Character Above All: Jimmy Carter Glossary

JIMMY CARTER

39th President of the United States

KEY DATES:

1924: Born on October 1st in Plains, Georgia
1970-74 : Governor of Georgia.
1976 : Elected President of the United States
1980 : Defeated for reelection to the presidency by Republican Ronald Reagan

THE CARTER CENTER: A nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy institute founded by President Carter and his wife Rosalynn after they left the White House. The Center was dedicated in 1986. It includes the Carter presidential library and museum, as well as a center for conflict resolution, human rights programs and other projects aimed at promoting democracy and eradicating disease and poverty, particularly in Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet states.
HAITI: In 1994, Haiti was ruled by a military government headed by Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras. The military had ousted the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was living in exile in the United States. In September, the U.S. was poised to invade Haiti and restore Aristide to power. A delegation was sent by President Clinton to negotiate a peaceful transition of power. It included former President Carter, retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell and U.S. Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. They negotiated a compromise which led to Aristide's return on October 15, 1994.
PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: In an interview published in the November 1976 issue of Playboy magazine, then-Governor Carter talked about the role of religion in his life. In one part he said:
" I try not to commit a deliberate sin. I recognize that I'm going to do it anyhow, because I'm human and I'm tempted. And Christ set some almost impossible standards for us. Christ said, 'I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery.'
"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do--and I have done it--and God forgives me for it."
SHAH OF IRAN (1919-1980): Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the ruling monarch of Iran from 1941 until 1979. The Shah was an autocratic ruler who reigned with strong U.S. support. His government was overthrown by an Islamic revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The Shah left Iran in January 1979. He died in exile in Egypt in July 1980.
MARSHAL TITO (1892-1980): Leader of Yugoslavia from 1943 until his death. He led an autocratic communist government which remained officially unaligned to either the U.S. or the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
SALT II: Refers to the second Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union which was signed by President Carter in 1979. SALT I was signed by President Nixon in 1972. The pacts were aimed at limiting the development and deployment of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
LEONID BREZHNEV (1906-1982): A member of the leadership of the Soviet Union from 1964, initially as first secretary of the Communist Party, then as general secretary. In the early 1970s he emerged as the top leader and worked to ease Cold War tensions with the United States. At the same time, he oversaw a Soviet military build up, and was responsible for the suppression of democratic movements in Czechoslovakia and Poland. He was also at the helm when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979 to protect the communist government there.
APPARATCHIK: The term was used to describe a bureaucrat in the Soviet communist system who blindly followed his superiors in party doctrine.