President Jimmy Carter had no idea what he was going to do next when he delivered his farewell address to the nation in January 1981. Defeated after a single term by Ronald Reagan, he simply told Americans that he would leave the White House and “take up once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of president — the title of citizen.”
free casino no depositForty-four years later, there is little question among historians that Citizen Carter carved a new mold for life after the Oval Office and that his post-presidency was the most consequential in modern history. But his impact was felt more strongly overseas than at home — especially in the realm of public health.
One of Mr. Carter’s biggest and most lasting post-presidential accomplishments is also one of the most overlooked: the near total eradication of Guinea worm disease, a painful parasitic infection for which there is no treatment or vaccine. In 1986, it afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people, mostly in Africa and Asia. There were only seven reported cases through the first 10 months of 2024, according to the Carter Center, Mr. Carter’s human rights organization.
Mr. Carter first saw the devastating effects of the disease in 1988, in two villages near Accra, Ghana. “Once you’ve seen a small child with a two- or three-foot-long live Guinea worm protruding from her body, right through her skin, you never forget it,” he later wrote in The Washington Post.
Mr. Carter wrote books, 32 in all, and devoted his energies to advancing global health, democracy and human rights. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He once said the world’s biggest problem was violence against women and girls, and he cited religious texts as a leading cause. He helped ensure free and fair elections in countries from Nicaragua to Nepal.
The indictment comes five months after the couple was first accused of physically and emotionally abusing their daughter. The abuse occurred when she was 15 and 16 years old, prosecutors said in a news release.
His personal diplomacy sometimes rankled. In 1994, with the assent of President Bill Clinton, he traveled to North Korea to avert a nuclear crisis, then irked the White House by announcing a deal with the North Korean leader, Kim Il-sung, live on CNN. He visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro, drawing criticism that he was a “shill” for Mr. Castro’s dictatorship. He infuriated Israel and American Jews by likening Israel to an apartheid state.
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