Jimmy Carter - The Man From Plains
Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Text of Carter Nobel citation

Jimmy Carter Library

Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Address

Carter/Mondale Administration Accomplishments

Jimmy Carter served as president from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 
1981. Noteworthy foreign policy accomplishments of his administration 
included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty 
of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet 
Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the 
People's Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the 
world. On the domestic side, the administration's achievements 
included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department 
of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and 
finance; major educational programs under a new Department of 
Education; and major environmental protection legislation, including 
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. 

Aggression
"Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease."

America
We become not a mealting pot but a beautiful 
mosaic.  Different people, different beliefs, 
different yearnings, different hopes, different 
dreams.
Jimmy Carter Pittsburgh Penn
10/27/1976

 Republicians have no ideas, they don't even pretend to. All 
they can say is, in effect, "It can't be any better, so why 
worry about the election? Why worry about the government?" 
And they imply that somehow or another we ought to fear 
progress, or fear the future. But Americans have never 
feared progress and we've never feared the future. The 
 American dream is based on the belief that with hard work 
and good government we can build better lives and build a 
better nation for ourselfs and for our children.
 A great nation can't stand still.  If we're not moving 
forward, we're moving backward. Our nation has always 
been at its best when as a people we are boldly reaching 
out, striving, trying, growing, facing difficulties with 
courage, with a spirit of unity, and the concept of 
excellence.  And sometimes sacrifice.
Jimmy Carter, 10-19-1976, NY,NY

Attorney General John Mitchell
I've seen the proud statement of a former Attorney 
General who protected his boss and now brags on the 
fact that he tiptoed through a minefield and came 
out 'clean'. I can't imagine somebody like 
Thomas Jefferson tiptoeing though a minefield on the 
technicalities of the law and then bragging 
about being clean afterwards.
Jimmy Carter 5-4-74

Basic Principle
"One of the most basic principles for making and 
keeping peace within and between nations. . . 
is that in political, military, moral, and 
spiritual confrontations, there should be an 
honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences 
before resorting to combat."

"We must adjust to changing times and still hold 
to unchanging principles."

Bush Truth
"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation 
around the world, this administration has been the 
worst in history. The overt reversal of America's 
basic values as expressed by previous administrations, 
including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan 
and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most 
disturbing to me."
Jimmy Carter on Bush in an interview with the Arkansas 
Democrat-Gazette, 5/19/2007

Cheney, DICK
"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he 
has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling  some of 
his more ancient commitments  that the United States has a  right to inject 
its power through military means in other parts of the world, You know he's 
been a disaster  for our country, I  think he's  been overly  persuasive on 
President George Bush and quite often he's prevailed."
Jimmy Carter
Comments to the BBC 10/10/2007

Christian Right
When I was younger, almost all Baptists were strongly
committed on a theological basis to the separation of 
church and state.
It was only 25 years ago when there began to be a 
melding of the Republican Party with fundamentalist 
Christianity, particularly with the Southern Baptist 
Convention. This is a fairly new development, and I
think it was brought about by the abandonment of some 
of the basic principles of Christianity. First of all, 
we worship the prince of peace, not war. And those of 
us who have advocated for the resolution of
international conflict in a peaceful fashion are looked 
upon as being unpatriotic, branded that way by right-wing 
religious groups, the Bush administration, and other 
Republicans.

Secondly, Christ was committed to compassion for the most 
destitute, poor, needy, and forgotten people in our society. 
Today there is a stark difference [between conservative 
ideology and Christian teaching] because most of the people 
most strongly committed to the Republican philosophy have 
adopted the proposition that help for the rich is the
best way to help even poor people (by letting some of the 
financial benefits drip down to those most deeply in need). 
I would say there has been a schism drawn -- on theology 
and practical politics and economics between the two groups. 
Jimmy Carter
Salon Interview, April 9, 2004

"Fundamentalism exists in religious circles and now very
overwhelmingly in Washington. A fundamentalist believes, 
say, in religious circles, that I am close to God. 
Everything that I believe is absolutely right. Anyone 
who disagrees with me, in any case, is inherently wrong 
and therefore, inferior. And it violates my basic
principles if I negotiate with anyone else or listen to 
their point of view or modify my own positions at all. 
So that is what has permeated this administration." 
Jimmy Carter 11/9/05
source:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/09/earlyshow/
leisure/books/main1028087.shtml

Differences
We are of course a nation of differences.Those differences 
don't make us weak.They're the source of our strength.
Jimmy Carter Source: Speech, 21 October 1976

Ends Justifying Means
"The decision to attack the entire nation [of Yugoslavia] 
has been counterproductive, and our destruction of civilian 
life has now become senseless and excessively brutal. ... 
The United States' insistence on the use of cluster bombs, 
designed to kill or maim humans, is condemned almost 
universally and brings discredit on our nation 
(as does our refusal to support a ban on land mines). 
Even for the world's only superpower, the ends don't 
always justify the means."
Jimmy Carter

Equal 
Opportunities
"The struggle for equal rights is not over. We only 
have to recall the color of the faces of those in 
Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi -- those who were 
most devastated by Katrina, to know that there are 
not yet equal opportunities for all Americans." 
Jimmy Carter
Source:http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?
Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200602%5CCUL20060210c.html

Experience Of Democracy
"The experience of democracy is like the experience of life 
itself--always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes 
turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested 
by adversity."



