--- title: What Jimmy Carter’s Life Can Teach Us About Resiliency description: Sally Susman reflects on how Jimmy Carter’s status changed so significantly post-presidency—and what lessons we can learn from it. canonical: https://time.com/7204096/jimmy-carter-post-presidential-resiliency-essay/ author: Sally Susman article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-12-29T22:34:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T13:00:05.567Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What Jimmy Carter’s Life Can Teach Us About Resiliency og:description: Sally Susman reflects on how Jimmy Carter’s status changed so significantly post-presidency—and what lessons we can learn from it og:url: https://time.com/7204096/jimmy-carter-post-presidential-resiliency-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7bb4a0f7b4a275e/698b24eb47ca38cad83c51ae/jimmy-carter-1980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Jimmy Carter at Democratic National Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Jimmy Carter’s Life Can Teach Us About Resiliency twitter:description: Sally Susman reflects on how Jimmy Carter’s status changed so significantly post-presidency—and what lessons we can learn from it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7bb4a0f7b4a275e/698b24eb47ca38cad83c51ae/jimmy-carter-1980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # What Jimmy Carter’s Life Can Teach Us About Resiliency > Sponsored content. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=fd48adad-bb1f-42ec-bfb7-296e93efa4b8&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1) ## Video: In Memoriam: Jimmy Carter [Watch (HLS stream): In Memoriam: Jimmy Carter](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pf0TUDlq.m3u8) (4:25)  _Published 2024-12-29. Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President, was not a president of the first rank, but he managed by dint of unceasing effort to become an iconic world leader, with an inspiring, if often contentious, legacy as a dogged peacemaker and a decent and ethical problem-solver. His presidency—beset by a horrible economy, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the seizure of American hostages in Iran—was a stunning political failure but a greater substantive success than was recognized when he was crushed for reelection by Ronald Reagan in 1980._ Dec 29, 2024 10:34 PM UTC by [Sally Susman](https://time.com/author/sally-susman/) ## Sally Susman Sally Susman is an advisor, advocate, and author of "Breaking Through" Dec 29, 2024 10:34 PM UTC In the spring of 1980, I entered the voting booth for the first time. I was a senior in high school, and the Democratic Party was experiencing a heated presidential primary race between incumbent President Jimmy Carter and his challenger, Sen. Ted Kennedy. I was 18 years old, and like so many at that age, I felt I knew it all. I saw Carter as a bumbler who had mismanaged [domestic](https://time.com/6340538/a-media-looking-for-mistakes-portrayed-jimmy-carter-as-a-failure-its-time-to-look-deeper/) and [international affairs](https://time.com/6338243/jimmy-carter-middle-east-record/). So I cast my ballot for Kennedy. Though Carter won the 1980 Democratic nomination, on November 4, 1980, he lost his re-election bid to Gov. Ronald Reagan, ending his presidential tenure after a single term. He and First Lady Rosalynn Carter left the White House on January 20, 1981, and returned to their home in Plains, Ga. We didn’t know the phrase at the time, but Carter was, essentially, cancelled. **Read More:** [_Jimmy Carter Was More Successful Than He Got Credit For_](https://time.com/5579674/jimmy-carter-dies/) The world looks very different today—and so, too, does the man who was turned out of office all those years ago. Five decades later, Carter is viewed as a [humanitarian and a statesman](https://time.com/7204048/jimmy-carter-religious-liberty-essay/); a reputation that eluded him during his 1980 campaign. With Carter’s passing, we should take a moment to reflect on a person who showed incredible grace and grit in a post-presidential life and career. Those of us in the trust building business, in particular, should consider how his status changed so significantly—and what lessons we can learn. In fact, I’ve found that there are four takeaways from Carter’s reputation restoration: First, time will reveal the truth. During Carter’s re-election campaign, the President’s inability to free the 52 Americans being held hostage at the American Embassy in Iran became a central issue. His approval ratings plummeted to 31% during the period. Some have since suggested that if the hostages had been released prior to the election, it would have boosted Carter’s reelection prospects— yet the hostages were not released until January 20, 1981, minutes after Reagan’s inauguration. We learned why only recently. In 2023, [_The New York Times_ revealed](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html) that Reagan ally and Texas political giant John B Connally, Jr., took a private trip to the Middle East during the 1980 campaign with a message for heads of state: Iran would get better treatment from Reagan than Carter, so they should hold the hostages until after the election. That’s exactly what they did, and Carter was denied a victory that might have sent him back to the White House. This revelation certainly reframes history—and recasts Carter’s role. **Read More:** [_Freeing the Hostages Wouldn’t Have Gotten Jimmy Carter Re-Elected_](https://time.com/6338239/jimmy-carter-hostages/) Second, dream new dreams. After they left the White House, the Carters didn’t gaze into the rearview mirror with anger or bitterness. They