President Jimmy Carter was the first president I actually remember — I was 7 years old when he took office. Being a kid, I did not pay much attention to politics or world events. I do recall seeing President Carter on TV many times and I remember thinking that he seemed like a very nice man —he seemed very sincere.
It wasn’t until I was in my early teens that I learned about the events that went on during his presidency — gas rationing, the Iran Hostage crisis, and major economic recession. Even as I studied these events, it was hard to find fault with Carter. Some will say Carter had “no backbone” — he was a “nice guy”. I believe they are correct — Carter was (and is) a nice guy. After spending years studying political science the one conclusion I have come to is: Nice guys are not perceived as good presidents. It’s unfortunate, but in the current state of the world it is true.
Yet, there is another “truth” that gives some vindication to Carter — nice guys win Nobel Peace Prizes.
To my surprise President G.W. Bush was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I find this rather amusing since I can’t really think of any good reason Bush should have won, let alone be nominated. This is especially true when you compare Bush with Carter.
During his presidency, President Carter sought out peace in the Middle East. In 1978 he brought Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat together to sign the Camp David peace accord. Since leaving office, Carter has sought to bring about peace in many counties including Haiti, Bosnia and Sudan. During his Presidency Bush has nothing to promote peace in the Middle East. He has turned a blind eye to the treatment of the Palestinians and he is doing everything he possibly can to start a war with Iraq.
Carter has spent countless hours hammering houses together with Habitat for Humanity. Bush has spent countless hours seeking the best way to bomb the houses of the people in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Carter has sought out ways to protect the environment. Bush spends his time trying to make the most money from the environment and destroying it in the process. Profit, not clean air, is all that matters to Bush.
Carter has spent the last two decades promoting human rights and helping to provide health care and food to the world’s poor. Immediately upon taking office Bush initiated a “gag order” preventing health care and birth control to poor women. He as well ignores the human rights violations in many countries simply because of the desires of big business — i.e. the treatment of the women in the Eastern Countries that we buy oil from and the way the Government of China treats it citizens.
Why anyone nominated Bush for the Nobel Peace Prize is beyond my comprehension. I am glad that the Nobel committee are not easily fooled.
“In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power,” the Nobel citation read, “Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and economic development.”
Gunnar Berge, the Nobel committee chairman, was even more direct when he said that the award “should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken.”
Carter said he was accepting the prize on behalf of “suffering people around the world.” He plans to use the $1 million prize money for an emergency fund for the Carter Center, the private peace-making foundation that Mr. and Mrs. Carter founded 20 years ago.
It has been said many times that, although historians are unlikely to rank Jimmy Carter among the greatest U.S. presidents, he will almost surely go down as one of the greatest ex-presidents. Deservedly so.
Hello. My name is Angela Christine Byers (yes, my mother actually named me “Angel of Christ”), and I am an atheist.
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