Memorable quotes by former President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, who was a little-known Georgia governor when he began his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1976 election, went on to defeat President Gerald Ford and serve as America’s 39th president and later a globe-trotting humanitarian.

During the election, Carter capitalized as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that drove former President Richard Nixon from office in 1974. He was the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South before the region shifted quickly to Republicans in subsequent elections.

He governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets, and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights, and America’s global role.

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Carter's foreign policy wins included brokering Mideast peace in 1978 by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. 

At home, Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad, and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres in Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and non-whites to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second-highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993.

Carter also built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy.

However, Carter’s support splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines, and the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed attempt to rescue the 53 U.S. hostages in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. 

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His reelection loss ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health and human rights via The Carter Center.

The former president and his wife, Rosalynn opened the center in 1982. His work there garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, specifically for "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Rosalynn died on Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96.

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"I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I’m free to choose that something. ... My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can," Carter’s niece, Kim Fuller, recently quoted him as saying. 

Here’s a look at some of Carter’s memorable remarks:

Inaugural address (Jan. 20, 1977)

Incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford, who had replaced Nixon following his resignation, faced off against Carter. The poor economic situation and major political events, such as Nixon’s pardoning and the defeat of South Vietnam by the communists hobbled Ford's candidacy, according to City University of New York's Lloyd Sealy Library.

Carter won the election and gave his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1977.

Commencement Speech Given at Notre Dame University (May 22, 1977)

Carter’s election to the White House brought a new emphasis on U.S. foreign policy, based on his own personal ideology. He believed that the nation’s foreign policy should reflect its highest moral principles—a break from the policy and practices of the Nixon Administration, according to the U.S. Office of the Historian. 

Drug abuse message to Congress (Aug. 2, 1977)

Nixon had declared drug abuse "public enemy No. 1," which, according to Carter in a 2011 op-ed, led to a failed effort to prevent widespread drug use and destroyed the lives of millions of young people. Carter had campaigned for president on a platform that included marijuana decriminalization. In 1977, he asked Congress to decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts.

Message on the Golden Record of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched into space on Sept. 5, 1977

In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 and 2 to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space. Both still functioning, each probe carries a gold-plated, audio-visual disc called "The Golden Record" containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth — should it ever be found by other intelligent life forms. Carter included a greeting, who was president at the time.

Remarks on the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 6, 1978)

On the 30th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an international document that set out to universally protect the rights and freedoms of all human beings, a gathering of civil rights and religious leaders, human rights activists, and members of Congress was held at the White House, according to Washington Post reporting at the time. Carter sought to refocus public attention on his support for human rights measures at the time, telling attendees that "human rights is the soul of our foreign policy."

Dedication address during installation of solar panels at the White House (June 20, 1979)

Carter spoke on June 20, 1979, at a dedication ceremony for the 32 solar panels he had installed on the roof of the White House West Wing. The installation of solar panels reflected the energy goal of his administration to achieve 20% renewable energy by 2000, according to energy historians at Yale University. The panels were used to heat water in the household for seven years until Reagan quietly removed them during a resurfacing of the White House roof and placed them in storage.

‘Crisis of Confidence’ speech (July 15, 1979)

With popularity ratings on the decline, Carter went on national television to address the nation’s energy crisis and accompanying recession. He prefaced his remarks about energy policy with an explanation of why he believed the American economy remained in crisis and noted a lack of "moral and spiritual confidence," which he believed was at the core of America’s troubles, according to History.com. 

While the speech has garnered a somewhat poor historical reputation, many Americans were riveted by the speech and it boosted his poll numbers, according to Kevin Mattson, author of "‘What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?': Jimmy Carter, America's "Malaise," and the Speech that Should Have Changed the Country."

Address to the nation on Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Jan. 4, 1980)

On Dec. 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Less than two weeks later, Carter condemned the invasion and stressed that it threatened peace throughout the world and increased the potential of Soviet expansion throughout the region. 

Farewell address (Jan. 14, 1981)

In late 1980, Reagan and George H.W. Bush defeated Carter and incumbent Vice President Walter Mondale in a landslide victory. On Jan. 14, 1981, Carter gave a farewell address, warning about the ongoing threat of nuclear war and expressing hope for the promotion of democracy and the protection of human rights around the world.

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