returned to Georgia and pursued new careers and projects with gusto. They became authors and university professors, and started the Atlanta-based Carter Center—an organization that embodied their shared devotion to humanitarian causes. I’ve been honored to see their work firsthand; my company, Pfizer, has long partnered with The Carter Center to eliminate blinding Trachoma in countries where neglected tropical diseases are endemic. I have had the privilege to visit [The Carter Center](https://time.com/5579674/jimmy-carter-dies/) as well as several treatment sites in Africa where Pfizer and The Carter Center continue to aid those impacted by Trachoma. But my greatest honor was hosting and interviewing President Carter at Pfizer’s headquarters in 2013 to celebrate 15 years of partnership with the International Trachoma Initiative. His warmth, sincerity, intelligence, and charisma were evident to all—and so, too, was the satisfaction he had found in a post-presidential career that allowed him to take on new and vital challenges. Third, work with your hands. In 1984, shortly after their return to Plains, the Carters launched the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, an annual home-building blitz organized through Habitat for Humanity. The Carters were advocates for affordable housing, but they were also hands-on volunteers. The Work Project wasn’t about galas or red carpets; instead, their construction work kept them busy swinging hammers and driving nails. The Carter Work Project built over 4,400 homes in 14 countries in the 35 years the Carters were directly involved—and allowed the Carters to recreate deep bonds with the public. Finally, be an optimist—and recognize the opportunity that a new day provides. In Carter’s book, _The Virtues of Aging_, he writes of a sweeping Barbara Walters interview that covered all aspects of his life. The two spoke about his extensive journey from peanut farmer to submariner; from the Governor’s mansion to the White House, and back home to Plains. At one point, Walters asked him: “Mr. President, you have had a number of exciting and challenging careers; what have been your best years?” Carter’s response was: “Now is the best time of all.” **Read More:** [_A Media Looking for Mistakes Portrayed Jimmy Carter as a Failure. It’s Time to Look Deeper_](https://time.com/6340538/a-media-looking-for-mistakes-portrayed-jimmy-carter-as-a-failure-its-time-to-look-deeper/) Let us all take comfort and courage in the former President’s example. Over the course of five decades, he taught us that our best years are not necessarily about the height of our power, but the depths of our resiliency; that history is long, and new opportunities abound. Above all, he taught us that, with the right approach and the right attitude, now can be the best time of all. President Carter may not have earned my vote as a high schooler in 1980\. But nearly five decades later, he has certainly earned my gratitude, admiration, and respect. But most importantly, the life he lived offers lessons for us all. ## Transcript Are you proud of our nation? Do you think we can help you unified and bring you back together? Do you think we can put our people back to work? So Dan. My name is Jimmy Crowdin. I'm running for Fresno. He's a peanut farmer, a Baptist deacon, an 11 year navy veteran, and a nuclear engineer. Now, everybody from Congress is running for president is a lawyer. But I think it's time to have a non lawyer in the White House for change. My strength and my courage and my advice and my counsel and my criticism comes from you. And if I can tap the greatness that's in you and in the American people, we can make our nation's government great and a source of pride once again. Have gone to Carter, and that doesn't. By our projection, James Carter, the next president of the United States. The office of the President and his family surprise and delight everyone by walking the parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue, up to the presidential reviewing stand in front of the White House. The United States is the only major industrial country without a comprehensive, long range energy policy. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric of America. As we meet tonight, it has never been more clear that the state of our union depends on the state of the world. And unite us throughout our own generation, freedom and peace in the world depend on the state of our Union. You're leaving. The 1980s have been born in turmoil, strife and change. The United States nor any other nation which is committed to world peace and stability, can continue to do business with the Soviet Union. We will never rest until every one of the American pops are released. I promise you four years ago that I would never lie to you, so I can't stand there tonight and say it doesn't hurt. The people of the United States have made the choice. And, of course, I accept that decision. But I have to admit not with the same enthusiasm that I accepted the decision four years ago. The most serious and universal problem is a growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on Earth. War may sometimes be necessary evil. But no matter how unnecessary, it is always evil. He's a good father, good grandfather, good great grandfather. And I'm proud of him. I'm proud? That he stands for human rights and peace all over the world. God gives us a capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes, and we must. I have been blessed as only a few people ever have to help shape the destiny of this nation. From the bottom of my heart, I want to express to you the gratitude I feel. 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