First Time
"For the first time in the history of our country the 
majority of our people believe that the next five 
years will be worse than the past five years."

Freedom
"Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong 
at home. And we know that the best way to enhance 
freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that 
our democratic system is worthy of emulation."

Because we are free we can never be indifferent to 
the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense 
dictates a clearcut preference for these societies 
which share with us an abiding respect for individual 
human rights. We do not seek to intimidate, but it 
is clear that a world which others can dominate with 
impunity would be inhospitable to decency and a threat 
to the well-being of all people.

In the life of the human spirit, words are action, 
much more so than many of us realize who live in 
countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. 
The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. 
The proof is that words are precisely the action for which 
dissidents in those countries are being persecuted.
Jimmy Carter Source: Address, Notre Dame University, 22 May 1977 



Future 
There are difficult times ahead. But we have faced 
diffcult times before and we have prevailed. We have 
prevailed because we dared to dream great dreams, 
because we refused to be content with injustice and 
mediocrity, because we were willing to try.
Jimmy Carter May 1976

Government
The test of a government is not how popular 
it is with the powerful and privileged few, 
but how honestly and fairly it deals with 
the many who must depend on it.
Jimmy Carter, Inaugural Address as 
Governor of Georgia

A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford 
to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained.  
It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. 
It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must 
behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and 
other signs of insecurity.
Jimmy Carter, 10-14-1976, NY,NY
Source:A Government as Good as It's People

Guantanamo
Our government needs to close down Guantanamo and the 
two dozen secret detention facilities run by the 
United States as soon as possible to demonstrate clearly 
our nation's historic commitment to protect human rights.
Jimmy Carter
Source:Atlanta, 6-7-05

Health Care Costs
In recent years, we've spent forty cents out of every health 
dollar on hospitalization. In effect, we've made the 
hospital the first line of defence, instead of the last. By 
contrast, we only spend three cents on disease prevention 
and control, less than half a cent on health education, 
and a quarter of a cent on environmental health.
Jimmy Carter, 10-19-1976
American Public Health Association meeting

Human Rights
"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense ... 
human rights invented America."

"Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, 
because human rights is the very soul of our 
sense of nationhood."

Inflation
The corrosive effects of inflation eat away at 
ties that bind us together as a people.
Jimmy Carter

Iraq War, Hussein, Bush
"...The heartfelt sympathy and friendship offered to 
America after the 9/11 attacks, even from formerly 
antagonistic regimes, has been largely dissipated; 
increasingly unilateral and domineering policies have 
brought international trust in our country to its lowest 
level in memory....."

Even if lies and trickery by Saddam Hussein are exposed, 
this will not indicate any real or proximate threat by 
Iraq to the United States or to our allies.

"With overwhelming military strength now deployed against 
him and with intense monitoring from space surveillance 
and the U.N. inspection team on the ground, any 
belligerent move by Saddam against a neighbor would be 
suicidal. If Iraq does possess such concealed weapons, 
as is quite likely, Saddam would use them only in the 
most extreme circumstances, in the face of an invasion 
of Iraq, when all hope of avoiding the destruction of 
his regime is lost.

"The cost of an on-site inspection team would be minuscule 
compared to war, Saddam would have no choice except to 
comply, the results would be certain, military and civilian 
casualties would be avoided, there would be almost unanimous 
worldwide support, and the United States could regain its 
leadership in combating the real threat of international 
terrorism.
Excerpt from a statement from The Carter Center, 
January 31, 2003)

'That was a war based on lies and misinterpretations from London 
and Washington, claiming falsely that Saddam Hussein was 
responsible for 9/11, claiming falsely that Iraq had weapons of 
mass destruction' 
Jimmy Carter 
Source:Independent newspaper of London 3-04 

Law
The law is not the private property of lawyers, 
nor is justice the exclusive province of judges and juries. 
In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts 
and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty 
and mutual respect.
Jimmy Carter Source: Dallas Times-Herald, 26 April 1978 



Life 
I believe that the very essence of a worthwhile life 
is the striving. I do not fear the possibility of 
failure so much as the resigned acceptance of what is 
mediocre or wrong.
Jimmy Carter May 1976
'A Government as Good As Its People'

Lowest Common Denominator
"If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe 
for the lowest common denominator of 
human achievement."



Martin Luther King and Wire Taps
"It was difficult for them personally - with the civil 
liberties of both husband and wife violated as they 
became the target of secret government wiretapping, 
other surveillance, and as you know, harassment from 
the FBI." 
Jimmy Carter
Source:http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?
Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200602%5CCUL20060210c.html

Millennium
"Instead of entering a millennium of peace, the world 
is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place. 
The greater ease of travel and communication has 
not been matched by equal understanding and 
mutual respect,"

My Responsibility
"You have given me a great responsibility: 
to stay close to you, to be worthy of you and to 
exemplify what you are."




