“(Do) you know who was the first president – Democratic president I ever met? Bill Clinton.” (Jimmy Carter)

Before I say what is basically trivial and maybe not even interesting, I pause in prayer for the health of former President James Earl Carter.

With the news of former President Jimmy Carter’s cancer diagnosis, I got to thinking of something:  It seems we have a lot of former Presidents living.  Somethings I uncovered with a quick review of the list of former Presidents:

1)  In general, most Presidents serve with one or two predecessors alive during their Presidency with a few occasions of three predecessors for awhile.  As this is possibly sometimes the loneliest job in the world, knowing there are “others” who have been there must be comforting, knowing they are available for advice during difficult and dark moments.

2)  Except during the Presidency’s of George Washington and John Adams, after LBJ’s death, Richard Nixon was the only President to serve without a predecessor being alive.

3)  While many Presidents served with three predecessors alive, until the Presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush, we had never had four former Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Carter & Reagan) alive at the same time.

4)  For fourteen months of the Presidency of Bill Clinton, we actually had five former Presidents alive at the same time (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHWB).  With the death of Nixon, we fell back to four former Presidents alive.  And then for almost 30 months during the start of the Presidency of GWB, we again had five former Presidents alive (Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHWB, Clinton) but by the time his term ended, we were back to a more normal three former Presidents alive.

5) Having again five living former Presidents is possible if Carter and GHWB are still alive at the end of the Presidency of Barack Obama (Carter, GHWB, Clinton, GWB, Obama).  I end this post as I began:

I pause in prayer for the health of former Presidents Carter and GHWB to stay with us and enjoy good health as the world is better with them in it.  While I’m in this mode of reflection, I too pray for our living former Governors Frank Farrar, Harvey Wollman, Walter Dale Miller (I am so embarrassed I forgot Walt.  I truly love this man) and Mike Rounds.

13 thoughts on ““(Do) you know who was the first president – Democratic president I ever met? Bill Clinton.” (Jimmy Carter)”

  1. Dear Troy:

    Very classy and very interesting. After they are out of office, we rediscover that our former Presidents are real people. I wonder how much any current President utilizes their predecessors’ experience and knowledge. I’ve read where Kennedy seemed to have semi-regular contact with Eisenhower. And why wouldn’t any President want to do that? What a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw upon that all the former Presidents have to offer.

    Todd

    1. “And why wouldn’t any President want to do that? ”

      Obama has failed to do so.

      Why?

      Answer: Obama believes that he is twice as smart as the collective experience and knowledge of all his predecessors.

  2. For a good read on this topic, I recommend The President’s Club by Duffy and Gibbs.

  3. Don’t forget Gov. Walter Dale Miller

    I did and corrected it. I worked for Walter Dale Miller and think the world of him. Thank you so much for pointing this out. Troy

  4. I too hope & pray for Mr. Carter.

    These situations always get me thinking how Dems treat the deaths/illnesses of Rep. The Dems’ nastiness surrounding the deaths & burials of Nixon & Reagan remind us all just how soul-less so many Dems can be. For example, when Reagan wrote of his Alzheimer’sin 1994, how many Dems OPENLY speculated that he was suffering from the illness while president. Just plain disgusting. Can you imagine the outcry if one were to suggest that Jimmy Carter must have been suffering from this brain cancer while president?

    Toss in Paul Wellstone’s memorial service that turned into a political pep rally and we’re left to wonder if Dems have any sense of propriety when it comes to death or illness. It almost seems that EVEN DEATH is a political opportunity for Dems.

    I hope & pray that Mr. Carter finds the peace and humility that he so desperately failed to find in life. Before he dies, I hope that he seeks the forgiveness for what he did to our country and the poorest among us in his years as president. Only by seeking forgiveness for his failings can he find True Peace.

    There’s redemption in forgiveness, Mr. Carter. May God provide you with Real Healing.

    1. Let’s not forget that Jimmy Carter supported, protected and paid the salary of one MiIlard Fuller of Habitat for Humanity AFTER Fuller was accused of multiple sexual harassment episodes over many years while Fuller was running Habitat.

      And Carter’s oft-spoke respect of and support for one Yasser Arafat, even while it was widely known that Arafat enjoyed the “company” of young boys….

      What’s one to think of a presidential and post-presidential career full of such shameful blindness? The facts are that Jimmy Carter’s actions HURT a lot of innocent people.

      Does a terminal illness paint over all his unacknowledged failures and the pain inflicted on millions of innocents?

  5. Per Curiam,

    The respect I have for the Office of the President and appreciation for every person who occupies of the office doesn’t extend to agreeing with their policies or a judgment of the state of their soul. Whether anyone else extends the same respect and appreciation to other Presidents or other elected leaders isn’t going to drag me down. At least weekly but usually more than once a week, I collectively pray for my President, my Senators, my congressman, my Governor, my legislators and my Mayor. My prayer is for their good health and they be graced by the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit in the performance of their duties in office and at home.

