5 times Jimmy Carter proved the haters wrong.
His post-presidency has been legendary, but his presidency wasn't half bad either.
After being diagnosed with brain cancer in August, Jimmy Carter recently shared the good news that he's cancer-free. But even before that, the dude had already won life.
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images.
Despite his many detractors, Carter is straight-up one of America's most effective statesmen and all-around good guys of the 20th and 21st centuries. Yes, even during his presidency.
In order to properly honor and pay tribute to a man who, after 91 years, continues to prove the haters wrong time and time again, here is a by-no-means-complete list of his major accomplishments, wins, and assorted awesome deeds.
1. He brokered the Camp David Accords, the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors.
It's hard to believe, but in 1978, the Middle East conflict was even more of a funhouse-mirror disaster pile than it is today. Two all-out wars between Israel and various combinations of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq in the span of six years had many in the region wondering when the next unrelenting crapstorm was going to explode.
In 1977, Egypt and Israel began negotiating a tentative peace, but talks eventually hit a roadblock and both sides began preparing to deploy their shame fingers for the ol' affixing o' the blame. That's when Jimmy Carter picked up the batphone and said (and I'm paraphrasing here): "Hold up. Put your pants on. You're both coming to Maryland and not leaving until we figure this junk out." And figure that junk out they did. The peace treaty was signed the following September, and despite their many disagreements over the years, the two countries have remained at peace to this day.
2. He stared down a debilitating disease that affects some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people for 30 years ... and won.
Guinea Worm Disease is the stuff of sci-fi nightmares. Basically, a giant worm invades your body through contaminated drinking water and feeds off you until it's ready to burst back out through an excruciating, infected lesion. It's terrible and painful, and Jimmy Carter was having none of it.
According to Carter Center statistics, in 1986, 3.5 million people worldwide suffered from the disease. By educating people in affected areas about prevention and teaching local health care providers how to provide treatment, Carter and his organization managed to help slash that number to 126 reported cases in 2014. That's incredible.
Still, it's not quite enough for the big man.
When Carter was asked at a recent press conference what he'd still like to achieve now that he's been diagnosed with brain cancer, here's how he responded.
Stone. Cold.
3. He pulled out of the Southern Baptist Convention when the group decided it would no longer allow women pastors.
Jimmy Carter is a born-again Christian and a dedicated Baptist. He teaches Sunday school to this day. But he has no patience for people who believe that excluding others is what J would D.
In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention announced that women would not be allowed to be pastors anymore. And Jimmy Carter up and deuced out of there. After 76 years.
Carter has remained outspoken on issues regarding sexism in the church and the mistreatment of women and girls worldwide.
Dude can't stop, won't stop.
4. He categorically said that Jesus would approve of same-sex marriage.
When not negotiating historic peace treaties and eradicating terrible diseases from God's green earth, Jimmy Carter can be found using his devout Baptist cred to steamroll religious objections to same-sex marriage.
In an interview with the Huffington Post last month, Carter said: "I believe that Jesus would approve of gay marriage. ... I think Jesus would encourage any love affair that was honest and sincere."
We can only hope that that when we turn 91, we all go as hog-wild IDGAF as Jimmy Carter has.
5. He wore sweaters in the White House and made people care about conserving energy.
The OPEC crisis of 1973-1974 — in which an embargo imposed by Middle Eastern oil-producing states created mass gasoline shortages — demonstrated that the United States was highly vulnerable to disruptions in its fuel supply. Recognizing that conserving energy and limiting fossil fuel consumption would be key to combatting such shocks going forward, Carter prepared to ask Americans to make those sacrifices. But in order to do that, he knew he needed to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Which he did. By giving a speech. While wearing a sweater indoors to demonstrate that he, too, had turned down the heat.
He was savagely mocked for it at the time. But ... dude was right. And years later, now that the need to limit fossil fuel use has taken on even more urgency, it looks awfully forward-thinking, doesn't it?
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."