Customer Reviews

Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President

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Jimmy Carter was a unique individual among recent US Presidents. In the wake of Watergate a man unknown outside of Georgia stunned the pundits by taking both the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency. He brought to the Oval Office a habit he shared with two of his 20th century predecessors, Nixon and Truman - that of writing dailiy entries in a diary. This he maintained, thankfully, throughout his presidency. It is from these entries that his memoirs are constructed.

The book is refreshingly open and honest abount the man's objectives, triumphs, mistakes and regrets. The problems that Jimmy Carter faced in the White House were tremendous. His solutions were thoughtful and long term. Thus we are left with the perception that Carter was a failure. He did fail in making Americans feel good, and he failed in the image game. He never came across well on television and came across preachy.

Had Ford won in '76 he too would have faced the same crises, and, perhaps would have managed them as well as did Carter. Ford would have done so with a Washington savy that smacked of competence. Carter won essentially because he lacked such Washington savy - I honestly believe he lost in '80 for the same reason. The This book succeeds where President Carter failed - in communicating his ideas.

Ironically, The Great Communicator's book fails where Reagan was most successful. 'Keeping Faith' is well written and worth the reading - this cannot be said of Mr. Reagan's memoirs 'An American Life'.

I met Jimmy Carter in 1991, when he and I were in Zambia at the same time. It is hard to meet a former US Presdient, and ironic to meet him in Africa. I was resident in Kenya at that time, working as a linguist designing language and culture training programs for foreigners coming to work with Christian churches.

I happened to be visiting in Zambia at that time investigating local resources for organizing a language programs for the language of the Lozi people, who live along the Zambezi River in Zambia and surrounding countries. Jimmy was there with staff from his Carter Foundation monitoring the elections of the country for a transition to democracy after a long period under the first president, really a dictator, Kenneth Kaunda.

I was invited to attend a meeting of American missionaries he was scheduled to address. He was a wonderfully unpretentious and personable person, a real person meeting other real persons. He spoke formally and then informally at a general reception with us. After the meeting with the gorup, I had a further opportunity to visit with Jimmy personally. I joined the leader of the mission group that had arranged the meeting to talk informally with President Carter as he sat in the open door of his van, while waiting for the final security checks to be finished by his Secret Service officers before his departure.

In this book Jimmy Carter presents his experiences and memories of his one term in office as President of the United States. He expresses himself in the same personal, unpretentious and humble style he exhibited when speaking to us in person. He writes in an honest and confessional style to present his experiences. He writes not in terms of a catalogue of events, but in personal terms of his thoughts and feelings as the events unfolded.

He starts off with the Iran hostage affair, which was not finally resolved until a few minutes after he had already relinquished his office to Ronald Reagan at the January 20 swearing-in ceremony. It was clear to us who observed this sad situation from an overseas view that the Iranian Revolutionary government had conducted this affair over the last year of the Carter Presidency primarily to undermine the US, but specifically as a slap at President Carter.

This in itself is ironic, because the general reaction to President Carter from overseas, and epecially the "Third World," was that now we had a US president who could be trusted, who tried to meet the rest of the world on its own terms, and who wanted to do what was best for the whole world community -- to do what was right.

Carter expresses the same disappointed concept of the Iran hostage affair. Perhaps the Revolutionary government of Iran had already been given some word from the Reagan Republican campaign that they would get a special under-the-table deal on arms if Carter were defeated. Who knows why they thougth this was the right approach towards America and its conciliatory president?

In this book Carter reveals his approach to personal and international affairs. He wanted to be honest, consistent in his moral consideration for both private and public responsibilities and decisions. This approach to life and relationships was proven in the unprecedented success and acclaim he has been awarded in his post-presidential activities of international diplomacy, peacemaking and counseling to many governments, heads of state and the whole international community. These accomplishments and contributions far outstrip beyond what he do with the restrictions and political hobbles inherent in the jealousies of Washington.

Washington, and indeed much of the country at large, could not understand a leader who never hid his sincere, honest and consistent desire to be a moral person as the leader of the nation. They could not understand the approach that decisions were made on the basis of universal principles of right and wrong, not political advantage.

This book is inspiring, informative, endearing and challenging in its presenting of a goal of personal integrity in all aspects of life, expressed by this great man.

Growing up in the 1990s, I was never familiar with President Carter or his specific policies. This book gives a very thorough and honest review of the major policy issues confronting President Carter in the late 1970s. If you think his presidency was a failure, you should at least take time to read about why he acted the way he did. He explains the seemingly endless energy debate in great detail and also what led him to give his infamous "crisis of confidence" speech. He gives a practically minute-by-minute account of the hostage crisis and how he worked (successfully) to win their release without nuclear weaponry or massive bloodshed. His coverage of the 1980 election was somewhat superficial so I suggest those interested in that election look elsewhere. If you are a die-hard Republican intent on bashing President Carter, this book is not for you, but if you are sincerely interested in knowing more about the Carter administration, then by all means buy it. Carter does try to justify his actions, but what presidential memoir doesn't? This is a great book that some of the other reviewers seem not to have read.

Jimmy Carter's, Keeping Faith, is one of the most intriguing Presidential memoirs. Its story isn't bogged down with boring numbers or percentages, just the facts being told in a fascinating manner. From Carter's description of his administration the reader develops an understanding behind the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Peace Accords, and the Iran hostage affair. It's not difficult to understand why the Presidency is such a stressful job. Carter's memoirs manage to hold the reader's attention from start to finish and that's something worth reading!

