His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life by Jonathan Alter (English) Paperback Book

Description: His Very Best by Jonathan Alter From one of Americas most respected journalists and modern historians comes the highly acclaimed, biography of Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth president of the United States and Nobel Prize–winning humanitarian. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From one of Americas most respected journalists and modern historians comes the highly acclaimed, "splendid" (The Washington Post) biography of Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth president of the United States and Nobel Prize–winning humanitarian.Jonathan Alter tells the epic story of an enigmatic man of faith and his improbable journey from barefoot boy to global icon. Alter paints an intimate and surprising portrait of the only president since Thomas Jefferson who can fairly be called a Renaissance Man, a complex figure—ridiculed and later revered—with a piercing intelligence, prickly intensity, and biting wit beneath the patented smile. Here is a moral exemplar for our times, a flawed but underrated president of decency and vision who was committed to telling the truth to the American people. Growing up in one of the meanest counties in the Jim Crow South, Carter is the only American president who essentially lived in three centuries: his early life on the farm in the 1920s without electricity or running water might as well have been in the nineteenth; his presidency put him at the center of major events in the twentieth; and his efforts on conflict resolution and global health set him on the cutting edge of the challenges of the twenty-first. "One of the best in a celebrated genre of presidential biography," (The Washington Post), His Very Best traces how Carter evolved from a timid, bookish child—raised mostly by a Black woman farmhand—into an ambitious naval nuclear engineer writing passionate, never-before-published love letters from sea to his wife and full partner, Rosalynn; a peanut farmer and civic leader whose guilt over staying silent during the civil rights movement and not confronting the white terrorism around him helped power his quest for racial justice at home and abroad; an obscure, born-again governor whose brilliant 1976 campaign demolished the racist wing of the Democratic Party and took him from zero percent to the presidency; a stubborn outsider who failed politically amid the bad economy of the 1970s and the seizure of American hostages in Iran but succeeded in engineering peace between Israel and Egypt, amassing a historic environmental record, moving the government from tokenism to diversity, setting a new global standard for human rights and normalizing relations with China among other unheralded and far-sighted achievements. After leaving office, Carter eradicated diseases, built houses for the poor, and taught Sunday school into his mid-nineties. This "important, fair-minded, highly readable contribution" (The New York Times Book Review) will change our understanding of perhaps the most misunderstood president in American history. Author Biography Jonathan Alter is an award-winning historian, columnist and documentary filmmaker. An MSNBC political analyst and former senior editor at Newsweek, he is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies; The Promise: President Obama, Year One; and The Defining Moment: FDRs Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope. Review "Jonathan Alters important, fair-minded, highly readable contribution to this literature provides not just an authoritative introduction to Carters feats and failures but also insight into why a man of such intelligence, drive and noble intentions floundered in the White House as haplessly as he did... [Alters] assessment of Carter the man— disciplined, driven, stubborn, detail-oriented, technocratic, pious— doesnt break radically from that of other historians. But Alter keeps Carters myriad facets in view throughout, rendering his subject with a depth rarely achieved by political journalism." — New York Times Book Review "Splendid... Alters account is ably sourced and fluidly written, one of the best in a celebrated genre of presidential biography." —The Washington Post "In this definitive biography, Jonathan Alter provides a wonderfully readable assessment of the character and achievements of our most underrated modern president. It is a deeply personal account, filled with fascinating new information. Carters story is a needed inspiration in this dark time." —Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci"This deeply researched and fluidly written biography is the first truly comprehensive look at our 39th president. Alter illuminates Carters character, and explains much about the strengths and weaknesses of the elusive man from Plains. This is a fascinating work." —Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello "Jonathan Alter has a gift for beleaguered America— an insightful, uplifting portrait of Jimmy Carter, a former president who never gave up on activating Americas essential goodess." — Tom Brokaw"His Very Best is a fascinating book, and Alter tells Carters life story beautifully and with admirable fairness — he treats Carter as a real person, as flawed as anyone else, and not as a saint. Alters pacing is wonderful; his accounts of some of the more dramatic events in Carters presidency are thrillingly told, but this never comes at the cost of the humanity of the people involved. Its a book thats bound to fascinate anyone with an interest in American history, and an excellent look at the man whom Alter considers, justifiably, "perhaps the most misunderstood president in American history." — NPR "Alter is a talented storyteller, and his lively narrative captures Carters full arc from Georgia farm to White House and beyond." — National Book Review "[S]crupulously researched….provides a candid and often compelling assessment of Carters policy successes and failures." — Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Students of recent presidential and world history will find Alters anecdotally rich narrative immensely rewarding." — Kirkus Reviews "A sweeping, meticulously-researched biography...