The news that former President Jimmy Carter has been diagnosed with cancer, and that it is spreading, brings historians and all decent Americans to react with shock, and recognition that the 39th President has been regularly trashed in news media and by politicians.
There was a past President who faced 20 years of ridicule and dismissive attitudes until his death. Then, all of a sudden, there was recognition that he had been mistreated, and that his historic significance was unappreciated in his lifetime.
That man was Harry Truman, the 33rd President.
Also, when thinking back, similar ridicule and condemnation was visited upon Abraham Lincoln until his tragic assassination.
No one is trying to say that Jimmy Carter will ever rank with Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln, far from it!
But Jimmy Carter has suffered in reputation for so long, because of the mythology that has been built up around Ronald Reagan, and during an era where politicians have distorted the record and accomplishments of Reagan, at the expense of Carter.
There will be plenty of time to reassess Jimmy Carter, and his historical image will improve dramatically as a result.
One can expect over the next five to ten years, there will be “Carter Mania”, just as there was “Truman Mania” for five to ten years after his death in 1972.
Meanwhile, let us hope for a miraculous recovery for Jimmy Carter, and if that is not to be, that he not suffer with great pain as he leaves us, after the longest retirement of any President of the United States.