To President Carter on his 100th birthday

Taking a moment from fixating on the endless challenges facing the 46^th president to say “Happy Birthday!” to our 39^th.

If you don’t count George Washington’s fake choppers, Jimmy Carter — who turns a sprightly 100 today — owns the most famous set of presidential teeth in history. That Jimmy grin and the sense of optimism that went with it was what the country wanted and needed after the Republicans’ Watergate mess.

Although his one term isn’t considered a rousing success, he kept us out of war, focused our attention on energy policy, protected huge amounts of land, was at the helm during the creation of eight million jobs, brokered peace between Israel and Egypt, and brought honesty and integrity back to the White House.

But before all that — he hates to brag, so I will — he was a U.S. Navy officer so courageous that he “was physically lowered into a damaged nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, and exposed to levels of radiation unthinkable today after an accident.” (I’m actually starting to think maybe it turned him superhuman, given today’s milestone.)

Carter’s post-presidency is where he really shines (like leading the charge to eradicate guinea worm disease in Africa) and he warrants every accolade we can throw Daily Kos community member 81380’s way.

His motto at the Carter Center says it all: “Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.” Done … done … and done.

And kudos for throwing jabs at the right-wing freak show, as he did in his speech during the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington in 2013:

I believe we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the new ID requirements to exclude certain voters, especially African-Americans. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the Supreme Court striking down a crucial part of the Voters' Rights Act, just recently passed overwhelmingly by Congress.

I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to unemployment among African-Americans being almost twice the rate of white people and for teenagers at 42 percent. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to our country being awash in guns and for more and more states passing “stand your ground” laws. I think we know how Dr. King would have reacted to people of the District of Columbia still not having full citizenship rights.

And I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to having more than 835,000 African-American men in prison — five times as many as when I left office — and with one-third of all African-American males being destined to be in prison in their lifetimes.

After a lifetime — like, a looong lifetime — of service, Jimmy is prepared to let go. His Sunday school classes in Plains are behind him, and he won’t be hammering any more nails for Habitat for Humanity. He’s now foregoing the proverbial “heroic measures,” medically speaking, and is letting nature take its course. Rosalynn awaits his arrival at the pearly peanut farm gate.

But his plan to keep his ticker ticking a little longer so he can vote for Kamala Harris is … [chef’s kiss].

What more can we say? Happy birthday, Jimmy. In the pantheon of Most Excellent American Role Models, you stand so tall you don’t even need a pedestal.

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Written by Bill in Portland Maine. Cross-posted from Daily Kos.