[256], Carter conducted a tour of Cuba in May 2002 that included meeting with Fidel Castro[257] and meeting political dissidents such as the AIDS sanitarium, a medical school, a biotech facility, an agricultural production cooperative, and a school for disabled children. [131], Carter refused to play by Washington's rules.

Carter lost the general election to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in an electoral landslide. China has not wasted a single penny on war and that’s why they’re ahead of us. [194][195] On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. "[352][353] He also praised Trump for reaching out to Saudi Arabia and stated that the President has been under a stricter spotlight than his predecessors. Carter inherited comparatively little due to his father's forgiveness of debts and the division of the estate among the children. But except for the times when a mother's life is in danger or when a pregnancy is caused by rape or incest I would certainly not or never have approved of any abortions. [22] Carter was in favor of racial tolerance and integration—at one point, the local White Citizens' Council boycotted his peanut warehouse when he refused to join them—but he often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. [100], On November 22, 1976, Carter conducted his first visit to Washington after being elected, meeting with Director of the Office of Management James Lynn and United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House, and holding an afternoon meeting with President Ford at the White House. Looking toward a potential presidential run, Carter engaged himself in national politics and public appearances. He previously survived a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015. [111][112] He wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House. [448], Carter and Gerald Ford were compared in exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, which Carter won. [315][316] After Mondale secured the nomination, Carter critiqued the Reagan campaign,[317] spoke at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, and advised Mondale. Carter's grandson Jason Carter is a former Georgia State Senator[429] and in 2014 was the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, losing to the Republican incumbent, Nathan Deal.

In April 2006, Carter, former President Bill Clinton, and Mercer University President Bill Underwood initiated the New Baptist Covenant. Carter was still fairly obscure at the time, and his attempt at triangulation failed; the 1972 Democratic ticket was McGovern and Senator Thomas Eagleton. [58], When Lieutenant William Calley was convicted in a military trial and sentenced to life for his role in the My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam, a politically polarizing issue, Carter avoided paying direct tribute to Calley. Among those who were elected as president, Carter was the first since Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.