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In Praise of President Jimmy Carter

Raw emotions around a legacy that too many continue to undervalue

Michael "Mick" Bisignani
4 min readDec 30, 2024

Today, the newly reported news on the death of former President Jimmy Carter gave me much to think about. I just had to share some of the me, just as shut down my stove top in my kitchen, that place i that I consider a small oasis of peace and tranquility, right there in the center of my house.

My immediate reaction, putting raw politics aside. A good man, a truthful president, maybe closer to most of the masses, more than any of the more “neo-liberal”, Kool-Aid drinking successors of present and past election cycles.

Oh, did I mention that he won a Noble Prize in 2002, not for politics , but for deep humanitarian contribution

He was a peacemaker, a key “artifex” of the Camp David accords, a humble, quieter type of politician, a compassionate home builder, and yes, a peanut farmer. Spoiler alert: I have a special liking , affection for those who work the land, especially those who use the bare hands. I have seen them , I have shaken their rough, tanned, hardened, real, yet strong fingers and leathery palms.

I know how today’s political world remembers him. It is never pretty, never fair, never complete. His tarnished political legacy is often, without sufficient fairness, falls back on an interpretation owned by an ever nastier, historically revisionist, political opposition: stagflation and high unemployment. I know how the unfair, Reagan…

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Michael "Mick" Bisignani
Michael "Mick" Bisignani

Written by Michael "Mick" Bisignani

Centrist, Professional Technologist, Aspiring Food Celebrity. Catholic spreading messages of Empathy and Equality.

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