“Character, Character, Character”

Eulogies for Jimmy Carter contain good advice for Trump

Credit: Getty Images

Today our nation buried a statesman, a hero, and a peacemaker, reminding us of what a president and a former president can and should be.

More than any event I can remember in recent years, today’s state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter marked a powerful and transitional moment for our country. It’s as though we are closing a chapter in our nation’s history, an era of dignity, respect, and self-sacrifice. And opening one on a very uncertain future.

Carter died on December 29 at the age of 100. He was the nation’s longest-living president.

The words spoken today at the Washington National Cathedral reminded me of that for which our country should stand: admiration for the office of the president and for those who respect it.

Jason Carter said his grandfather led this nation with “love and respect.” For all the tender words uttered about the late president, one couldn’t help but think they were also spoken for the benefit of Donald Trump, who was in attendance, as were every other living president and vice president.

Ted Mondale, the son of Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale, read a eulogy penned by the late vice president prior to his death.

“Toward the end of our time in the White House, the president and I were talking about how we might describe what we tried to accomplish in office,” Mondale wrote. “We came up with a sentence which remains an important summary of our work. We told the truth, we obeyed the law and we kept the peace.”

Gerald Ford also left a eulogy to be read posthumously by his son Steven. Ford and Carter became lifelong friends after the latter left the White House.

“According to a map, it’s a long way between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Plains, Georgia. But distances have a way of vanishing when measured in values rather than miles, and it was because of our shared values that Jimmy and I respected each other as adversaries even before we cherished one another as dear friends,” Ford wrote.

President Biden, who was the first senator outside of Georgia to endorse Carter’s presidential candidacy, said he did so because of the late president’s most enduring trait, “character, character, character.” He then spoke of Carter’s inherent dichotomies.

“A white southern Baptist who led us on civil rights, a decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace, a brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear nonproliferation, a hard-working farmer who championed conservation and clean energy ... through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flow to others.”

Then Biden turned, seemingly to face Trump, and said, “We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to the greatest sin of all: the abuse of power.”

Did any of these words make a dent with the incoming president? Let us be generous and say that no one can be certain. But the perpetual scowl on Trump’s face was not encouraging.

In the pews behind the presidents, many tears were shed today, not only for Jimmy Carter but also for a time of civility and grace — virtues that have been in short supply in politics as of late. Carter was described as honest, compassionate, inspiring, decent, just, principled, and kind. He was America at her best.

So now what? After a morning of hopeful reflection, the present hits us like a cold shower. The press and the politicians seem to have moved on, ready to cover Trump’s next whim du jour. (Take over Greenland? Canada?) I understand that many of you are not ready for that, or for his inauguration. Your feelings are valid and widely shared.

Over the past two months, Steady’s comment section has been filled with frustration, anger, and sadness. Many of you have written that the election left you feeling devastated, gutted, and powerless.

You remain exasperated with the political process. No wonder, as the man who will become our 47th president is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts in New York tomorrow, unless the Supreme Court intervenes.

Our political leaders don’t seem concerned that the electorate is exhausted and apprehensive. An inertia seems to have taken over the Democratic Party, which has so far responded to Trump’s reelection with silence.

Your valid fears are compounded as we watch Los Angeles burn. This tragedy will require a recovery effort the size and scope of which has seldom, if ever, been seen. We need leadership that rises to the occasion, not slithers in the gutter. The president-elect has not offered help, just childish taunts to score cheap political points, blaming the governor of California for this horrific disaster.

This is one of those times that calls for national unity — demands it. For the sake of our country, I gently ask all to stay steady. This is a trying hour, perhaps a trying four years, that we will, I pray, collectively overcome. Emphasis on collectively.

You may want to take a moment today to think about our fellow Americans in California and the late president. Without a doubt, the world is a better place for James Earl Carter having been in it for the last hundred years. How would Carter have reacted to the fires in California? No doubt quickly, as a statesman who placed the good of the people first, including those who may not have voted for him.

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Stay Steady,

Dan