He had us worried for a second, but the 39th President is just fine. Jimmy Carter went straight to a Cleveland hospital after landing in Ohio for the next stop on his book tour. Initial reports suggested the condition was serious, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bout of airsickness.
We’re glad he’s okay, and we’re not really surprised. Carter turns 86 on Friday but shows no signs of slowing down. He’s in the midst of promoting his newest book, White House Diary. He still maintains an active fitness regimen with Rosalynn, his wife of 64 years.
Despite his remarks about President Obama’s race, Americans view Carter as the best living ex-president, according to a Rasmussen poll. The 2002 Nobel Prize-winner is fresh off a trip to North Korea, where he brought back Mahli Gomes, an American teacher detained for allegedly entering the country illegally.
Say what you will about his effectiveness as President—Carter is about as good a they come.
Carter is pretty clear on his plans for the future. Rest isn’t high on the agenda.
“I’ll stay involved in the Carter Center as long as I’m physically and mentally able,” he said on Larry King Live. “I’m still a professor at Emory University. This is my 29th year as a professor. And I’ll still write a book every now and then.”
If it only it was that easy for the rest of us.
It’s long been fashionable, particularly on the right, to deride James Earl Carter as the “worst President in American History.” They seethe with hatred for their fellow Christian. He kicks all their asses.