Jimmy Carter Presidential Library

Atlanta, Georgia

When traveling across the United States, some of the best museums I have encountered are those devoted to our former U.S. Presidents. These museums captured the essence of the person who served as our nation’s leader, typically taken into account events from their youth to help shape who they became, their rise to power, their time and the presidency, and if they didn’t die in office their time afterwards, along with their lasting legacy, since I knew that we were traveling to Atlanta and I had never been to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, I made it a major stop for us on this trip.

There are a lot of things that I have in common with Jimmy Carter. He grew up in a very rural area, and his background was heavily shaped by agriculture. Like me, Jimmy Carter was a FFA member; he was a former secretary of the Plains FFA Chapter in Georgia. Like Mr. Carter, I, too, left home to see the world when I got a scholarship to go to college. Jimmy Carter is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and began his career working on nuclear submarines. The presidential library had a few artifacts from this time when he was in service.

When President Carter left the Navy, he came home and helped her run the family’s peanut farm. Later, Carter became a Georgia State Senator and then became Governor of Georgia. Much like myself, Jimmy Carter saw that there were many issues he did not quite understand about the politics of the day, as they were not supported by what he believed as an American citizen and as a Christian. Jimmy Carter famously turned on many of his segregationist supporters once he was elected Governor.

Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election against Gerald Ford, and the presidential library features many exhibits related to his presidency. Jimmy Carter was president when I was born, and in many ways was not ruthless enough to serve effectively in the position. He lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan, but went on to have what is probably the most impactful post-presidency of any U.S. President in American history. He volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, where he helped build thousands of homes for people around the globe. His non-profit, the Carter Center, helped advance human rights and eradicate diseases, specifically Guinea Worm Disease, which went from 3.5 million cases in the mid-1980s to 4 in 2024. This disease was primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, and just because the people who suffered from the disease were poor, no one had an interest in tackling it. Jimmy Carter served as a de facto ambassador of the United States and was used by presidents to meet with foreign dignitaries. One of the most interesting exhibits was a baseball he and Fidel Castro signed after he threw out the first pitch at a game in Cuba. Jimmy Carter is also the only US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after his presidency, thanks to his charitable activities and his role in brokering peace. Jimmy Carter was also the longest-lived American president, passing away when he was 100 years old.

Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library is incredibly well-maintained, fairly reasonable to enter, and beautifully landscaped. I was appreciative of the chance to go and learn more about Jimmy Carter, the man and president. Jimmy Carter was not by any stretch of imagination the best American President, but there’s probably never been someone with better morals to serve in the office. I like taking my children to places like the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library to expose them to historical figures. I hope that through these visits, they see several things: number one, that all people have their faults; number two, that all people have their origin story; and number three, that we can learn something about why they made the decisions they made. Visits to these museums help us, as travelers, reflect on the decisions we make in our own lives.