A Moral Person of Character Can Indeed Lead the Nation
I traveled to DC to attend the lying in state of President Carter. It was a somber but not sad event.
I arrived early the main day of his lying in the rotunda of the capitol. DC had their worst snow in six years the day before. Sidewalks were still half covered in snow and tramped down ice. The city is not accustomed to dealing with snow, with clearing it or salting or grit.
Authorities were clearly expecting huge crowds. That wasn’t the case when I got there. That meant zig-zag waiting-line grids set up four deep and a half a block long. It was something to see the determination of some of those attending, probably about two-thirds were older, a good few with canes or walkers. Once in the capitol, again, long zig-zag setups, and up and down stairs four times to get to the rotunda. Elevators were used for those in wheelchairs but not for others.
But the mood, as noted, was respectful but not grieving. The people I talked to and heard around me were more in the mode of sharing their memories of Carter.
There was David Weiner of DC. Originally from Ohio, like myself. He was a young man when Carter was president. His brother stayed very involved in politics there. David admired Carter for who he was and how he was who he was.
Chris Calvert and his partner were there from Maryland. Chris was a teenager when Carter was president. He loves to spend time in the national wilderness areas and was especially glad for the expansions of that system that Carter added. As was nicely summarized by a national hunting organization, “Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, effectively doubling the size of the National Parks System by adding 33 million acres of designated wilderness. Carter’s legacy accounts for approximately thirty percent of the 111 million acres of designated wilderness in the United States.”
Chris used to attend the Christmas tree lighting in DC. The first year he saw that Carter, rather than just doing the official flipping of the switch, would walk over to the platform where the entertainers and hosts were, chat with them, then walk through the crowd to the platform where the ceremonial light switch was. For the next few years Chris would get there early and be in position to see Carter within a few feet as he would do that walking through the crowd.
The rotunda viewing was nicely done. People could flow around either side in a wide circle, so some could just pass through, and many who wanted to linger a while could. Again, no one seemed to be in true mourning but rather in respect, and in thoughtfulness.
I was in my early twenties when Carter became president, living in inner-city Baltimore doing religious based social work. While the religious phase didn’t last the desire to be part of things improving generally for people continued, and there are people and events in any of our lives that influence maintaining that hope. While there were people closer to me who had part of that, and other figures of moral leadership, Dr. King, the almost saintly Cesar Chavez, Carter, in my mind was in that group and so impactful because he achieved the presidency. While he didn’t hang onto it, and his inexperience at national politics sometimes limited him, he showed that a president can be a president, lead in profound ways, and do it all as a moral person of character.
To me that puts him right at the top of the greatest people of modern times. Thank you Mr. Carter, President Carter, for that kind of greatness. Because of you it can’t be said that you can’t be a moral person of character and lead the nation. You already proved that you can.
UPDATE: January 9, 9am ET: Since this piece was written crowds have come to the capitol for Carter’s lying in state. ABC reported “thousands” were waiting in line. The line had backed up through all the zig-zag waiting line passages, out of the capitol grounds, and one report had it starting a block and a half before even reaching capitol grounds.
