It's ironic that on the day Donald Trump was impeached for the second time -- capping a most consequential and calamitous single presidential term, that I would feel compelled to watch the new documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock n' Roll President.
Carter's presidency has been re-examined and re-evaluated quite a bit in recent years. Perhaps this is in part because of the undeniably admirable way he has lived his life post-presidency. It may also be a testament to his remarkable staying power -- he is the longest living president in U.S. history.
And finally, it may have something to do with his character, after all he was a bit of an anomaly. A white southerner who disavowed racism and easily embraced black people and black culture (he placed MLK's portrait in the governor's mansion in Georgia as one of his first acts in that office). A deeply religious and personally conservative man, who loved iconoclastic rock musicians.
His form of earnest progressivism now stands in a contrast to Clinton's triangulation and even Obama's pragmatism, and we liberals always have a tendency to fall in love with our standard bearers after the fact (although Clinton's sordid history with women has complicated this). Despite his gentle voice and bearing, Carter was a fierce competitor, a peerless politician, and a peacemaker who defied conventional wisdom repeatedly to rise to the presidency.
He was, unfortunately, dealt a terrible hand once he assumed the presidency -- an economy spiraling out of control, multiple foreign disasters and domestic ones, too. He'd alienated members of his own caucus by running against the Democratic establishment and Republicans weren't fans of his either, seeing him as an interloper who took advantage of Watergate to win.
But the rock n' roll community embraced him -- not just because he was a superficial fan, but because he had authentic roots and very real appreciation for rhythm and blues, for country, and yes, for rock n' roll. In the same way that the hip-hop community saw that Obama was one of their own, musicians like Bob Dylan saw that Carter was a sincere fan who understood the context, not just the caliber of their creations.
Carter considers Dylan and Willie Nelson two of his best friends -- which is not only very cool, but makes you think more of him as a man and as a leader.
There was a lot of musical culture in the White House under Obama -- Al Green, Common, The Rolling Stones, Lin Manuel Miranda, just to name a few. But, under Trump there was -- nothing -- he clearly had no interest in culture that didn't revolve around him. His preoccupation is the relatively solitary game of golf. Carter, on the other hand, while imperfect clearly was curious about not just music, but other people.
The film doesn't dwell too long on Carter's missteps as president (with the notable exception of the Iran hostage crisis and inflation) -- as with all presidents, there were many -- but what it does highlight is that these artists, like so many voters, saw a hopefulness and honesty in him that was refreshing and it still is, especially after four years of Trump whose defining characteristic is his willingness to lie about literally everything to serve his short term goals.
It's hard not to watch the film -- and watch all the bipartisan hope that Carter inspired in the wake of the Nixon era (he earns moving tributes from both John Wayne and Paul Simon in archival footage) and not think of Joe Biden, who is going to be sworn in a moment of unprecedented division, and quite frankly, danger. He will almost certainly come up short too as Carter did, but I for one can't wait for a resurgence of old fashioned decency in that office -- because a little bit of humanity goes a very long way.
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