Firstly, this isn’t a new book at DPL.  President Carter penned this biography ten years ago at the whippersnapper age of 90.    There are a host of fascinating tidbits here about Smiling Jimmy.  For example, you wouldn’t think the first centenarian US president would be a guy who produced radioactive urine for six months after saving a damaged Canadian nuclear reactor.  As he tells it, science’s burgeoning cognizance of radiation in 1952 erroneously permitted human exposure levels 1000 times our modern understanding.  It worked out for Bruce Banner, right?

Carter’s roots were humble.  In fact, he was the first president to reside in public housing, undoubtedly igniting his passion for Habitat for Humanity.  Little Jimmy was a racial minority among his schoolmates, solidifying his stance as supporter of civil rights in the turbulent 60’s.  Where he was from, that platform cost him a few victories in his nascent political career.

Governor.  Presidency.  Ayatollah. Hostage Crisis. Energy Crisis. Reagan.   And then, it was right back to Plains, GA, the peanut farm, and the same home he’s owned for sixty years.  Did he ever stop teaching Sunday school?  He missed a few catechisms 1976-1980, yeah.

Check out the story of the man who is more famous for what he did AFTER being POTUS while there isn’t a holds list.  If heaven ever claims the objectively kindest human to occupy the oval office, there might be demand for this story.  Of course, we’ve been saying that a while.  Jimmy may rival “Silent Cal” Coolidge for the least sensational commander-in-chief, but his century on Earth is undeniably grounded in public service.