    1. “The respect I have for the Office of the President ”

      Having respect for the office also means that you hold those in the office accountable for what they did while in that office; it sounds as if you believe merely achieving the office is sufficient to gain that respect. It’s not. Being or having been the president is not a free pass to actions or inaction that have harmed MILLIONS of innocent people. In fact, being a president should mean that we hold them to an even HIGHER level of accountability that comes with the respect!

      I note that your prayer list left out the millions of victims of the Khmer Rouge, the millions who suffered in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the women who suffered at the hands of Jimma’s creepy friend, Millard Fuller, and the many boys who were the sexual victims of Jimma’s friend Arafat.

      Carter has failed to acknowledge ANY of those failures, or the millions of other innocents who suffered because of his poor decisions.

      I can understand Carter’s blindness to these innocents: I cannot understand your blindness to them merely because one man was elected to occupy the White House for 4 years.

      Brain cancer is not a free pass for decades of misguided decisions, and an ongoing failure to seek forgiveness for them.

      I too pray to Carter, not because he was president or “former president”, but because he’s refused to seek forgiveness for what he has done and failed to do.

      More importantly, I pray for those who innocents who suffered BECAUSE of Jimmy Carter..

      Per Curiam, it is intellectually dishonest that you conveniently cut “appreciation for every person who occupies of the office doesn’t extend to agreeing with their policies or a judgment of the state of their soul.” from a single sentence and they tried to draw assert something directly in opposition to what I specifically wrote. It is hilarious you do so blatantly. Whether I agree or disagree with his policies and actions as President or since, I won’t apologize for praying for his good health nor him experiencing grace during his final journey on this Earth and all it entails. (Troy)

      1. “Whether I agree or disagree with his policies and actions as President or since, I won’t apologize for praying for his good health nor him experiencing grace during his final journey on this Earth and all it entails. (Troy)”

        Beyond Carter, If someone has or is committing on-going harm to a person or thousands of persons, how is praying for that person’s “good health” an act of Christian benevolence?

        “it is intellectually dishonest that you conveniently cut ”

        Folks can read your whole quote—nothing “dishonest” about it! Nor did you address the primary point that you STILL have not held him accountable for his many failures that hurt MIOLLIONS of people. Talk about spiritually dishonest!

        I note once again that you have yet to proclaim that you pray for the good health of the MILLIOSN of victims of Jimma Carter.

        And your multiple proclamations of so many prayers makes one wonder if your posts are more about tooting your prayer horn than actually praying. What’s that Biblical quote about praying in private? Oh yes, here it is:

        “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.…
        Matt 6:6

  6. Excellent post, and a great reminder that everyone entrusted with a public office deserves (and needs) our prayers. I’ll add my elected officials to my prayer schedule.

  7. Is not the longevity of many of our recent former presidents amazing as well. For many years, John Adams held the record as the longest living former president at 90+ years ( 1736-1826). He held this record for 180 years (Hoover lived for 90 years ((1874-1964)), but Adams lived 176 days longer) until Reagan surpassed it in 2002, then Ford surpassed Reagan in 2006. Right now, we have GWH Bush and Carter at 91 and 90 respectively.

    Not only is the longevity of life interesting in terms of our recent presidents, but the number of consecutive two termer presidents (which GHW Bush and Carter were not) in recent years is as well. From Reagan through Obama, and assuming Obama will finish his second term, four of our last five presidents have been “two-termers.” You have to go back to the time frame of 1809 until 1837 (Madison to Jackson) to find another period in American presidential history where four of five consecutive presidents were consecutive “two-termers.”

    If the next president is a two-termer as well, then you have to go back to Jefferson thru Jackson to rival a five out of six trend in “two-termer” presidencies.

    At first, I thought this “two-termer” trend was a fluke, but I am beginning to think it is an example of the ever developing continual campaign tied with the power of the incumbency. Or perhaps, it speaks to the maturing of our country among the community of nations, which offers greater stability over time as exemplified by these enduring presidential incumbencies…. A course, the end of the special prosecutor law probably has not hurt either….;-)

    Good addition as longevity is actually the key to this reality. And it is more striking during the “two-term” phenomenon. (Troy)

  8. Troy, thanks, but you can tell I wrote this at 1am. (Madison to Jackson) should have read (Jefferson to Jackson). Thus, making the potential of the 45th president to be a “two-termer” to a be a “two-termer” run of 5 out of 6 presidents, which would then conceivably make the political time frame of 1981 until 2025 (44 years) with only one one-termer the greatest run of “two-termers” in American presidential history by surpassing the record of 5 “two-termers” from 1789 until 1837 (48 years), which had two one term presidents (Adams and JQ Adams) within it.

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