jimmy Carter, we're also looking back at his legacy that he left both during and after his time at the White House.
Joining us now is CNN political analyst and historian, associate professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, Leah Wright Rigueur.
Thanks so much for being with us.
You know, I was talking to -- to Ambassador Eizenstat earlier about what he thinks is actually one of the most consequential presidencies in American history, which is Jimmy Carter's.
Do you think people underestimate the things that Jimmy Carter accomplished as president?
LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: Absolutely. And I think for a very long time, there's this -- been this understanding of the Carter presidency as either a failed presidency or, when people are being generous, they'll say it was a mediocre presidency.
But instead, I think, particularly given that we are almost 50 years out from Jimmy Carter's presidency, we need to take a look at it with fresh eyes. We need to look at it both through the eyes of, you know, a man who is coming in with his faith at the centerpiece who said, I don't want to force my religion on the American public, but I do want to bring a sense of humanity to the White House; that the sole goal of being in the White House should be to end the suffering of the American people.
But then also, that as we look at the issues that surrounded the moment that Carter was in -- inflation, energy production, the foreign policy crises that beset the -- the presidency and beset the world -- that one of the things that emerged very clearly about the Carter presidency is that he attacked these with -- with, I think, with great verve.
And that had long term implications that we didn't even begin to see the -- the, you know, the consequences of, the positive consequences of for many, many years.
And that it also wasn't just foreign policy. It also was a domestic policy; that there were any number of areas, but in particular around deregulation, that we should be looking at this and saying, wow, Jimmy Carter had an impact on America, on the world that rivals this kind of post-presidency that we laud him for.
Like, we should actually be looking at this and say, this is one of the best presidencies of the 20th Century. And what does that actually mean for how we understand the modern American presidency?
COOPER: The deregulation piece of this is interesting, and it's not something I had really realized much before. I was just talking to Ambassador Eizenstat about this just a short time ago. Deregulation in the airline industry, which, you know, the ambassador was saying democratized airlines, the -- you know, made it much more accessible for -- for people to be able to fly.
RIGUEUR: Yes. And in fact, Jimmy Carter is one of the reasons that we are able to fly, and that people were able to fly across, you know, fly across the country, fly across the globe. But also taking a look in it and saying, actually, the airline industry shouldn't be as regulated in terms of travel, in terms of cost, in terms of price. There should be competition.
It was part of this kind of -- you know, I think we tend to think of deregulation as a conservative thing. Certainly, the deregulation of -- of Carter, of the Carter administration lays the groundwork for Ronald Reagan. But more importantly, for Jimmy Carter, what it's about is -- is there are there unnecessary costs that we could get rid of that will open the country up for innovation, but also for democratizing things like travel?
So, this is what we see in the airline industry, but it's also what we see in the rail industry and in manufacturing and movement of goods and products.
COOPER: It's also just the context of when he became president, not just in the wake of Richard Nixon, the lies of Watergate, but also the Vietnam War.
RIGUEUR: Right. And one of his first acts that actually really angered the American public was to pardon and commute the sentences of a number of Vietnam War abstainers or protesters.
People said -- really raged about that. And then they realized, actually, it was the right thing to do. As you know, as he said, especially later in after his presidency, he said war sometimes is a necessary evil. But it doesn't mean that we have to abandon the project of peace.
And so, I think this was really going into this idea, that part of the idea of how you bring the nation back together, especially after the nation has been lied to, after we've seen excessive corruption, after we've seen war and conflict, is by actually bringing people together and saying, I'm going to absolve you of these crimes, these sins, these, you know, these -- these things that have really torn us apart, and focus on the ways that we can bring us back together.
[00:50:26]
So that's all part of this vision that he has for America.
COOPER: Leah Wright Rigueur, I really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
RIGUEUR: Thanks for having me.
COOPER: We'll have more on our breaking news, the death of former President Jimmy Carter, when we come back.
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COOPER: Welcome back to the breaking news as we remember former President Jimmy Carter, who died today at the age of 100 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Led by an abiding faith and a strong moral compass, he spoke throughout his career and his life about what it meant to live a meaningful life of service.
This was Jimmy Carter, in his own words, throughout his many decades in public life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARTER: Our social and political progress has been based on one fundamental principle: the value and importance of the individual.
Based on this knowledge of Georgians, North and South, rural and urban, liberal and conservative, I say to you, quite frankly, that the time for racial discrimination is over.
[00:55:13]
These are not just my goals, and they will not be my accomplishments, but the affirmation of our nation's continuing moral strength.
Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.
But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.
War may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never a good.
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it's the other way around. Human rights invented America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We'll have much more about the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter coming up. We'll be right back.
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