After the president Jimmy Carter continued leaving mark

Most people believe that a president’s legacy is established during their tenure as president. For some that is true, but for President Jimmy Carter much of his legacy was established during the years of his post-presidency. His long reach includes New Mexico.

Carter won the 1976 presidential race with 297 electoral votes over then-President Gerald Ford’s 240 votes. Ford had assumed the role of president when Richard Nixon was forced to resign after the Watergate scandal. Ford’s pardon of Nixon was controversial and widely believed to have kept him from being re-elected.

Jimmy Carter won 10 of the 11 Confederate states. It was the last time a Democratic presidential candidate won the state of Texas. New Mexico voted for President Ford as did every other state west of the Mississippi except Texas.

Carter’s presidential years were highly criticized, but most historians agree that he brought the issue of human rights into the national conversation. I remember vividly his 1977 address on the energy crisis, when he asked average Americans to conserve and sacrifice. And as a young mother I listened when he said, “We must decide the kind of world we want to leave our children and grandchildren.” He was ahead of his time on human rights, national healthcare and energy policy.

His foreign policy successes included his direct involvement in negotiating the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt and the Panama Canal Treaty in 1977.

Carter made a trip to New Mexico in 1979 at the invitation of Gov. Bruce King (elected again in 1978) and Alice King. They hosted an early morning coffee at the Sheraton Hotel in Albuquerque. No donation was required, just a chance for those who had supported Carter in 1976 and a lifetime opportunity to be in the presence of a sitting president. He was warm and genuine.

Carter lost in a landslide in 1980. High inflation and the inability to get 50 American hostages in Iran released were major factors. At the end of his term, he returned to his home state of Georgia. But in a sense his mark on the world, the country and even New Mexico was just beginning.

In 1982 he founded the Carter Center, and through the center for 40 years Carter has continued his focus on human rights, eradicating disease, and promoting democracy worldwide.

Carter’s long-time goal of eradicating Guinea worm disease is becoming a reality. The debilitating disease affected millions of people worldwide in the 1980s. In 2022 there were only 13 cases remaining worldwide.

Carter tells the story of traveling in Nigeria in 2017 when a class of school-age children held up a sign reading, “Watch out, Guinea worm! Here comes Jimmy Carter.” He noted that was as good as getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Through Habitat for Humanity he inspired millions of volunteers everywhere to help build houses for low income families. Carter personally participated in building one or two homes a year.

In 2020, using its experience in 39 countries and 110 elections to protect democratic elections, The Carter Center launched an effort to rebuild trust in U.S. elections. In 2022, New Mexico First, a nonprofit was selected as one of 50 nonpartisan organizations to be part of Candidate Principles for Trusted Elections. Through this effort, candidates at every level, former and current elected officials, and regular citizens were invited to endorse these five candidate principles: integrity, non-violence, security, oversight, and the peaceful transfer of power.

In short order, New Mexico First secured public endorsements from Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

So even as President Carter was considering his own future, he was still leaving his mark on the world – including New Mexico. Thank you, Mr. President.

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This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: After the president Jimmy Carter continued leaving mark