Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum

The exhibits in the Carter Presidential Museum are comprehensive, offering an extensive and sometimes intensive overview of the life, political career, and many post-presidential activities of our 39th President. The absence of any voices unattached to the Carters is most evident and problematic in three particular instances:

• First, there is no discussion of the Taiwan issue in the materials devoted to the normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China.
• Second, there is no reference to the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in the treatment of the Camp David accords. Doing so would provide some balance and nuance to the treatment of Middle East issues, where President Carter was a prominent critic of Israel and what he called its “apartheid.”
• Third, there is no alternative offered to President Carter’s claim that the resolution of the Iranian hostage crisis was the result of economic sanctions. The timing of the release (Ronald Reagan’s assumption of office) is noted but not accorded any significance.

Adding a variety of voices unconnected with his family and Administration would strengthen the museum’s credibility, providing perspective and context for the claims made on President Carter’s behalf. Among the elements of the presentations that could be enhanced are:

• The treatment of his grassroots campaign, which set the standard for his successors.
• Discussion of his early efforts at promoting energy conservation and alternative fuels, which paved the way for the much more aggressive efforts of subsequent Democratic Administrations.
• The brief mentions of his deregulatory efforts, which (especially regarding airlines) ultimately transformed the way Americans travel. Failing to highlight Alfred E. Kahn, known as the “Father of Airline Deregulation,” is a significant oversight.
• The treatment of Carter’s appointment of Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board should have received more attention.

Unless one regards idealistic moralism as an ideological bias, the Carter Presidential Museum does not obviously betray the typical features of “progressive” public history. President Carter is portrayed as a progressive Southerner without being inappropriately held to contemporary standards. There is no talk, for example, of “systemic racism,” even as Georgia’s Jim Crow past is appropriately deprecated.

The museum is prepared for school field trips, with handouts for age-appropriate scavenger hunts, crossword puzzles, and word searches. Such things might occupy children for some time (60–90 minutes). But there are no exhibits targeted at younger children, and most of the interactive features involve videos of talking heads. The one exception offers samples of archival research in the presidential papers, where visitors are able to choose documents appropriate to answer historical questions. These interactive video screens might appeal to academically inclined high school students.

The wooded grounds of the Carter Museum complex are attractive, and it would be possible to picnic on the patio of the cafeteria, weather permitting. Aside from candy and chips, the cafeteria’s offerings (packaged sandwiches and salads) may not appeal to younger children.

Jimmy Carter (1924-2024) was America’s 39th President, serving one term from 1977 to 1981. He defeated Gerald Ford, who assumed the presidency after Richard Nixon’s resignation, and was in turn defeated by Ronald Reagan. Born and raised in southwest Georgia, Carter represented the New (post-segregation) South. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1946 and served for eight years as a submariner, one of the first cohort of officers on nuclear-powered submarines. On his father’s death, Carter resigned his commission and returned to Georgia to take over the family peanut farming business.

Carter entered Georgia politics in 1962, serving two terms in the state senate. After an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1966, he was elected to that office in 1970. After one term as governor, Carter undertook a longshot campaign for the presidency. While out of office, his capacity to campaign full-time coast to coast set the stage for contemporary presidential primary campaigns, which require the complete energy and attention of the candidates.

Having run successfully against the Georgia and national political establishments, Carter tried to govern as an outsider. His relationship with longtime House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill (D-MA) was famously rocky.

President Carter’s most noteworthy accomplishments are:

• The Panama Canal Treaty,
• Establishing full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China,
• The Camp David Accords, which provided for peace between Egypt and Israel,
• Airline deregulation, which revolutionized commercial air travel, and
• Civil service reform, creating the Senior Executive Service.

In the end, his presidency foundered on the Iranian hostage crisis, where “students” (the precursors of today’s Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held numerous American diplomats hostage. They were freed on the eve of President Reagan’s inauguration.

After leaving the White House, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter created the Carter Center, providing a vehicle for numerous worldwide humanitarian efforts.

Owned By: The National Archives

Operated By: The National Archives

Government Funded: Yes