Former President Jimmy Carter explains why giving up presidential power led to something even better.
This episode examines Jimmy Carter's remarkable post-presidential life, which spanned nearly five decades of humanitarian work. After leaving office in 1981, Carter and his wife Rosalyn faced the question of what to do with the rest of their lives. They chose a path of service that would earn Carter global admiration and a Nobel Peace Prize. In a 2007 NPR interview, Carter acknowledged that he may have accomplished more after leaving office than during his presidency, explaining how he learned to build influence through persuasion rather than wielding presidential power. The episode highlights Carter's deep association with Habitat for Humanity, though he never founded or ran the organization. The Carters began volunteering locally in Georgia before leading a major build in New York City in 1984, where they spent a week renovating tenements and sleeping in a church basement. This unprecedented behavior for a former president captured global attention and helped transform Habitat from helping thousands to assisting 8.7 million people in 70 countries by 2018. Carter's work extended beyond housing to global health, particularly his war against neglected diseases affecting the world's poorest populations. He became personally invested in eradicating guinea worm disease, reducing cases from 3.6 million to just 13 human cases worldwide by 2022. The parasite causes painful blisters and can grow up to three feet long, primarily affecting people in remote areas. Carter's relentless advocacy for diseases that primarily affect poor populations required him to engage everyone from ministry officials to local farmers. His upbringing in impoverished rural Georgia instilled values of self-reliance and duty to help others. Born in Plains, Georgia in 1924, Carter graduated from the Naval Academy, served on submarines, and returned home to run the family peanut farm after his father's death. His Christian faith, central to his life in Plains where he taught Sunday school, drove his humanitarian work. At age 95, Carter explained that he and Rosalyn always got more out of their Habitat work than they put in, describing the emotional bonds formed with volunteers and homeowners. He viewed the work as practicing his Christian faith and called it a great equalizer where class divisions fade away. Carter's post-presidential legacy includes the Carter Center's work on human rights and election security, major progress against lymphatic filariasis and other neglected diseases, and a fundamental redefinition of what former presidents could accomplish. While he wasn't elected to a second term and has no monument in Washington, his approval ratings and historical assessments have risen steadily over the decades, culminating in the UN Human Rights Prize and Nobel Peace Prize.
