I’m probably like most people; I wake up every day and, with some trepidation, begin reading the news of the day.
We are destined now to read about events and commentary around the crisis of climate change, the unprecedented indictments of a former president, a Supreme Court that’s overlooking some justices’ previous suggestion that they would not overrule settled precedents and so on. You can see why I thank the heavens for the Atlanta Braves and their remarkable season.
Still, the Braves’ wins aren’t enough to make many of us feel composed and chill about the state of our democracy, where political games and widespread misinformation are more dystopian than in “Blade Runner.”
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau is given attribution for the quote, “Those who desire to treat politics and morals separately will never understand anything of either.” I think this pretty much characterizes the water in which we’re now swimming. In these days of hairsplitting and sidestepping, I recall a different era and a different politician and man -- former President Jimmy Carter.
Recently, much has been written about Jimmy Carter and this is uplifting as his record in hindsight is more distinguished than was written back then. I’d like to share a simple story in the spirit of Rousseau and hope that our future leaders will find it more normal to serve with virtue and morality.
I remember a time when I landed at the Memphis airport and heard a page calling my name asking me to pick up an airport phone for an urgent call. It was Jimmy Carter, who told me that someone had offered a multimillion-dollar donation to The Carter Center. He asked if I knew this executive who was from a nation near my birthplace.
I told President Carter I would check into the person and the offer to see if his was an honest proposition of support for his library. Ultimately, I learned it was not a donor President Carter would wish for and told him this. Despite his need to raise money for his library, and the staggering eight-figure sum at stake, President Carter declined the offer.
This action is typical of the character of this man who treats politics and morals as inseparable from any other aspect of his life and who never stepped out of bounds for political or personal benefit.
On a more lighthearted note, when Daimler AG explored building their Sprinter van production plant in Georgia, with over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, the company management presented a Sprinter to the Carter Center. Staff from the automaker and Georgia’s Department of Economic Development were on hand for the presentation.
President Carter was asked to drive the van on the library property, and he confessed he had to decline because his driver’s license had not been renewed since leaving office. Police and Secret Service convinced him that a turn in the parking lot with photos would be OK.
A few years ago, a “rockumentary” film called “Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President” was released. It tells the story of how candidate Carter’s love for music drew people to him from all walks of life, including the broad array of artists who supported him.
An unknown candidate at the time that he entered the presidential race, Carter engaged a strategy of inclusion and positivity through the shared messages drawn through music and its spirit of community that no other form of communication can call forth. In this film, with his characteristic toothy grin, Carter confessed that Willie Nelson later told him he had smoked pot at the White House with an employee. The “employee” turned out to be one of Carter’s sons.
Jimmy Carter said he would never tell a lie to the American people, would never make a misleading statement and would never betray the confidence placed in him. In a time when another American president’s mistruths have numbered beyond 30,000, this is almost quaint, if unbelievable. I believe we’d have to go all the way back to Abraham Lincoln to find this level of honesty in a president.
But morality exists, or doesn’t, within an individual and cannot be selectively applied. I must challenge Bob Dylan, a close friend of President Carter’s, when he said, “Morality has nothing in common with politics.” If he believes this, he doesn’t truly know his friend.
And in the spirit of Rousseau’s words and news stories leading with goodness, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter this month celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary. That is a testament to truth, honor, morality, faith and commitment -- traits that are inseparable from every aspect of a full life well-lived.
R.K. Sehgal is a longtime Atlanta business executive and a former Georgia commissioner of industry, trade and tourism.
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