A Tale Of Two Presidents

“President Jimmy Carter… was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office.”

– Donald Trump

Despite having been one of the few Presidents to fail in an attempt to get re-elected, Jimmy Carter was perhaps the ultimate example of what a successful post-presidency looks like. Following through with his promise to “not use his subsequent public life to enrich himself,” he returned to his peanut farm in Plains, Georgia. After leaving office, Carter engaged in “building houses [with Habitat for Humanity], eradicating disease, brokering ceasefires, [and] monitoring elections.” His death at the age of 100 during the run-up to Trump's second inauguration provides a contrast between the two men.

In contrast to Carter's humility, Trump has complained about the inconvenient timing of Carter's death will have on his inaugural festivities. As proclaimed by Dwight Eisenhower in 1954:

“The flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions for the period indicated upon the death of…the President or a former President for thirty days from the day of death.”

Accordingly, flags are scheduled to remain at half-staff until January 28th, a period that will include Trump’s second inauguration, a coincidence that has enraged the convicted felon as he prepares to take office again:

“The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my Inauguration. They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves."

It is ironic that the man who promised to pardon January 6th protestors who beat law enforcement officers with poles carrying American flags would use the words “only think about themselves” while referencing the time-honored tradition of lowering flags in honor of deceased Presidents. This is the same man who refused to attend the previous inauguration, breaking an important tradition meant to strengthen the peaceful transfer of power because he was butt-hurt over his election loss.

Carter lost his re-election (badly) to a man who won by stealing campaign strategy documents and who convinced the Iranians to hold our hostages until after the election. He still showed up to fulfill his role at Reagan’s inauguration.

The rage “Truthing” continued:

"Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years - It’s a total mess! In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out."

After elections, candidates are supposed to transition to leaders, but Trump cannot move on from the campaign. Instead of reassuring Americans that he intends to represent them all, he continues propagating the lies that propelled him back into the Oval Office, by pretending that Biden is not leaving him a country that is in significantly better shape than it was when Trump retreated to Mar-A-Lago with his tail between his legs. The Narcissist In Chief can not help but obsess over his fear that the visual of the flags at half-staff will somehow detract from his moment. It is the same thought process that led to his insane lies about the size of the crowd at his first inauguration.

One has to wonder what went through Trump’s mind as he sat through the eulogies at Carter’s state funeral. Did he think about what Mike Pence, the Vice President his supporters tried to murder, would say about him as he heard the words Carter’s VP, Walter Mondale, left behind for this occasion:

“One of the things that dawned on me during the course of our time together in the White House is how well we seemed to work together and how we seemed to understand each other and how, unlike a lot of vice presidents and their presidents, our relationship did not blow up. I think one of the realities was that Carter was a devout Christian who grew up, as we know, in a small town and was active in his faith for almost every moment of his life. I was also a small-town kid and I grew up in our small Methodist church where my Dad was the preacher and our faith was very basic to me as Carter's faith was to him. That created a bond between us that allowed us to understand each other and to find ways to work together because of our common commitment to our faith.”

If thoughts of retribution and revenge were exiled from his mind for the moment, did he take any lessons from the words left behind by Gerald Ford, a man who he beat in an election, but became his lifelong friend:

“For Jimmy Carter, honesty was not an aspirational goal; it was part of his very soul.”

Trump is a noted outcast in the small club of living American presidents. Instead of seeking their counsel, he views them as rivals. When his time of departure comes, what tribute, if any, will they pay to his legacy?

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.