A Full Life by Jimmy Carter

(Reflections at 90) I really enjoyed reading this book. Jimmy Carter has not received the credit he deserves. From his earliest days he was a caring individual. At 95 he still tries to be helpful in any way he can. What an example for all of us to aspire too. I learned a lot about him that I hadn’t known. He grew up in a small town in Georgia. Most of his neighbors were black. He had many black friends. He tried to understand why his father and most others considered themselves superior just because their skin color was white. He did his work on the farm increasing effort as he grew older. He was admitted to the Naval Academy graduated just as WWII was ending. Submarines were his ship of choice and he was on subs during the Korean War. He served with Admiral Rickover on the USS Seawolf, the first nuclear submarine. President Truman desegregated the military in 1948. It was accepted with equanimity by his crew. They formed a softball team. Their star pitcher was black. They lost few games because of his skill. One time while in Nassau the crew was invited to a ball with the edict that colored sailors were not invited. As a result they declined the invitation. That meant a lot to me. He decided to leave the Navy and return to farming. He became active in many organizations and later ran for public office as State Senator. He faced ballot stuffing and seemed to lose but after the smoke cleared he did win the seat. He followed this by being elected as Governor of Georgia. I was impressed to read that he was able to condense more than 300 state agencies to 22 and to consolidate twenty issuers of bonds to just one. The State enjoyed a triple-A bond rating. I among the majority voted for him as President. He lists the many issues that he faced. The one I was most critical of was giving away the Panama Canal. The huge loss of American lives creating it and the extreme value it continues to be for America screamed to not do it. I leave it to you to read for yourself. Overall his tenure was very successful. It is after leaving office that the goodness of this great man was realized. Among them was Habitat for Humanity, solving the Haiti problem resulting in Clinton recalling the paratroopers in midair, going to N. Korea to attempt to reason with the Dictator and many others. Jack B. Walters August 2, 2018