Product Description

Hailed by Time magazine as "a fascinating . . . rich, energetic American story," this extraordinary biography will transform America's perception of Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter left the White House in January 1981, defeated in his bid for reelection and rejected by the American public--but hardly broken. Outside the Oval Office, with a commitment rarely seen in an ex-president, he was more determined than ever to complete his life's mission: the achievement of world peace.

With unique access to the Carter archives and to the man himself, award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley brings us this unprecedented biography of the former President. Here are penetrating observations of Carter's complex relationships with such world figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, and Yasir Arafat, as well as his associations with the presidents who have succeeded him. Brinkley also reassesses the achievements of Carter's underrated White House tenure--the Camp David accords, Panama Canal treaties, and his championing of human rights. The Unfinished Presidency is the definitive portrait of this formidable world statesman.

--Brinkley is a regular commentator on NPR and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and Foreign Policy

"A thoroughly sourced intimate portrait of one of the country's most respected ex-presidents." --USA Today

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #620622 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Amazon.com Review
Jimmy Carter isn't the first American president to become more popular after leaving the Oval Office than when he served in it; even Richard Nixon managed a semi-rehabilitation in the post-Watergate years. Yet perhaps no ex-president has reversed his fortunes so completely as Carter, whose approval rating has done nothing but improve since he lost his 1980 reelection bid. Many Americans admire Carter for his work building homes in the United States with the group Habitat for Humanity, but the 39th president is known and respected throughout the world for attempting to negotiate peace in trouble spots such as Haiti, North Korea, and the Middle East. "Carter," writes Douglas Brinkley, "has become a true citizen of the world." Noteworthy sections of this unauthorized biography (which benefits from lengthy interviews with its subject) include the story of how Carter worked relentlessly to undermine President Bush in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, as well as Carter's difficult relations with President Clinton. Also, Brinkley appreciates, and treats seriously, Carter's religious faith in a way many previous analysts have not. An excellent portrait of a complicated man. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly
Jimmy Carter's post-presidential career as peripatetic global peacemaker has been dismissed by critics as na?ve and sanctimonious, notes University of New Orleans history professor Brinkley. He retorts here, viewing the former president as a deeply ethical leader, the most principled president since Truman and, as ex-president, a "wandering sage" and true citizen of the world, working to build democracies or resolve conflicts in nations as diverse as Sudan, Haiti, Bosnia and Nicaragua. Whether one agrees with this assessment, his report on citizen Carter's peacemaking missions and public good works provides an extraordinary, in-depth look at the range of Carter's progressive activities since 1980. Brinkley credits him with defusing a potential military showdown with North Korea in 1994 and averting a U.S. invasion of Haiti the same year. He reveals Carter's scorn for Reagan, whom Brinkley considers "immoral to the core." Brinkley documents the Atlanta-based Carter Center's efforts to eradicate disease and improve agricultural efficiency in Africa. His trenchant reporting extends the story detailed in Carter's own books, Everything to Gain (1987) and Talking Peace (1993). Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
It is widely agreed that Jimmy Carter is among the greatest if not the greatest of all ex-presidents in U.S. history. The book traces Carter's postpresidential life and career since 1980 in great detail and examines the transformation of Carter from "Jimmy Who?" in 1976 to what the author calls the "Jimmy Everywhere" of today. Beginning at the end of his presidency, the author, director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University, charts Carter's trips, freelance and official diplomatic efforts, house building for Habitat for the Humanities, peace-building missions, crisis management overtures, electoral supervision in Nicaragua and elsewhere, and continuing emphasis on human rights. This positive but not fawning book acknowledges the criticisms of Carter's recent foreign policy ventures while giving him high marks for intent and accomplishments. Concluding that "Nothing about the White House so became Carter as his having left it," this thorough and authoritative work will be of keen interest to students of the presidency and foreign affairs. For public and academic collections.AMichael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The Unfinished Presidency
This was and excellent book, focusing on President Carter's life after his 1980 loss to Ronald Regan. The president allowed the author, who had complete access to President Carter's records, to interview him several times. Thus the author was able to gain tremendous insight into Carter's personality.

From his involvement in Habitat for Humanity to his efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, the author beautify weaves the character of Jimmy Carter with historical events. The book reads with the ease of fiction.

An enjoyable, contemporary history about a unique individual, it was a pleasure to read.

Excellent look at an incredible man
This book provides insight into the life of Jimmy Carter after his defeat to Reagan in 1980. Every chapter divulges new aspects of Carter's amazing post-presidential life. Brinkley has managed to present an accurate picture of Carter that does not gloss over or mock his faith. Well done!

To the below reviewer who wrote that "Carter has not done an intelligent thing since leaving office", I would say that you are entitled to your opinion but you obviously did not read this book. To make such an assertion needs factual backing. You can say that Carter failed as a civilian ambassador but you cannot deny that he and his Carter Center helped forge peace, eradicate numerous illnesses, free thousands of political prisoners, and inspire millions. That is a viscious, partisan attack and has no place in a review of this book. Interesting to note that outside of the US, world leaders and people would heartily disagree with any assessment of Carter that fails to acknowedge his monumental contributions to peace and human rights. I defy you, after reading this book, to list a single modern president who has done more than Jimmy Carter.

Never count a good man out.
Regardless of how one feels about Jimmy Carter the fact is that he has become one of the most admired men in the United States and one of the most beloved Americans in the world. He left office after being voted out in a landslide and with some of the worst poll numbers in history. Now, his poll numbers are very high and any time a conservation turns to Carter someone will almost certainly say that they think Carter is the best ex-President we have ever had or the most moral man to have been in the White House in years and years. This turn around occurred in less than twenty years, and that the turn around occurred is a fact not open to question. The real question is; how and why did it happen?

That's the question Douglas Brinkley attempts to answer with this book. Brinkley basically starts with Carter's 1980 defeat and follows Carter's career for the next twenty years. On this journey the reader will meet Jimmy Carter the Baptist missionary, the Habitat carpenter, the lay physician out to heal the world, and the ex-President who refuses to profit from his former office but is at the same time a tireless fund raiser for his Carter Center. We also get to see the tireless diplomat who is willing to put himself in great personal danger to try and secure a peaceful resolution to conflicts around the world. This is truly a man who takes to heart his faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ. On the other hand we also see a somewhat darker side of the former peanut farmer. We see an ego as big as all outdoors, a tendency to grandstand, a self-righteous zealot, and a serious stubborn streak. The reader will also find a great clue in Carter's post presidency to the failure of his administration. The aforementioned faults of course did not help his presidential efforts but it may well have been his inability to prioritize that lead to his political downfall. It seems that Carter will give small details and events the same attention he gives to massive undertakings without taking into account the real importance of the event. One can easily see how a President with this trait would very quickly become bogged down and accomplish very little.

Brinkley does an excellent job of telling this remarkable story. He had access to both President and Mrs. Carter along with their papers and also did many interviews with their fellow workers and friends. Interestingly, many of the people who had worked with Carter on some of his projects critiqued some of the draft chapters and pointed out mistakes. Make no mistake, most of these people are Carter intimates but steadfast Republican James Baker is also among those who offered both insights and critiques. The writing style that is found in this book is generally easy to read although the narrative does seem to drag in places. The biggest fault I could find in this book is the printing. I read the paperback version and the printing is tiny. I suppose that in discussing Jimmy Carter, Biblical type print is understandable but it still hurts the eyes. Still, this book is well worth the effort so break out the bifocals and enjoy.