My day with President Jimmy Carter

In 1978, I was a page for President Jimmy Carter at an event associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since then, we both left the Southern Baptist Denomination — or more accurately, with a large number of Southern Baptists making an intolerant move to ultra-conservatism and political activism, the denomination left us. I was 17 years old, had just taken my first flight, and was attending this convention in the largest city I had ever visited. I was receiving a National Service Award from the denomination, and President Carter was the keynote speaker. I was assigned to one of his pages. My only real encounter was I brought him a glass of water, but I watched his every move.

I was young and was the president of my high school and was interested in what being a leader meant. One evening, I attended a dinner with President Carter. They served fried chicken. I watched as everyone struggled to eat chicken with their knife and fork, when President Carter picked up his chicken with his hands. Regardless of the situation, Jimmy Carter was always Jimmy Carter. Later that evening, he spoke to our group and among other advice he said always be yourself, and always be truthful. I was listening to President Carter on July 15, 1979, when he gave a speech history would refer to as the “Malaise Speech.”

President Carter told the American people (in part): “But after listening to the American people, I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with America. So, I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy.

“The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.

“The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.

“As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.

“These changes did not happen overnight. They’ve come upon us gradually over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy. We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet, until the murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.”

He went on to talk about our obsession with possessions, consumption, and self-indulgence. He warned us that political extremism would destroy the United States. President Carter was lambasted for telling the truth. His approval ratings plummeted and later, in a landslide, he lost re-election. Yet, almost everything he warned us about, at great political cost to him, came true. The wealth distribution of our country has worsened. Respect for all of humanity has declined. We are still dependent on energy sources that will eventually kill us. I fear it is possible we will become a county of bullets not ballots.

President Carter was always Jimmy Carter and he always told the truth, even when we didn’t want to hear it. We need his truth today.