When I retired from the White House in 1980 (four years
earlier than planned), Rosalynn and I
were faced with deciding how to spend the rest of our
lives. We were fairly young -- both in our 50s and
unemployed. We went directly from Washington to our home
in Plains, Georgia (population 700), where I had not lived
since I was elected governor of the state [in 1970].
You can imagine that this was not an easy transition. But
we agreed that Plains was our home and where we wanted to
stay. I had no desire to run again for public office, so
we started thinking about how we could use some of the
skills and experience we had acquired over the years to
work on issues that had always been important to us.
We did a lot of soul-searching that first year. Out of
this process came the idea for the Carter Center. We
envisioned a nonprofit center, not affiliated with any
government or political party, where we could bring people
and resources together to promote peace and improve health
around the world. We opened our center on the campus of
Emory University in 1983, and moved into our permanent
headquarters, adjacent to the newly built Jimmy Carter
Library and Museum, in 1986.
Over the years, Rosalynn and I have turned retirement into
another career through our work at the Carter Center. And
I have to say that our post-presidential years have been
even more fulfilling than our years in public office. On
behalf of the Center, we have traveled to more than 115
countries. In North Korea, Haiti, Nicaragua, Liberia, the
Sudan and elsewhere, we have helped resolve conflicts and
defuse potentially explosive crises. We've spent weeks in
remote villages in Africa, teaching residents how to
eradicate Guinea worm disease and handing out free medicine
to control river blindness. In other parts of Africa,
we've helped farmers increase grain and corn production as
much as 400 percent using simple, inexpensive agricultural
practices. We've advanced human rights and helped Third
World countries draft master plans for development.
At home in the United States, Rosalynn has continued her
efforts on behalf of the mentally ill, building on her work
as First Lady of Georgia and of the United States. We've
helped inner city residents in Atlanta develop strategies
to improve their lives, sharing what we've learned with
more than 100 other cities. And when we're not working for
the Carter Center, we spend a week each year building homes
with other volunteers for Habitat for Humanity in the
United States and in other countries.
All these projects have enriched my life in untold ways.
I've learned things I never knew as a state senator or
governor or even president. While reaching out to others,
Rosalynn and I have filled our own needs to be challenged
and to act as productive members of our global community.
Along the way, we've also found others seeking
opportunities to lend time, experience and resources to
alleviate suffering and improve lives. For example, at the
Carter Center, we pool our resources with those of our many
partners -- including corporations, foundations and
individuals. I've visited with employees of donor
organizations, including Merck, DuPont and United Parcel
Service. Many were moved to tears when I told them how
their companies' donations have helped free villages in
Africa from Guinea worm disease and river blindness, or
have eased the struggles of a family in our own country.
Let me give you another example of how retirement has
changed our view of the world. Rosalynn and I have led
Carter Center teams to observe -- and sometimes mediate -- free and fair elections in some 15
countries. In 1990, we
stood in line with Haitians at the polling place where just
three years earlier, dozens of people had been killed by
government-sponsored terrorists while trying to vote. Many
had risen in the middle of the night to walk ten or 15
miles to stand in that same line -- even though they feared
for their lives. As we traveled around Port-au-Prince that
day, we talked to people who had waited hours just for the
opportunity to vote -- a sacred privilege we and others
often take for granted here in the United States.
We live in a land of opportunity, and our retirement from
political life has opened a whole new world of excitement
and challenges. For us, retirement has not been the end,
but a new beginning. We hope to spend many more years
actively making the most of the rest of our lives.
Jimmy Carter was president of the United
States from 1977 to 1981.
__________
This article has been cleared for republication by the
press outside the United States except the local press in
India, Japan, Spain, Russia and Thailand. Credit to the
author and the publication should appear on the title page
of any reprint. Abridged from Business Week, July
20, 1998
