Politics, national politics, in United States of America, has always been like politics almost every other place. It often comes down to bare-knuckle tactics, pursuit of personal interest and conspiracy by few against the rest.
Good guys seldom emerge victorious in politics. Whosoever wins, however, often undergoes a quick makeover by the media and propagandists, presenting the victor as a good guy of sorts, a man whose virtues and intelligence combined with the stars to thrust him to power. It is always a winner’s world.
Every once in a while, an authentic good guy wins in politics, propelled by the society’s brief awakening to, and rejection of, the suffocating manipulation of the system, by the barracudas that dominate the political landscape.
The triumph of the good guy in politics, hardly endures. It is often cut short, one way or another, by a conspiracy that curiously involves connivance of the very society that the good guy set out to defend. Somehow, however, the legacy of the good guy, often endures.
Presidential politics in United States of America, used to offer a unique edge that no other democracy matched. Beyond individual ambitions, the pitch for power in USA was always couched in embracive values that espoused universality of humanity, as well a lofty ideals of justice and liberty. It used to appear sublime, those declarations of commitment to the values of shared humanity, principles that America embraced, partly by its own history and partly by its appropriated role as leader of the free world.
Great American political leaders in the past, irrespective of their challenges and roots, in the course of their seeking for power, and coming to power, almost always came across as knights out to impact humanity positively.
It is not exactly so, anymore. Politics, especially presidential politics in USA, has become, more or less, like politics everywhere else, including in the third world. The end justifies the means. And the end does not stretch beyond ingratiating the self.
The demise of James Earl Carter Junior (Jimmy Carter), the 39th president of USA on Sunday December 29 2024, marked, not only the end of an era, but the loss of a good man, who personified what even American politics has not managed to enthrone as the guiding principle.
Jimmy Carter was indeed, a rebuke to what politics and even presidential power have become in America.
The world is mourning his exit with ample reasons, even as he lived to the ripe age of 100.
Africa and Nigeria, in particular, have very eloquent testimonies in favour of President Carter. States like Ebonyi State and some others, should be eternally grateful to Carter.
His commitment to the eradication of Guinea worm bore the desired fruit and freed millions of ordinary people suffering in distant lands that he had no reason beyond godliness, to concern himself with.
He visited Nigeria more than once, after his presidency, in the course of service to humanity. He was also in Nigeria to observe the 1999 election that restored democratic governance. He did raise some questions about that election and reportedly left unsatisfied. Carter was a dedicated friend of Nigeria.
Unlike President Carter, ironically, Barack Obama, the one Africa had thought had affinity with it, turned out to be a scourge to the continent. Of course, he never visited Nigeria, during, or after his presidency. His nearest contact and gift to the country, was a most pernicious, un-presidential dabbling in the country’s electoral process, resulting, eventually as he probably desired, in the most ruinous government in Nigeria’s history.
It also stands to Obama’s discredit that he destroyed Libya, an act he was said to have termed the worst decision of his presidency. The focus is on Jimmy Carter, the humanist.
The global outpouring of grief and eulogies to Carter, since he exited on Sunday, December 29 2024, reflect universal appreciation of his wholesome spirit and acts, as president and even more so, after his presidency.
Born James Earl Carter Jr., in Plains, Georgia on October 1 1924, the former President lived his life on an even keel. He always wanted to serve, but he didn’t believe he had to get to any position through cutting corners, or betraying the values he was raised with.
At any juncture where he had a choice to make between his principles and taking the road that was politically expedient, he did not waste time in going with his principles. That orientation cost him, politically, over and over, but he obviously did not set any big stock on political office.
Not surprisingly, all through his political career, both as state senator,governor of the State of Georgia, or President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, remained, an outsider to the mainstream. He was bound to be so. What do you make of a politician, who publicly promised that “I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll never make a misleading statement. I’ll never betray the trust of those who have confidence in me, and I will never avoid a controversial issue”.
Everything a quintessential politician was known for,and is still known for, Carter said he would not do. He obviously, was not a politician. A politician who said he will not lie and will not compromise on his principles is, obviously, not a politician.
JImmy Carter was actually, not one. He married his wife, Rosalyn in 1946 when he was just 24 years old and they remained inseparable for 77 years, until death parted them in 2023, when she died. They had only one house, a story building in their Woodlands, Plains, Georgia, an initial four room house they personally built in 1960 and expanded it after his presidency. He will be buried in the compound of that house, next to Rosalyn.
It is instructive that as president, Carter, in 1977, signed the Panama Canal Treaty that transferred the canal to Panama, although USA was in a position of strength and indeed, had good claims to the canal. Carter’s policy on the Panama Canal was informed by what he felt was natural justice and the need for enduring security in that axis. He placed premium value on America living in peace and with security, next to her neighbours.
Now,guess what? Forty-seven years down the line, a Donald Trump comes along and is now talking of wanting to take Panama Canal from Panama.
Carter served just one term as president. He was defeated by the populist Ronald Reagan, in the election of 1980.
Early exposure to USA politics and literature, means that one has known about President Carter for a long time. One of his post-election defeat comments that used to be popular with my younger brother and I, as young boys in those days and which we applied to our own devices, came from an answer to a question posed to him on how he felt about his loss of the presidency. His answer was classical Jimmy Carter;” I am not bitter. Rosalyn is”.
Jimmy Carter returned to Georgia after he lost the presidency, and commenced what has turned out to be the most impactful phase of his life. His humanitarian work across the world, as well as his election observation influences and human rights advocacy, have made the world a better place.
The Carter Centre in Altanta, Georgia,has over time, become a veritable powerhouse for resolving global conflicts and promotion of electoral democracy, among others.
Unfortunately, way back in 2009 when Professor Maurice Iwu as INEC Chairman, visited the Carter Centre in company of Ambassador Brownson Dede, Professor Attahiru Jega and I, the team missed the former president, by whiskers. The Carter Center embodies the Jimmy Carter spirit, in more ways than one.
How so wonderful it would have been to have few leaders on the international arena, at this troubled juncture, who think and act with humanity in mind, as President Carter did.
It has not turned out that way,sadly. In America, Trump is gearing up to assume office in the next three weeks, with whatever that portends. Benjamin Netanyahu is over in the Middle East, causing mayhem. Vladmir Putin is still committed to putting Ukraine to the sword. Over in Nigeria, the problem is even complicated, no one seems to know whether we are dealing with man or bat.
They don’t make them like Jimmy Carter anymore, and the world is worse for it.
Best wishes for a new year, everybody. So help us God.
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Andy Ezeani is a Nigerian journalist and media consultant. Trained at the University of Lagos, Nigeria and the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, he is a newspaper columnist and former Editor, Daily Champion.
