Jimmy Carter: From Plains to the Presidency

What It Takes®

Academy of Achievement

Music, Sports, Arts, Self-help, Technology, Science, Humanitarian, Achievement, Film, Social Justice, Success, Society & Culture, Literature, Podcast, Politics, Military

4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2019

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s a remarkable American story: a poor peanut farmer from the Deep South becomes a nuclear naval officer, then governor of Georgia, and finally President of the United States. And what Jimmy Carter has done for peace and human rights in the 40 years since leaving office is just as remarkable. The 39th president talks here about his early life in rural Plains, Georgia, where his deeply-held beliefs about equality and fairness took root, and he describes his unlikely rise through the political landscape at a moment when the U.S. was undergoing tumultuous change. He also speaks candidly about some of the most difficult moments in the White House, the transition to his “post-presidency,” and his assessment of what makes a great president. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2019

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the 100th episode of what it takes. So a very special thanks for listening and
0:11.2	it's a great moment to spread the word to because this week we are going presidential with Jimmy Carter
0:18.1	People ask me how did you stand the long campaigning how did you stand being stand being charged with the responsibilities of a great nation,
0:25.6	and one of the most powerful and difficult jobs in the world, it wasn't any more difficult than picking cotton all day or shaking peanuts. There's an equality there.
0:34.0	If you have a task to perform and are vitally interested in it, exciting and challenged by it,
0:40.0	then you will exert, you know exert maximum energy but in the excitement the pain of fatigue dissipates
0:49.0	an exuberance of what you hope to achieve overcomes the reluctance to be weary.
0:57.0	That excerpt is from a 1991 interview with Jimmy Carter, the first of three he's done for the Academy of Achievement.
1:04.6	Back then he showed no signs of weariness in his efforts to promote peace and human rights
1:10.7	at home and around the world. Now at 94 and a half years old he still
1:16.0	shows no signs. The 39th president of the United States on a mission and
1:21.7	going strong on this episode of what it takes a
1:25.7	podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement.
1:31.6	I'm Alice Winkler.
1:34.0	I had a maid, this child is gifted.
1:38.0	And I heard that enough that I started to believe it.
1:40.0	If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another job.
1:46.4	It all was so clear. It was just like the picture started to form itself.
1:51.0	There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light,
1:57.0	birth over life.
1:59.0	Every day I wake up and decide, today I'm going to love my life. Decide.
2:05.0	My advice is if they're going to break your leg once when you go in that place, stay out of there.
	...

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