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Today marks the 100th birthday of Jimmy Carter.

President Carter is the first U.S. president to reach this milestone—and to achieve so much after leaving the White House. While historians will continue to debate his record as a world leader, I will always defend what he did—and didn't do—as a human being.

In my view, Jimmy Carter is the best former president in history.

My earliest political memory is watching his inauguration on January 20, 1977, at daycare. Though I was still young, I vividly recall the pomp and circumstance of his swearing-in, followed by the parade.

I watched it all with awe and respect.

Awe, because I realized something important was happening.

Respect, because I overheard the daycare workers—women who kept me safe and cared for me—whispering their hopes that the peanut farmer from Georgia could “right” some of the wrongs of recent administrations.

I don’t remember much about his presidency, so I can’t and won’t debate/defend his record as POUS. But after losing his reelection bid to Ronald Reagan in 1980, I saw Jimmy Carter (along with his beloved wife, Rosalynn) start building houses with Habitat for Humanity. I saw him advocating and working towards peace in the Middle East. He saw him doing his very best to bridge divides between people and countries.

For those who may not know, the U.S. Secret Service is “authorized” to protect domestic and international leaders, including all current and former presidents. The Secret Service isn’t known for public displays of affection, so when I saw this loving tribute to a man they’ve served for nearly 50 years, I felt a lump in my throat.

Whatever your views on his politics, I find it hard to believe most people wouldn’t agree that Jimmy Carter is a man deserving of respect and admiration.

To me, he’s a shining example of what it means to be a leader—and a man.

Carter’s legacy of doing good may not have made him the most popular former president, but popularity was never his goal. Love was—and still is.

Wishing President Carter much love and light today, with continued awe and respect.

Thanks for reading and subscribing!
Clint

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FOUND PHOTOS OF THE DAY

JAMES E. “JIMMY” CARTER NAVAL PORTRAIT

JIMMY CARTER WITH HIS SONS

JIMMY CARTER WORKING WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

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ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 1

BIRTHDAYS

• 1924 = Jimmy Carter = American naval lieutenant, farmer, politician, 39th POTUS, and Nobel Prize laureate

• 1935 = Julie Andrews = English actress and singer

• 1945 = Donny Hathaway = American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

• 1959 = Youssou N'Dour = Senegalese singer-songwriter, musician, and politician

• 1969 = Zach Galifianakis = American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter

EVENTS

• 1890 = Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.

• 1891 = Stanford University opens its doors in California.

• 1908 = Ford Model T automobiles are offered for sale at a price of US$825.

• 1910 = A large bomb destroys the Los Angeles Times building, killing 21.

• 1961 = CTV, Canada's first private television network, launches.

• 1968 = Night of the Living Dead premieres in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

• 1971 = Connecticut becomes the second state (after Illinois in 1962) to decriminalize same-sex acts between consenting adults.

• 1975 = In the boxing match known as The Thrilla in Manila, Muhammad Ali stops Joe Frazier in 14 rounds in the Philippines to retain his heavyweight title.

• 1982 = Former Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Glenn Burke comes out in “Inside Sports”, becoming the first professional baseball player to do so.

• 1982 = Marvin Gaye releases his last studio album Midnight Love, featuring the single Sexual Healing.

• 1982 = Sony and Phillips launch the compact disc in Japan; on the same day, Sony releases the model CDP-101 compact disc player, the first player of its kind.

• 1986 = In his “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons”, Joseph Alois Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, clarifies the Church’s condemnation of the “homosexual inclination” as a “tendency toward an intrinsic moral evil” and an “objective disorder,” and criticizes Catholics who have been guilty of “an overly benign interpretation of the homosexual condition.”

• 1989 = Denmark authorizes “registered partnerships” for lesbian and gay couples. The partnerships are similar to marriage but do not include rights to adoption, artificial insemination, or religious wedding ceremonies in state Lutheran Churches.

• 1993 = A court orders the government of Canada to grant a gay federal worker spousal and bereavement benefits equal to those of heterosexual employees.

• 2000 = Jackass premieres on MTV.

• 2002 = Publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg dies in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, at the age of 94.

• 2004 = Photographer Richard Avedon dies in San Antonio, at the age of 81.

• 2009 = Nevada domestic partnership becomes effective.

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