Jimmy Carters Book, Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age - Essay Example

Critical examination of Jimmy Carter's book, Turning Point: A Candi A and a Nation Come of Age (Times Books, 1992) Jimmy Carter was the 39th American president who served in this position for only one time. His regime was in a period when American was facing an energy crisis, there was war in Iran and Afghanistan and the economy was seen to be deteriorating. American was seen to be losing its position as the leading nation in the world with a bleak future. However, despite all these difficulties, the former president Carter was able to reduce unemployment to a great level during this one term and caused considerable economic growth. In this book, the former president Jimmy gives an account of his political ascent into presidency; the reasons that made him seek this position. He gives his tale of the political turmoil and social conflict that existed when he ran his first political campaign. Through his life story, Carter illustrates the source of his commitment to fight for the protection of human rights (Carter, 175). The book was written with one main purpose of showing the readers that political injustice can be reversed. He narrates how he was denied victory by his main rival; Boss Burst, during the primary campaigns. He narrates how he contested Boss’ win in the Supreme Court and after recount he was pronounced winner. The book narrates how he aided uplift the standards of blacks; who were discriminated upon and developed part of the state that had been ignored by previous regimes. In one word, this book wants a reader to know that development and good governance are interlinked. This paper is a review of Jimmy Carter's book, Turning Point: A Candidate, A State, and a Nation Come of Age and gives insight on what the book talks about. In writing the book Turning Point: A Candidate, A State, and a Nation Come of Age Jimmy Carter intended to give the history of how he got into politic and the manner in which he helped straighten out the politics in the south. He wanted people to view politics in his time through his own perception. The book is an autobiography giving details of how Jimmy early life influenced him in politics (Carter, 140). The country system was introduced officially in Georgia State in the 1917 as a way of knowing whether and election candidate had won in the primary elections. The candidate who got the majority votes in a county unit would win. If nobody got a majority, then a runoff election would be conducted. America was divided into 410 county units which were abolished by a court of law in 1963. The system was seen to be wrong because some counties were assigned just two votes and a candidate would win if he had the majority in such a county; even though it took a small portion of the country population. There were several candidates that benefitted from this system. These include Eugene Talmadge who won the primaries of 1946. He won by having 244 county votes while his rival garnered 144 county votes. This system was seen to be unconstitutional as it violated the “one man, one vote rule”. Jimmy Carter was against the county system. He believed that every individual should be treated fairly and gets an equal opportunity. When Jimmy first ran for office as a senator in 1960, the county unit system was in place (Carter, 78). He almost lost this election because of the corruption of Joe Hurst a Quitman county Sherriff who had included votes of dead people in the polls. Carter is courageous and challenges the results of this election in court to get his win. He said that the judiciary is a very important tool in overcoming corruption in the society. The case turned the politics of the US completely, the political heavyweight who used to go against the voters’ will were exposed by this petition. The scrutiny revealed how the register was marked in alphabetical order; even the dead voters had their names marked. The case opened Carter’s eye to help the marginalized and fight corruption. The book clearly illustrates the level of corruption in Georgia in the 1960s. The book shows evidence of voter buying and lack of enough civic education, some voters as some voters gave testimonies in court that they were asked to scratch out Carter’s name form the list. Carter’s push shows that he was ready to face powerful people, this is proofed by the path he followed by using the law to solve the dispute. The call for a recount reveals carter as one of the people who is ready to fight for the right of anyone as long as fairness and justice are to be achieved, it should be said that by then he was just a naive farmer vying for the senate seat. Hence placed him as a leader who stands for the right and defends the weak no matter how powerful the opposition is at the time. The book also talks on how Carter promises to tackle the issue of racism head on to make Georgia the new southern ideal (Carter 152). At the end he manages to eliminate national corruption and creates an avenue for the minority to be recognized during his reign. In the senate, Carter was elected by fellow members as the best among freshmen in that house. He loved to keep his profile low even though he was performing so well during his tenure. The book states how he asked America to withdraw from Olympic Games so as to force the Soviet to withdraw form Afghan. There are three main reasons why Carter decided to run for the office of the president. One is his concern for equality and fair treatment of individuals. He believed that all people should get equal opportunities in all segments of live including the political arena. He was very firm in fighting social inequalities and all form of discriminations in the society. He was also very keen in eroding all forms of segregation based on race that was common in American with the minority being segregated from the whites who were the majority. He believed that all American citizens were equal and should be treated that way. Another reason that he ran for office was to eradicate poverty. He supports the improvement of urban life and enhances the standard of live of people in the slums. He also aimed at reducing American dependency on foreign source of energy. He supported the replacement of oil with alternative forms of energy and deregulating the local oil prices. However, his efforts were thwarted by the creation of the price cartel by OPEC which made the oil prices to escalate causing massive inflation and considerable economic recession. Carter’s family supported him all the way during his campaigns. Although his father had died earlier of cancer, Jimmy acknowledges that he was his main source of inspiration as he went through various life’s challenges (Carter, 154). His mother and wife Roselyn were very supportive and stood by him during the campaigns. Carter campaign was a turning point for him Georgia and the nation as he was bringing about a revolution of how politics were conducted. Carter writes how corruption and racial discrimination, more-so in the South, where the black people only mattered during voting but they were not given leadership chances. His hand in helping the blacks started way earlier when he aided them to register as voter. He did this knowing that corruption, favors and the views by political heavyweight that urban votes mattered as opposed to South votes. He led by example in ensuring that the corruption was eroded and advocated for leadership led by good morals (Carter, 254). If I was part of the electorate during Carter’s time, I would definitely give him my vote as he fought for the rights of the minority. Reading the book, one understands that it takes one courageous step to eliminate societal discriminations and corruption. The author is convincing and he precisely brings out the leadership qualities of a true leader who wants to see his people have a comfortable life in their own state and nation. This book thus not only gives us insight into the politics at the time Carter was running for office, but it also gives enlightenment on the nature of the social structure and economic situation around this time. Although president carter’s reign was faced with many economic problems, he managed to reduce unemployment and caused notable changes in the political systems. It clearly shows how a leader who has a precise vision to help the marginalized people can fight societal evils. Carter fight corruption, racism and invasion by developed nations in nations they have disagreed with in issues that can be solved through negotiations. He believes that educating the people is the only way to reduce discrimination, more-so among the blacks. He creates department of education to take care of education. This way, he empowers the marginalized communities at the end they are respected by others. This is a book one who has an aspiration of becoming a leader should read, so as to develop the courage needed to push him achieve his leadership goals and objectives. A leader does not need to stay in power for decades to ensure change, but one needs to make use of the short time in power. Work Cited Carter, J. (1993). Turning point: A candidate, a state, and a nation come of age. New York: Three Rivers Press. Read More