[His Very Best] is an illuminating and persuasive reevaluation of Carters legacy." —Publishers Weekly "In unfolding his carefully researched narrative, Alter portrays Carter as far more successful in his labors as chief executive than is generally acknowledged. A balanced and complete portrait." — Booklist "In this extraordinarily well-researched and well-written book, Jonathan Alter perfectly captures how Jimmy Carter was the most misunderstood president since Thomas Jefferson, and the only other not to lose a single American soldier in war. Its a compelling story of a complicated and brilliant life." —Andrew Young, former US Ambassador to the UN, Mayor of Atlanta, and close confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."Jonathan Alter has painted an important and revealing portrait of Jimmy Carter, an American president who led many different lives. Alters memorable book goes a long way toward illuminating the shadows that have long obscured him." —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of America "Jonathan Alters new biography promises to offer a fresh look at a familiar face." — BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK "An engrossing story about a truly decent man." — AARP Review Quote "This deeply researched and fluidly written biography is the first truly comprehensive look at our 39th president. Alter illuminates Carters character, and explains much about the strengths and weaknesses of the elusive man from Plains. This is a fascinating work." --Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello Excerpt from Book Prologue PROLOGUE JUNE 1979 It was just hours before the first day of summer, and the sunny weather in Washington, DC, was perfect for a leisurely drive in the country. But June 20, 1979, was the wrong day for Wednesday golf or a picnic at Bull Run. That week, more than half of the nations gas stations were running out of gas. The mornings Washington Post reported that local authorities were inundated with requests for carpools from angry motorists who couldnt get to work, yet a small collection of harried reporters and dignitaries managed to find transportation to the White House. There the beleaguered president of the United States was preparing yet another announcement that would lead to eye rolling in the press corps and make little news. The only thing that stood out then about this seemingly minor event was its unusual location: the West Wing roof. The spring and summer gas shortages marked the worst of a depressing 1979, a year that would later see the seizure of American hostages in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. "Gas stations closed up like someone died," John Updike wrote in his novel Rabbit Is Rich. For a generation bonded to cars the way the next would be to smartphones, this was traumatic. Millions of Americans missed work, canceled vacations, and pointed fingers. Public opinion surveys in June 1979 showed Carters approval ratings in the Gallup poll plummeting to 28 percent, the lowest of his presidency and comparable to Richard Nixons when he resigned five years earlier. Vice President Walter Mondale later cracked that the Carter White House had gone to the dogs--and become "the nations fire hydrant." As usual, the president had few options. A month later, he would offer new, ambitious energy goals as part of his infamous "malaise" speech (though he never used the word), in which Carter delivered a jeremiad against empty materialism. But events all year were largely out of his control, wreaking havoc on the American economy. First came a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to jack up global oil prices by 14.5 percent virtually overnight--an effort to exploit strikes in Iranian oil fields against the teetering shah of Iran. After the shah fled into exile and was replaced in February by the radical Islamic fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeini, Iranian oil exports to the United States ceased altogether. Over the next eighteen months, oil prices doubled to nearly $40 a barrel. This represented an astonishing thirteenfold increase in a decade. "Energy is our Vietnam," a White House aide told Newsweek . By the following year, inflation--driven in large part by energy prices--would pass 12 percent, with unemployment over 7 percent for a combined "misery index" of nearly 20 percent. Yet harder to imagine in the twenty-first century was that interest rates in 1980 hit an eye-popping 19 percent. Even if everything else had gone right for Jimmy Carter in 1979 and 1980--which it most definitely did not--that was a gale-force economic wind blowing in his face as he sought reelection against former California governor Ronald Reagan. For two years, a clean-energy pioneer named George Szego had been lobbying the Carter White House to take a look at something hed cobbled together at his little manufacturing company in Warrenton, Virginia. Szego, an engineer who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was hard to ignore. After some hesitation, Carter--himself an engineer--handwrote a reference to this emerging technology into a 1978 speech. Now, a year later, he was making good on his pledge to install it. At one thirty on June 20, the president climbed an inner staircase to the roof of the West Wing, known as the West Terrace, where he emerged into the bright sunlight for an energy announcement that had nothing directly to do with gas lines. "Ive arranged for this ceremony to be illuminated by solar power," Carter joked, as the audience squinted into the sun. He proposed $1 billion in federal funding for solar research, a $100 million "solar