Jimmy Carter in the memories of a young Polish woman

Jimmy Carter we wspomnieniach młodej Polki
Jimmy Carter we wspomnieniach młodej Polki

Jimmy Carter in the memories of a young Polish woman

Dr Mira Modelska-Creech

Perhaps at the outset, I will allow myself to cite the most important facts from the life of perhaps the most human President of the United States. These sentimental reminiscences were triggered by shocking news. On December 29, 2024, in the afternoon, at his home in Plains, Georgia, the 39th President of the United States passed away. His presidency lasted from 1977 to 1981. At the time of his death, he was a symbolic 100 years old. He was born on October 1, 1924.

He was considered one of the most influential politicians in America, and at the same time, one of the most humane and decent people, which is a great rarity for politicians. Before winning the presidential election in 1977, he previously held the following offices: Senator from the State of Georgia, and afterward, he was Governor of that state.

He devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights in a biblical sense, not a leftist one. His dedication and humility were an inspiration to many idealistic social, political, and military leaders. He never linked public office with any material gain. In my opinion, he is the greatest idealist and a person of great political stature. As the popular expression goes, “they don’t make them like that anymore” and maybe that’s why it’s worth refreshing this Christian simplicity and commitment to the social good of his nation.

He lived his entire life with one woman, his wife Rosalynn née Smith Carter. The couple had four children: 3 boys and a daughter, Amy. Amy was a child residing in the White House and became famous for going to a Public School, i.e. a regular, state school.

Rosallyn died a year earlier, in 2023. During his wife’s funeral, Carter said: she was a wonderful wife who not only loved me all her life, was a wonderful wife and mother, but was also an equal partner to me in all life’s challenges. This could not be said more beautifully.

While we are on the subject of family relationships, it is also worth mentioning that he had a wonderful relationship with his mother, Lillian, who not only raised his children but also ran the family farm until the end of her days after her husband’s death. First, she was a farmer’s wife, and later she became a farmer herself. In a way, in my opinion, it was a modern Holy Family. Maybe that is why God gave him such a long life. He was the longest-living President of the United States. 100 years.

The oldest son said the following about his father: “My father was a hero to those who believed in peace, all over the world and fought for it, to those who believed in human rights, to all people, regardless of race, class, creed, nationality. He was also a hero to those who believed in altruistic love. That is why he organized so many charitable events around the world.”

In 1999, President Carter and Rosalynn were awarded the Medal of Freedom.

In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize from the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

Carter’s presidency was marked not only by successes but also by great difficulties: above all, his government had to deal with inflation, high interest rates, rising unemployment, and the so-called “Iran crisis”.

This occurred when, after the overthrow of the Shah (who had very good relations with the United States), the Iranian militia kidnapped 52 American diplomats from the US Embassy in Tehran. Paradoxically, the 52 prisoners were released on the day Carter left office as President.

Carter’s great successes include his efforts to stabilize peace in the Middle East, ultimately culminating in the Camp David Agreement of 1978. This was a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. Then, President Carter settled the issue of the Panama Canal in 1977, maintaining its neutrality, with a legal document, the Panama Canal Treaties.

In 1999, the Canal returned to American-Panamanian control. As we know, today President-elect Trump seems to be referring again to the vetting of the 1999 agreement.

It was President Carter who initiated the establishment of diplomatic relations with the government of the People’s Republic of China. In 1979, the SALT II document was signed with the Soviet Union, on the limitation of production of strategic nuclear weapons which the United States was very proud of. Humanity around the world, then and now, is struggling with the threat of nuclear war. However, back then a very valuable document was signed. It is also a very important achievement of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

These were probably some of the most important achievements of President Carter during his administration. President Joe Biden established January 9 as a Day of National Mourning. My thoughts and prayers are with the Family and the American People at this moment.

1977 was the year of Jimmy Carter’s inauguration as President and at the same time the year of his trip to Poland.

At this point I see a certain historical analogy, namely, what Paderewski was for Woodrow Wilson, that is, a teacher of international politics, with particular emphasis on the self-determination of nations, with Poland at the forefront.

During Carter’s presidency, Zbigniew Brzeziński was the great teacher of the President in a much more complex world, when it was precisely the self-determining nations that could not come to an understanding, for example Israel and Egypt, or Iran and the United States, but it was Brzeziński who negotiated the American-Chinese agreement, and later the American-Soviet agreement on disarmament. Carter made the final decisions, but it was Brzeziński who prepared them.

Unfortunately, at the moment we are suffering from a drought of world-class talents, caused by many factors. First of all, the interruption of the continuity of the intelligentsia chain, as a result of the occupation of Nazi Germany and Bolshevik Russia, and recently the leftist, anarchic dictatorship of the European Union.
That is why I return with great pleasure to the wonderful visit of President Carter to Poland in 1977, 47 years ago.

The first foreign trip of the President of the United States to a country that was, as it was then referred to in the West, communist. Although in reality, a significant part of the society was still “pre-war”.

Jimmy Carter in the memories of a young Polish woman

Now I will move on to personal memories.

At the Polish Consulate, while waiting for a visa to Poland for my American husband, I meet NBC producer Bob Asman. NBC got the so-called Pool, that is, the right to report on the President’s travels. They will need an interpreter for the media. As a result of several meetings, I receive this position.

In Warsaw, the NBC Press Office installed itself in the Victoria Hotel. From the windows of my office, I watched President Carter lay a beautiful wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I still have a lot of memories, but another important event was arranging President Carter’s visit to First Secretary Gierek. When the open, very religious Carter asked Gierek if he was a believer, he replied that he could not be, because he was a communist, but that his mother was very religious. It is known that the son of a very religious mother most likely believes but in secret. I did not arrange this meeting, but apparently, Carter met with Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. However, I did arrange an interview between John Chansellor and Gierek. In the Press Office, which I was in charge of, American journalists were whispering that in their opinion Poles were very Westernized.

After returning to the United States, President Carter invited all those who had worked in various positions during his trip to Poland to the White House, for a reception that was, for me, stunning. In the East Room, on the piano resting on American eagles, Artur Rubinstein himself played. Vice President Walter Mandale was so delighted with his playing that he even blushed. I, on the other hand, did everything I could to position myself as close as possible to the famous Presidential National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Some diplomats asked me to translate, but in the end there was no need for that. What did I observe? His brain worked 10 times faster than his interlocutors. He was a brilliant man.

Eventually, I got in touch with Rosalynn Carter’s Press Secretary, Barbara Taylor-Haineback. She was an Afro-American from Georgia, and her husband was a Swede, the then Speaker of the House from Sweden. Our friendship lasted a long time until she left for California.

Philosophers say that there are moments in life that you never forget. And although 47 years have passed since President Carter’s trip to Poland, in my heart, and in my memory this experience is still alive and beautiful.

Hail to his Memory!

Translation into English by Jan Creech

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