
Jimmy Carter, Exemplar of Presidential Decorum
As thousands of remembrances and messages of condolence flood public media upon the news of the death of former President Jimmy Carter at age 100, we might wonder if anything new can be said about the 39th president. Historians are dissecting his presidency while pundits plumb his personal attributes. Consensus is emerging that while his one-term presidency was troubled, his post-presidency was simply remarkable. He devoted most of the four decades since leaving office to doing his part to make the world a better place — whether working to eradicate disease or building homes with Habitat for Humanity or preaching at Sunday School. His life — and with his partner of 77 years Rosalyn Carter — was a testament to living by a moral code of charity, hope, justice and peace.
Seen through a slightly different angle on the lens, the coincidence of Carter’s death just weeks before the second inauguration of President Donald Trump presents an opportunity for reflection on a topic that may seem hopelessly quaint but utterly necessary in these oft-tawry times. In short, Jimmy Carter was an exemplar of a quality among U.S. presidents that too often seems in short supply: the quality of personal and professional decorum.
Decorum? What an old-fashioned word! In my Catholic grade school back in the 60’s, we received grades for Decorum as well as Self-Control and other personal qualities that seem to have vanished in the age of social media. What does it mean? Simply, to act in ways that are refined, humble, proper, courteous, in good taste, respectful of others and the circumstances of the moment.
Carter’s example of decorum exposes the shameful lack of that quality in the person who soon will be inaugurated for a second time as president of the United States. President-elect Trump spent Christmas issuing dozens of statements on his social media platform Truth Social that included the message “GO TO HELL” directed toward the persons on death row who had their sentences commuted by President Biden in a merciful act that is in keeping with the teachings of the Catholic faith. Trump continued his typical social media insults toward “Radical Left Lunatics” and his ridiculous threats against Panama, Greenland and Canada. There was nothing sweet, cheerful, peaceful or hopeful in his messages.
Sadly, too many members of the mainstream media today hail such cheap and unworthy rhetoric as “authentic” — on the radio I heard a Politico reporter extol Trump’s Christmas rant as “authentic” in contrast to President Biden’s gracious statement that the reporter trashed as “written by staff.” The role of major media in normalizing abnormal presidential behavior needs a reckoning, and soon.
I remember Jimmy Carter’s election — what a relief it was after the corruption of the Nixon administration in the Watergate scandal. But economic recession and international crises undermined his leadership, and his loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980 was almost inevitable. At Reagan’s inauguration on a bitterly cold January day in 1981, I remember standing on Pennsylvania Avenue as the word spread of the release of the American hostages in Iran, and it sounded like a political deal had occurred in some back room somewhere, but good for all that the hostages were coming home. At that moment I also marveled at the spectacle of the peaceful transfer of power in American life — a new president from a different party taking the oath of office while the outgoing president, disappointed in the election, stood by the side of the new leader (image below) and cordially cheered him on. Decorum!
Far from retiring to a bitter, vengeful existence, Jimmy Carter went on to what some call the “best” post-presidency in American history. He lived the ideals of social justice, caring for the poor, helping those in need, lifting up the values of charity and peace for those who knew too little of both.
As the United States transitions once more to a new president who is, in too many ways, familiar to us because of his trash talk and apparent lack of a moral center, let’s remember the example of Jimmy Carter and insist, despite the odds at present, that President Carter’s example of a life well-lived should be the standard for all those who are privileged to hold the trust of the nation.