Prior to his 100th Birthday back on Oct. 1 former President Jimmy Carter told family and friends he’d love having them around to mark that milestone with him. However he also said what he REALLY wanted to do was last long enough to cast his vote for Kamala Harris for President. That was his real goal. In a lifetime filled with service Carter had one last bit of service to give, both in making his endorsement of Harris clear but even more importantly submitting his ballot with her as his choice for President. Well, Carter’s vote HAS been cast.
According to this story in USA Today Jimmy Carter has fulfilled his final wish. Oh, I’m sure he’d enjoy the hell out of sitting there in that modest, simple home in Plains, Georgia that he shared with his beloved Rosalynn and watch Harris being sworn in. However Carter has always been a simple man at heart and should he live long enough to hear her declared President elect that would be all the icing on the cake he would need. The IMPORTANT thing was to do his part. He saw it as a duty to tell people they should vote, and vote for the Harris/Walz ticket. Carter also saw it as his duty to actually follow through on his political beliefs and vote. Given his health going to a polling location was impractical so he got an absentee ballot. Then?
Chip Carter’s wife, Becky, submitted Jimmy Carter’s ballot at a drop box at the Sumter County Courthouse, near Plains, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I think he feels good,” Chip Carter told the outlet. “It was a good morning for him and good for us that he got it done.”
In case you’re wondering about the worst case as in Carter not making it to election day no worries. Under Georgia election law it doesn’t matter if an early/absentee voter dies before election day. Once their ballot is submitted/cast then it gets counted. Carter’s ballot has been lawfully submitted so his vote WILL be counted! When you think about it Carter himself had much to do with him being able to vote. It’s only recently his Presidency is getting a fresh look and historians are suggesting he deserves more credit than he’s gotten. However Jimmy Carter is overwhelming regarded as the finest former President this country has ever known.
Carter was passionate about voting rights. He wanted people to be able to cast their votes and to do so easily. He fought efforts to restrict access to the ballot box. What is too often overlooked is that Carter didn’t just fight for free and fair elections, for people to be able to freely cast their votes only in the U.S. He went to numerous other countries to help THEM hold fair elections. To ensure people could vote and vote how they wanted without fear of reprisal. Carter went to some tough places and put himself at risk sometimes in pursuit of this goal. His wife Rosalynn sometimes accompanied him. Sometimes so did his political rival Gerald Ford. Jimmy Carter took personal risks to make sure people could vote. The title pic shows Jimmy and Rosalynn overseas helping supervise an election!
That’s why during a time when I’m filled with so much anger and hate right now my heart is singing. Jimmy Carter got to fulfill what for him was one more, and perhaps last service to his/our country. He got to cast his vote, and cast it for the person who truly is unquestionably the best choice to be our next President. His body has long been failing him but Carter’s mind apparently is still sharp and he knows issues and policy. Both domestic and foreign. He wouldn’t have made a point of endorsing Harris if HE didn’t believe in her.
But if you needed some good news today then celebrate the fact that Jimmy Carter got to cast his vote and it will be one more counted for Harris in a state we all know will be close on Nov. 5.
I’ve said before how proud I am that the very first vote I cast was for Jimmy Carter. Today I’m even prouder knowing his last vote has been cast – for Kamala Harris.
Thank you, Denis, for expressing (so much better!) what I and so many others are feeling today upon hearing this news!
AWESOME! Wonderful President & Humanitarian.
When I read that much earlier I was overjoyed! So happy! I’d love for him to live long enough to see President Harris elected and then sworn in!
Wonderful! That means a lot! Thank you, Denis, from another person who couldn’t have said it nearly as well. This is something I’m going to save.
Just to add an aside, he did this coming out of rural Georgia. He didn’t grow up with east coast elites. He grew up under jim crow and fought against it. Not popular in a place like rural Georgia. He pissed off a lot of people when he actually enacted his Christian values, like ending covert wars the CIA was enacting, something ronnie raygun restarted. He is my moral center as president. Glad he got this one last vote.
One could search far and wide both now and through our history and not find a finer, more decent person to emulate. As you say both he and Rosalynn were from humble beginnings and when they left the WH they returned to their simple, functional home in Plains. I think part of what annoyed “Official Washington” (including Democrats) was that the Carter’s had an innate CLASS that none of them possessed. And despite the whole Peanut Farmer” shtick Official Washington including the media loved to hammer Carter with those who had any dealings with him got reminded he wasn’t merely a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, he was a f**king brilliant engineer and possessed far more expertise on more topics than most of them did! Instead of respect they displayed resentment and belittled him. Just imagine if his vision for weaning us off oil and creating clean, renewable energy had been taken seriously. Over four decades of addressing the climate crisis got pissed away. We’ve passed a tipping point that might well have been avoided with meaningful action starting back when Carter was President.
History is giving him another look and in time he’ll get the proper respect he is due. But what’s so impressive is he didn’t let the barbs stop him from continuing to serve others. His life of service stands apart in a category few people have matched. Pretty damned good for a small town kid from a struggling family!
Before being elected, Jimmy went around the country talking to a lot of newspaper editors. The editor of the Detroit Free Press at the time was a member of the church we attended and we talked to him occasionally at the coffee hour after the service. He recalled his meeting with Jimmy. He described him as the most intelligent, most unassuming person he had ever met.