With Sunday’s death of former President Jimmy Carter at age 100, some Rochesterians are remembering visits made to the area over the years by Carter.
That incudes an address delivered in 1983 at the University of Rochester. That event entitled “ Striving for a Just Society,” included comments by the former president who advocated for human rights as an essential element of American foreign policy.
“When you come right down to facts, there’s only one country on Earth which has the strength, the moral commitment the influence and the economic independence to condemn abuse and to help suffering people: the United States of America,” Carter told the Rochester crowd. "When we fail or refuse to speak there is a deafening silence.”
Carter said Americans should never be timid in speaking out against injustice.
“We should never be timid in exposing religious persecution or torture, unwanted imprisonment, summary executions or other serious deprivations of human rights,” Carter said. “It’s contrary to the American character for us to be silent when others are suffering, and we should never underestimate the value of our strong voice and our peaceful actions.”
Carter also delivered remarks at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1991.
Carter is being remembered by former three-term Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson. He had been leading the Urban League of Rochester when Johnson was on a local TV panel in 1975 the year before he was elected president.
Johnson said he didn’t really get to know Carter, but remembers his affable personality.
“He exuded that Southern charm, he had this big, broad smile,” said Johnson. “He was very open, he was a long-shot candidate, so it was in his best interest politically to interface with as many people as possible.”
The former mayor appreciates the fact that Carter didn’t shy away from public life after losing his reelection bid.
“He could have gone back to Georgia and just faded away into private life, he chose not to do that,” Johnson said. “He remained a public figure as a volunteer. He held no official office after the presidency, and yet he did so many things that it led to him getting a Nobel Peace Prize.”
Johnson, who said he was a big believer in what the organization Habitat for Humanity could do to help provide low and moderate income housing, was glad that Carter’s willingness to work on houses and promote that nonprofit helped it thrive.
"Immeasurable," said Matt Flanigan, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Habitat for Humanity. "He had an immeasurable impact on this ministry. He really did put us on the map."
It’s Carter’s work post presidency that is likely his greatest legacy.
"I remember, you know .. the bold things that he tried to get done (as president)," said Flanigan, who was a high school senior when Carter was elected. "But I also remember the angst in my family around gas prices and mortgage prices. And I think we were all wrapped around the TV during the time of the hostage crisis. So I can't say that all of my memories of him when he was actually president were positive."
But a trip to Plains, Georgia in 2018, with his uncle Paul Brennan, a retired Catholic priest, changed his perspective. They went to hear Carter preach, as the former president did on many Sundays, in a small brick church to a 150-person congregation.
Carter spoke that day for an hour, with no notes unless reading scripture. He talked about his presidency, Flanigan recalled, about his challenges, and the Camp David Peace Accords.
"He was proud of the fact that in his presidency, we never fired a single bullet. And I was shocked when I heard that. I never stopped to think about that. But he was very proud that he never pursued those kinds of answers to some of the dilemmas that he faced at the time."
Carter is often referred to as "not our best president ever, but our best former president."
After that day in 2018, Flanigan said: "I kind of stopped disparaging his presidency, and just respecting it for what it is that he was able to accomplish and what his values were.
... You know, he wasn't as effective on everything that he wanted to get done, but I suspect that's true of most presidents at some at some level."
Carter started volunteering with Habitat in 1984, also joining the group’s board. He remained active until a couple years ago.
"What my friends who hosted Carter work projects would tell you, the challenge that they had, was this man was knowledgeable. He understood house building. He understood carpentry, truly. And he didn't want a light duty. He wasn't going to just show up in that work. So you had to find a job for him to do — even as he became more frail — that he would actually understand was impactful in the house.
"He was there to work."
WXXI News will air an NPR program about the life and legacy of Former President Carter.
You can hear it on Wednesday starting at 1:00 p.m. and it will be repeated Wednesday at 10 p.m.
WXXI-TV will have special programming about the former president from 8:00 pm. to 11 p.m. on Monday evening, with some additional programs during the week.
