President Jimmy Carter died well over a week ago at the age of 100, and the state funeral was held in Washington, D.C., on 9 January. He was often said to be America’s best ex-president, following a challenging one-term presidency from 1977 to 1981. His wife of 77 years, Rosalynn (née Smith) Carter, passed away a year ago at the age of 96. He frequently praised his wife and said she was essential to his work and good life since their marriage in 1946. In 1984, they established the Carter Center together, focusing on humanitarian and development aid work.

The aid given by the Carter Center was particularly important in Africa, including to Sudan during the yearlong conflict before the mainly Muslim north and the Christian south split up. Furthermore, they assisted successfully in the eradication of the terrible illnesses of Onchocerciasis, commonly known as African River Blindness, and Guinea Worm Disease, which affected millions of people in several Central African countries. The Carter Center’s work included other health issues, such as vaccination programmes and the training of health workers. Rosalynn Carter was deeply concerned about mental health issues, writing and speaking about them to create greater understanding and reduce the stigma surrounding those affected. She also encouraged policies to reduce mental health illnesses, including in America.

Jimmy Carter focused on a variety of human rights issues, democracy, election integrity, good governance, and more. He spoke out on many difficult issues with deep moral and ethical concerns about fairness and what is good and right. In many ways, he was ahead of his time, addressing environmental issues, gender and LGBTQ matters, and new approaches to war and peace. He made everyone listen, irrespective of creed, nationality, political ideology, or worldview. He said: “War may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.”

But then, let us also remember that Jimmy Carter was an American, and indeed an American politician. He stood for American values, even when he reflected on them, and he began his career in the military, serving in the navy for seven years. Yet, perhaps his reflections as an ex-president also show how difficult it is for anyone to be entirely principled and sure about much in life or to do everything right. We all have limitations, we misunderstand, we try and fail, and we are inevitably part of the time and culture we live in, with its conventions and compulsions. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were true to their Christian faith throughout their lives, and that, too, earned respect among believers of all faiths. It became a symbol of good American values, where religion seems to be more alive than in many other Western countries.

I saw Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in Nairobi, Kenya, and I still remember the surprise. They walked out of the Serena Hotel as I was heading down from the parking lot. I thought I had seen them before, which I had—but only on TV and in newspaper photos. I realised before I approached them who they were: as ordinary and folksy as ever, not having forgotten their roots in the small town of Plains, Georgia, on his family’s peanut farm.

Jimmy Carter resumed an old community duty of teaching at a local Sunday school in Plains after his Washington years. He was president at a time when there were two main superpowers in the world: the USA and the Soviet Union. President Carter faced difficulties with Iran, which had taken American diplomats hostage. The hostage crisis was only resolved by his successor, President Ronald Reagan (in office 1981–1989). Reagan prepared further for the Cold War to end, which materialised from 1989—something that was certainly also in Jimmy Carter’s spirit. Perhaps Carter would have been better able to prepare for cooperation between the two superpowers afterward, which would have had a positive impact even today, as better cooperation between Russia and the West is still needed.

In the Middle East, Jimmy Carter became known for the positive and lasting impact of the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt (1978). But regarding further issues in that troubled region, he probably did more as an ex-president, explaining a more nuanced view, unusual for an American politician. He wrote a book entitled *Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid* (published in 2006), where he sided with Palestinian perspectives on more issues than was common for a prominent American, and a staunch Christian, too.

He was heavily criticised for his words, especially the use of the word “apartheid” in the book’s title. Some of his board members at the Carter Center even resigned. The rest of us, and certainly most Pakistanis, appreciated that he tried to understand the Palestinian cause from their point of view, rather than solely supporting Israel. Alas, Jimmy Carter passed away at a time when the Middle East is in deeper turmoil than it has been in a long while. I believe he contributed to the longer-term solution, or at least the reduction, of the enduring conflict.

Let me end my article today with another anecdote about Jimmy Carter. I worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1990s, and the Carter Center at that time had an agreement with the Bank for certain projects in the Sahel Region in Central and West Africa, including in tackling the terrible contagious diseases I mentioned earlier. That was good and well. Those of us at the Bank dealing with the Sahel attended a progress and planning meeting with Jimmy Carter and his delegation. We were all humbled to be in the same room as such a great man. The Bank took advantage of his high standing; well, it also allocated some grant money to the Carter Center projects from the International Development Association (IDA), a window of soft aid administered by the Bank. However, if the Carter Center had been more principled about its partners and less American, they might not have chosen the World Bank, given its often hidden business and ideological agendas. Perhaps this again shows a bit of Jimmy Carter’s slight naivety amid his realism and good work.

Finally, despite this, and knowing that all countries have their agendas—certainly the USA—we can hardly find a better representative of the best in American values than the work of the Carter Center, and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Let us thank them in our hearts, admiring and learning from their style and achievements. Again, Jimmy Carter was America’s best ex-president. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his achievements in development, peace, human rights, and democracy as an ex-president. I believe he would have liked his wife, Rosalynn Carter, to have shared the prize with him.

Atle Hetland
The writer is a senior Norwegian social scientist with experience from university, diplomacy and development aid. He can be reached at atlehetland@yahoo.com