Commentary: Despite tough times, Carter proved to be a great man

The news about former President Jimmy Carter’s liver cancer struck a nerve with me. My dad, a liberal Democrat until his final day, passed away from the same cancer when Carter was in the White House.

Like millions of Americans who voted for Carter in 1976, I had high hopes he would reboot America after Richard Nixon and Watergate (yes, I know Carter beat Gerald Ford in ‘76).

If you look at his record of creating more than 10 million new jobs in four years, Carter ranks up there with some of the finest presidents in modern history. Despite that accomplishment, you also have to look at other factors affecting his term in office. The original Iranian hostage crisis, long lines at the gas pump, rising unemployment and an inflation rate of 18% to 20% were almost unsolvable problems for Carter.

When I was working at the Democratic National Committee in 1974, Carter’s top political adviser, Hamilton Jordan, often would hold meetings with top DNC officials in our Washington offices. Back in those days, most professional men I knew wore dress shirts, ties and suits to the office. Not Ham. He showed up in jeans and work shirts.

At first, I wrote him off as an outlaw of sorts. Little did I know he was one of the smartest political operatives of our time. I think it’s safe to say that had Jordan not been working for Carter, the former governor of Georgia never would have become President of the United States.

Despite Carter’s superior intelligence, and the many smart people who surrounded him, he simply didn’t have the requisite skills to manage America’s troubling times. I submit that even if someone had Albert Einstein’s brain power and fictional oilman J.R. Ewing’s cunning ways in the late 1970s, no president could have emerged from the White House unscathed. That certainly defines Carter’s four years in the Oval Office.

In many ways, I feel Carter’s presidency was a warm-up act for his after-Washington life of service to others, religious faith and deep and considerable humility. In short, while he eagerly participated in the rough and tumble of politics at the highest levels, he really was more comfortable in his role as mediator and friend.

To this point, the Camp David Accords he struck with Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin still stand today as a testament to Carter’s quiet but determined leadership style. Despite all the turmoil in the Middle East now, these two great nations still are at peace today. The world and America owes a debt of gratitude to Jimmy Carter.

Mr. President, I know you aren’t feeling well now, but you showed us that a firm handshake can be stronger medicine than a bomb or missile.

DENNY FREIDENRICH lives in Laguna Beach.