bank" offering credits to home owners who installed primitive solar units, and a goal of 20 percent of the nations energy coming from renewable sources by the year 2000--just one part of his effort to prepare the United States for a greener future. The event was meant to publicize an energy source that for years had been of interest mostly to tinkerers and readers of the counterculture Whole Earth Catalog but was finally beginning to make its way into the liberal mainstream. To symbolize his commitment to solar, Carter dedicated the rooftop installation of a $28,000 hot water heating system--built by Szego--that would be used for portions of the ground floor of the West Wing. Like so much else about his presidency, placing a solar unit on the White House roof did Carter no political good at the time. His critics, if they noticed at all, saw it as a stunt to deflect blame from the gas crisis. Carter understood this but didnt care. He meant for the solar panels--visible from Pennsylvania Avenue--to be a symbol of his faith in American ingenuity to tackle the nations toughest long-term problems. The presidents goal was to develop clean, nonpolluting energy sources and independence from Arab oil. He didnt mention combating climate change, though, the following year, his White House would raise the first official warnings about global warming anywhere in the world. Carter mentioned how President Benjamin Harrison (he mistakenly called him William Henry Harrison) introduced electric lightbulbs to the White House in 1891, before they were commercially viable or technologically advanced. "A generation from now," Carter said, "this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken--or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people: harnessing the power of the sun." As it turned out, the thirty-two solar panels became both museum pieces and inspirations. President Reagan cut research-and-development spending on alternative energy by two-thirds, wrecking Carters commitment to clean energy. In 1985 Reagan let Carters tax credits for solar expire, bankrupting George Szegos company and dozens of others and ceding clean-energy leadership to other countries. With oil prices falling, Reagans chief of staff, Donald T. Regan, described the roof panels as "just a joke" and ordered them taken down in 1986 as part of a renovation. After languishing in a government warehouse, the panels were rescued by a professor at Unity College in Maine and used on the roof of the school dining hall. Eventually they were sent to the Smithsonian, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, and a museum in China. It wasnt until 2010 that President Obama put new-generation panels back on the White House roof and dramatically expanded funding for clean-energy development. Solar power has since become the fastest-growing source of electricity in the United States. It represents just one of many ways a significant American president--buffeted by events--peered over the horizon. Throughout Jimmy Carters long life, classmates, colleagues, and friends--even members of his own family--found him hard to read. The enigma deepened in the presidency. He was a disciplined and incorruptible president equipped with a sharp, omnivorous mind; a calm and adult president, dependable in a crisis; a friendless president who, in the 1976 primaries, had defeated or alienated a good portion of the Democratic Party; a stubborn and acerbic president, never demeaning but sometimes cold; a nonideological president who worshipped science along with God and saw governing as a series of engineering problem sets; an austere, even spartan president out of sync with American consumer culture; a focused president whose diamond-cutter attention to detail brought ridicule but also historic results; a charming president in small groups and when speaking off the cuff but awkward in front of a teleprompter and often allergic to small talk and to offering a simple "Thank you"; an insular, all-business president who seemed sometimes to prefer humanity to human beings but prayed for the strength to do better. For some in Carters orbit, his impatient and occasionally persnickety style--a few dubbed him "the grammarian in chief" for correcting their memos--would mean that their respect would turn to reverence and love only in later years. Only then did many of those who served in his administration fully understand that he had accomplished much more in office than even they knew. Carters farsighted domestic and foreign policy achievements would be largely forgotten when he shrank in the job and lost the 1980 election. He forged the nations first comprehensive energy policy and historic accomplishments on the environment that included strong new pollution controls, the first toxic waste cleanup, and doubling the size of the national park system. He set the bar on consumer protection; signed two major pieces of ethics legislation; carried out the first civil service reform in a century; established two new Cabinet-level departments (Energy and Education); deregulated airlines, trucking, and utilities in ways that served the public interest; and took federal judgeships out of the era of tokenism by selecting more women and blacks for the federal bench than all of his predecessors combined, Details ISBN1501125540 Author Jonathan Alter Short Title His Very Best Pages 800 Publisher Simon & Schuster Language English ISBN-10 1501125540 ISBN-13 9781501125546 Format Paperback Subtitle Jimmy Carter, a Life DEWEY 973.926092 Imprint Simon & Schuster Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States NZ Release Date 2022-03-31 UK Release Date 2022-03-31 Illustrations 2x8-pg 4-C inserts; b&w photos throughout AU Release Date 2021-11-03 Alternative 9781501125485 Audience General Year 2022 Publication Date 2022-03-31 US Release Date 2022-03-31 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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