This is the story of President Jimmy Carter's post-presidency, the most
admired and productive in the nation's history. Through The Carter
Center, which he and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982, he has fought
neglected diseases, waged peace in war zones, and built hope among some
of the most forgotten and needy people in the world.
Serving in
more than seventy nations, Carter has led peacekeeping efforts for
Ethiopia, North Korea, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Uganda, and Sudan.
With his colleagues from The Carter Center, he has monitored more than
sixty-five elections in troubled nations, from Palestine to Indonesia.
Carter's
bold initiatives, undertaken with dedicated colleagues, have
eliminated, prevented, or cured an array of diseases that have been
characterized as "neglected" by the World Health Organization and that
afflict tens of millions of people unnecessarily. The Carter Center has
taught millions of African families how to increase the production of
food grains, and Rosalynn Carter has led a vigorous war against the
stigma of mental illness around the world.
"Immersing ourselves
among these deprived and suffering people has been a great blessing as
it stretched our minds and hearts," Jimmy Carter writes. "The principles
of The Carter Center have been the same ones that should characterize
our nation, or any individual. They are the beliefs inherent in all the
great world religions, including commitments to peace, justice, freedom,
humility, forgiveness or an attempt to find accommodation with
potential foes, generosity, human rights or fair treatment of others,
protection of the environment, and the alleviation of suffering. This is
our agenda for the future."