Blog Post #49: Jimmy Carter

Given the crap that we deal with with Trump each day, it’s nice to remember a president who really did care about the country and the people of our country. I first met Jimmy Carter on a snowy afternoon in a small restaurant in Biddeford, Maine. I had just moved to Maine from the Midwest, and being from the South, I was quite anxious to hear a southern voice again. So despite the snow, I drove to Biddeford. The roads were terrible. I assumed the whole thing might be canceled, but when I finally got to the restaurant there were a handful of people seated around a large table. These were the hardy souls that were willing to face the snow and the cold. Before Jimmy Carter spoke, he waited to make sure that all who were coming had arrived. He did not make a speech, he introduced himself - most of us did not really know who he was or why he was running for president. After introducing himself, he gave everyone the opportunity to introduce themselves and ask questions. Carter tried to answer each question as best he could and if he didn't know the answer, he admitted it. He was not like many of the Southern politicians I had known and grown up with. He appeared honest and truly concerned with the welfare of the people of the country. Not only that, but he seemed to truly care about the people sitting around that table, not because we were going to make a large donation to his campaign, but because we, like him, were genuinely concerned with the welfare of the country; we were all citizens of one of the smallest and poorest states in the Union.

When he was elected, I commented to one of my colleagues that we finally were on the road to healing many of the wounds that had been created by the Civil War and made worse by Watergate. Carter was a good man who moved the country forward both as president and as a former president. We can only hope that another person like Carter with the character and determination will arrive on the national stage to heal the divisions that presently afflict the entire country. 

Ron Breazeale PhD

Clinical Psychologist