A fit-looking Jimmy Carter said Tuesday night he hasn’t suffered any ill effects after completing two of several planned cancer treatments.
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, held court for roughly an hour during “Conversation with the Carters,” a wide-ranging discussion that touched on his health, the center’s global programs, race relations and the problems surrounding the growing number of Syrian refugees.
It was the 90-year-old former president's first official Carter Center event since disclosing the full scope of his cancer diagnosis in August.
Carter, dressed in a gray suit, joked that doctors had reduced his daily fluid intake from 84 ounces to 64 ounces.
“Instead of getting productive work done,” he said. “I’m spending a lot of time in the restroom.”
Tuesday’s discussion is considered the kickoff for an annual series of lectures that brings together Carter Center experts, policy makers and other guests to discuss the health and other global issues. Carter’s health has been the focus of intense speculation since he revealed last month that he has been diagnosed with melanoma, a skin cancer that has progressed to his brain and liver. He told a packed news conference in August that he would undergo a course of radiation and drug therapy to treat it.
Nearly 400 people were at the Carter Center Tuesday night to hear the former president and there was a waiting list to get in. Those who made the cut included Dianne Berg and Beth Bates-Verges. They flew into Atlanta from Denton, Texas, Monday night.
Berg, a retired college administrator, said it was on her “bucket list to hear and see him.” The news about his illness made her move that higher on her list. “I know he has lived an amazing life, not only as a president, but as a former president.”
Bates-Verges, an executive administrative assistant at Texas Woman’s University, said she has long admired the former president and said he had influenced her in her public service work.
“We call him our hero,” said Bates-Verges, who was seated in the balcony of the Cecil B. Day Chapel at the Carter Center.
In 1988, she came to Atlanta to participate in a Carter build for Habitat for Humanity. He inspired her to give back. She came back three other times for similar projects.
Once, she got to ride in the bus with Rosalynn as the group went to dinner. “I felt like a groupie,” she said.
Responding to questions posed by the audience Tuesday, Carter weighed in on Syria, race relations in the United States and ISIS. For instance, he said he would like the European nations to agree to accept quotas on the number of refugees coming across their border, but obviously the solution is to deal with the fighting in Syria. “There’s not any easy answer,” he said.
He said there were more “refugees from war zones on Earth than there have ever been in history,” he said.
The United States, he said in response to a question, had to get more aggressive with ISIS, which now controls large swaths of Syria.
On race relations, Carter said the election of President Barack Obama was a step in the right direction but that racism remains in the U.S. He blamed the racial divide, in part, for continued political polarization around the country.
Since the cancer diagnosis Carter said he and Rosalynn would drastically scale back their work at the Carter Center.
The Carters didn't address whether they would attend Habitat for Humanity International's 32nd annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project Nov. 1-6 in the Chitwan District in Nepal. The build will bring together 1,500 volunteers from within Nepal and around the world. During the week, volunteers will build 100 homes in partnership with low-income families in need of permanent shelter.
Upcoming conversations at the Carter Center include: “Syria: In Search of Solutions,” at 7 p.m. Oct. 13; “Stories from 100 Elections,” at 7 p.m. Dec. 2; “The Power of Information,” at 7 p.m. March 15; and “Words Matter: Talking About Mental Health,” at 7 p.m. April 21.
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