Jimmy Carter has received an unfavorable review after his four year presidency. He has been left open to hawkish critics for a number of events that occured during his four year presidency. Afghanistan and Iran left blemishing marks on Carter's record. What we fail to consider is the fact that events in Iran, the greatest concern during his presidency, grew out of regional concerns; the Shah was a menance, unfavorable to the majority of Iran and Carter did not opposed Khominei's Iranian republic. While he may have disliked the idea of losing Iran, a pillar of support in a volatile region of the world, he recognized the new government.

In addition, he did everything possible to get the hostages out of Iran as soon as possible, while maintaining America's elevated moral position and avoid millitary intervention. In retrospect, the hostage crisis was a product of internal Iranian society and politics, not Carter's decisions.

Carter must be viewed as a loyal American, who tried his best to salvage a messy Iranian sitauion, and a president who has miraculously redefined his image in the US after his presidency.

This book provides insight into the man. It is open and it feels human and honest. It is an interesting read particularly for those of us who lived through those years and, unfortunately, felt that he was inadaquate in the job. Now, upon reflection generated by his book, I have to question my world view of the time.

This is a well written book of his presidential years. The man comes off as forthright. It is not entirely a chronological re-telling of those years - some of the events or his major legislation is told within that context - such as the revision to the Panama Canal Treaty and his genuine pursuit for conservation of energy and fuel consumption. He recalls all these logically and elaborates on the pitfalls he encountered. It is amazing how any bill or legislation can get passed in the United States - needing the approval of both the Senate and Congress.

Jimmy Carter describes the ignorance of some Congressman who disparaged the country of Panama when the Treaty was up for approval. The entire country of Panama was following this avidly only to hear some American Congressman publicly ridiculing their country - another example of American self-centredness.

It must always be remembered that Jimmy Carter was the first American President who brought energy conservation and oil consumption in particular, to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. He also conveyed human rights issues. Perhaps this was somewhat naïve, but at least it was a worthy effort. The Reagan years followed - energy conservation was abandoned and lavish spending was encouraged on the military (which Jimmy Carter opposed) and the economy was de-regulated for which we are now paying a horrible price. If one now compares the Carter years with the Reagan ones - Reagan is seen as living entirely in the moment with no concern for the future.

President Carter faced terrible problems during his years in power - the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet incursion stymied his efforts for nuclear de-escalation (the SALT talks). He seems somewhat awkward as to events in Iran prior to the hostage taking - his ambassador Sullivan was informing him that the Ayatollah was being favoured to replace the Shah. President Carter did not seem to be listening and reacting to this very carefully.

From a geo-political point of view it is interesting that after the Shah took power in Iran the Soviet Union invaded their neighbour Afghanistan. Could this be viewed as an attempt by the Soviets to stop the spread of religious fundamentalism on their borders?

Over one hundred pages are devoted to the peace talks with Sadat and Begin. Even after the talks were completed it took several months of follow-thru by the President to ensure "success" - even so, not all the passages of the Treaty were implemented. Maybe on this occasion (and a few others) President Carter put too much of himself into the task. Did he have a problem delegating?

The book is filled with many personal observations on the many personalities he met - Brezhnev, Sadat, Begin, Deng Xiao Ping. It is a delight to read.

Jimmy Carter is like Herbert Hoover in more ways than one. Hoover's memoirs are among the most lucid and insightful that any president has ever written. So are Carter's. Hoover was one of the most intelligent presidents we've ever had. So was Carter. Hoover translated Christian charity into concrete action all his life. So has Carter. But Hoover's presidency was one of the century's worst. Regrettably, so was Carter's.

The Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal Treaties were his only notable successes. These were grievously outweighed by his failures -- double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, the ill-considered "crisis of confidence" speech, the fall of Nicaragua to the Sandinistas, and the fall of Iran to medievalist radicals. On this last point, Carter's refusal to let the Shah come to the US to die was motivated by a desire not to offend the Islamic militants who hated him. (Don't take my word for it; read Carter's own explanation in "Keeping Faith.") For all Carter's moral courage, this episode is one of the most despicable examples of moral cowardice in the history of the presidency.

The message of American weakness was not lost on the rest of the world. Our allies in Europe, doubting America's commitment to them, proposed to base intermediate-range nuclear missiles on their own territory, which led to so much danger in ensuing years. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan. And the Iranians seized the US embassy and held the hostages for 444 days. That they were released at the very moment of Reagan's inauguration was no coincidence.

Carter's book is not very candid. It lays much heavier emphasis on the few successes than on the areas of weakness and failure, and has a flavor of rationalization and self-justification. And his discussion of his meetings with Reagan during the transition after the election of 1980 is bitter and petty.

If he could rewrite his memoirs today, I suspect Carter would do it differently. His life since then has been so exemplary that he no longer needs to worry about history's judgment of his failed presidency. For that judgment will be eclipsed by history's judgment of him as a man.

I try to order carefully only books with DJs and in "Very Good" or better condition. This book is missing the DJ; it's spine is a bit wobbly; the condition is only "Good" at best; and several pages inside the book had heavly dog-eared pages. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in the condition.

I order many books through Amazon, and I believe it's incumbant upon sellers to describe their books accurately. I am nearly always very pleased with the condition of everything I order.

I am building a historical library for my children and grandchildren and I want it to be as good of condition as possible, yet keep within my budget. I will reorder this book from another seller, but needless to say, I will not be ordering from this dealer again.

Just because Carter is no longer the worst president of our lifetime (congratulations Barry), doesn't mean he has gained any credibility or insight from the passing of that torch. I mean, did ANY of his policies work? He used to only be ignorant and naive, now he's ignorant, naive, and senile. Bottom line, if you honestly have enough time on your hands to read "Deep Thoughts with Jimmy Carter" then don't you think that time would be better spent re-ironing your socks or something?