PrintOctober 1, 2009
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
Jimmy Carter is 85 today. He is lately much in the news for his observations and commentary on public affairs -- most notably his assertions that criticism of Barack Obama comes from racist impulses, and his never-ending scrutiny of the bad, bad Israelis. What a life he leads.Jimmy Carter is a man with many talents and virtues. He graduated from the Naval Academy and served for seven years as a naval officer. He has been married to the same woman since 1946. Jimmy Carter is an innovator. He is the first former American president to cause public and embarrassing trouble for multiple successors, regardless of party affiliation. His ham-fisted attempts at diplomacy in Somalia, Haiti and North Korea irritated Bill Clinton. He insulted George W. Bush with impunity to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Most notably, however, was his near-treasonous action prior to the Gulf War, when the former president wrote to the presidents of the nations on the United Nations Security Council in an effort to...(Read Full Article)