Nature
"It is good to realize that if love and peace 
can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our 
children to honor nature's gifts, 
the joys and beauties of the outdoors 
will be here forever."

Like music or art, love of nature is a common 
language that can transend political or social 
boundaries.
Jimmy Carter 1988



Nixon
"I personally think that he did violate the law, 
that he committed impeachable offenses. 
But I don't think that he thinks he did."

Nurse
"There is no difference, in my opinion, to a person 
who has the highest possible commitment to human moral 
values than a nurse. I think they're the same."
Jimmy Carter
Source:http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=55411

Newt Gingrich
“I think (Gingrich) has that subtlety of racism 
that I know quite well, that Gingrich knows quite well, 
that appeals to some people in Georgia.”
Jimmy Carter
Source:http://nation.foxnews.com/jimmy-carter/2012/01/18/jimmy-carter-gingrich-racist

Oil Companies and the GOP
There's no way to tell where the federal energy 
agencies stop and the major oil companies start. 
They're the same people--the same technicians, 
the same administrators. Our federal energy 
policy is overly simplistic. It's not designed 
for the consumers, it's designed by and for the 
major oil companies, and President Ford is their 
spokesman. It's 'raise the price of oil as much 
as possible as quickly as possible.' Period.
Jimmy Carter  9-28-1975



Our Generation
"For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival, 
liberty is human rights, the pursuit of happiness 
is a planet whose resources are devoted to the 
physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants."

Religious Belief and Public Service
"You can't divorce religious belief and public service ... 
I've never detected any conflict between God's will 
and my political duty. If you violate one, 
you violate the other."



Republican Inflation Policy
Do you know what the basic Republician anti-inflation 
policy has been? To put people out of work. Cooling 
down the economy, they call it, because that sounds 
nicer. I say to you that any economic policy that sees 
virtue in unemployment is morally and politically and 
intellectually bankrupt.
Jimmy Carter 8-23-1976

Rich and Poor
"The greatest challenge is the growing chasm between rich 
people and poor people not only inside of a country but 
rich nations and poor nations. There has never been an 
administration (Bush 2) in Washington before in history 
that has so dramatically favored the extremely rich people 
in this country at the expense of poor and working class 
families. Every major tax change has been to take taxes 
away from the rich and put it on the poor and working 
class people. And this, I think, was vividly demonstrated 
when you saw the aftermath of Katrina. It just shows what's 
always been there. And that is that poor people are the 
ones who suffer most." 
Jimmy Carter 11/9/05
source:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/09/earlyshow/
leisure/books/main1028087.shtml

Soviet Domination
I would like to see Mr. Ford convince the 
Polish-Americans and the Czech-Americans and the 
Hungarian-Americans in this country that those countries 
don't live under domination and supervision of the 
Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain.
Jimmy  Carter, Presidential Debate, 10-6-1976
after President Ford said 'There is no Soviet 
domination of Eastern Europe and there will never 
be under a Ford administration.'

Terrorism
"An act of terrorism totally outside the bounds 
of international law and diplomatic tradition. ... 
a crisis [that] calls for firmness and restraint."



Voyager Record
"This is a present from a small, distant world, 
a token of our sounds, our science, our images, 
our music, our thoughts and our feelings,We are 
attempting to survive our time so we may live 
into yours." 
President Carter's Comments on the Voyager-record
which now is past the Sun's Gravity

War
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter 
how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. 
We will not learn to live together in peace by 
killing each other's children.

War and Peace
--and the point that Tolstoy makes is that the course 
of human events, even the greatest historical events, 
are controled and shaped not by the leaders of the 
nations but by the combined hopes and dreams and 
aspirations and courage and conviction of the 
ordinary people.
Jimmy Carter 4-8-1976

Watergate Lesson
Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment 
to the basic principles of our Nation, for we know 
that if we despise our own government we have no 
future. We recall in special times when we have stood 
briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times 
no prize was beyond our grasp.

Jimmy Carter's CabinetSecretary of State
Cyrus R. Vance (1977-80) 
Edmund S. Muskie (1980-81)
 
Secretary of the Treasury 
W. Michael Blumenthal (1977-79) 
G. William Miller (1979-81) 

Secretary of Defense 
Harold Brown (1977-81) 

Attorney General 
Griffin B. Bell (1977-79) 
Benjamin R. Civiletti (1979-81)
 
Secretary of the Interior 
Cecil D. Andrus (1977-81) 

Secretary of Agriculture 
Robert S. Bergland (1977-81) 

Secretary of Commerce 
Juanita M. Kreps (1977-79) 
Philip Klutznick (1979-81) 

Secretary of Labor 
F. Ray Marshall (1977-81) 

Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 
Joseph A. Califano, Jr. (1977-79) 
Patricia R. Harris (1979-80) 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 
Patricia R. Harris (1980-81) 

Secretary of Education 
Shirley Hufstedler (1980-81) 

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
Patricia R. Harris (1977-79) 
Moon Landrieu (1979-81) 

Secretary of Transportation 
Brock Adams (1977-79) 
Neil E. Goldschmidt (1979-81) 

Secretary of Energy 
James R. Schlesinger (1977-79) 
Charles W. Duncan, Jr. (1979-81) 

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