Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is currently finishing up his 26th book, a collection of excerpts from his diaries as president, with up-to-date commentary and comparisons to the issues President Barack Obama is facing today.
Carter and his extended family recently spent a holiday week on St. Croix and held a wide-ranging discussion with local press on New Year’s Eve, answering questions about everything from current affairs to his home town of Plains, Ga. (For video of the Carter interview, see link below.)
Carter plans to complete the book by March, and it should hit the bookshelves in October. In the book, he identifies more than 30 different issues he had to address in a very serious way—issues that Obama is still facing today. The long list includes Cuba, the Middle East, the environment, global warming, relations with Iran and the shortfalls of the U.S. health care system.
"I inherited the first part of a revolution when they took our hostages, and now his [Obama’s] main concern is their apparent plans to develop nuclear weaponry," Carter said.
The tome will try to give some broader historical context for many of these nettlesome issues along with his unique, inside perspective and experience as former president.
"Quite frequently I will have up-to-date comments on what this meant to me then, what it means for the future, and how it compares with what Obama is doing," Carter said.
Energy conservation, foreign oil and the need to move to other energy sources are nationwide, even worldwide concerns. But nowhere is the issue more pressing than the U.S. Virgin Islands, where 100 percent of electricity is generated by burning imported petroleum.
Obama has included many conservation measures in the recent stimulus package, and it is one issue on which Carter was prescient.
"When I was in the White House, we were importing 8.6 million barrels of oil per day from foreign countries, and I instituted a whole gamut of conservation measures; so in five years we reduced that to 4.3 million barrels per day," he said. "We cut it in half. Now it is 13 million barrels per day, because all the presidents since I left have just forgotten about conservation—or forgotten really about concentrating on alternate sources of energy."
Carter even installed solar panels on the roof of the White House for hot water heaters, to set the example. One of President Ronald Reagan’s first acts as president was to have them torn out. With less focus on the subject, the country again became excessively dependent on foreign sources of oil, many of which are not very friendly to the United States, Carter said.
"One of them has a half-interest in the refinery you see on St. Croix," Carter said, referring to Venezuela and its president, Hugo Chazev.
Chavez’s authoritarian tendencies led to discussion of the Carter Center’s work monitoring elections. The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by Carter and his wife, in partnership with Georgia’s Emory University, which works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering.
While Chavez is both belligerent toward the United States and tending toward a dictatorial style, Carter said his elections have all been free and fair, and he has high approval levels at home.
"I’d say right this moment (Chavez has) between 55 and 60 percent popularity in his own country," Carter said. Four elections and a referendum, which was challenged, were all judged to be free and fair, he said.
While Carter receives a presidential retirement check and is a full-time professor at Emory, he said he really makes his living from writing books.
"I’m not on the lecture circuit, which is very lucrative as you probably know," he said. "Former presidents make a fortune giving speeches. I’ve never chosen to do that, and I don’t serve on corporate boards either."
The Carters left St. Croix Saturday after a week of touring, snorkeling and relaxing. For over 20 years now, the entire clan has been taking a group vacation the week after Christmas. This year Carter’s son, James Earl "Chip" Carter, persuaded them to come stay on St. Croix.
"I love St. Croix,” said Carter. “I don’t think I’ve ever been any place where the people were more friendly.”
What does the former president see for the future as a new year begins?
"I think next year will have a chance to be better for peace, for human rights, for the environment and to help alleviate human suffering in the world," Carter said.
