Best Ex-Prez
Theme of the Week: A Different Way to Lead
Saturday, September 20, 2003
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Q. Who's your candidate for Best Leader Turnaround?
A. Jimmy Carter. After losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan, he returned to Plains, Georgia, a broken man, scorned by fellow democrats and named in some polls as the worst President ever. While his family peanut business had been held in a blind trust, it had accumulated a million-dollar debt. From that shaky platform, Carter began to rebuild.
How did he do it?
After writing a book to pay off debts, he established the Carter Center in Atlanta to foster programs he believed in. Due to his human rights emphasis, many developing nations looked to him as a great leader, and Carter responded with a democracy project, monitoring elections all over the world. His support of Habitat for Humanity brought publicity and funding to that fledgling organization. His foundation mobilized dollars and expert knowledge to address diseases that plague poor nations. As a result, both guinea worm and river blindness have been nearly eliminated. He also teaches Sun- day school at Maranatha Baptist Church. Turn over the offering plates, and you'll see the carved initials "J.C." The former President made them in his carpentry shop, as he did the TV cabinet that sits in the Sunday school room. He takes his turn cutting the grass outside the church.
In a stunning reversal, Carter now makes the list of most admired Presidents. While others leave the White House to enjoy golf or cash in on celebrity status, he devotes himself to service.
Philip Yancey is a noted author and Christianity Today editor-at-large.
Adapted from Christianity Today (5/21/02) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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