The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House - Softcover

Brinkley, Douglas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140276165 ISBN 13: 9780140276169

Publisher: Penguin Group USA, 1999

Synopsis

Reveals the range of activities in which former president Jimmy Carter has been involved since leaving office in 1980, his enormous influence in world politics, and his complex relationship with Fidel Castro and other world leaders. Reprint.

About this title

Review

Jimmy Carter isn't the first American president to become more popular after leaving the Oval Office than when he served in it; even Richard Nixon managed a semi-rehabilitation in the post-Watergate years. Yet perhaps no ex-president has reversed his fortunes so completely as Carter, whose approval rating has done nothing but improve since he lost his 1980 reelection bid. Many Americans admire Carter for his work building homes in the United States with the group Habitat for Humanity, but the 39th president is known and respected throughout the world for attempting to negotiate peace in trouble spots such as Haiti, North Korea, and the Middle East. "Carter," writes Douglas Brinkley, "has become a true citizen of the world." Noteworthy sections of this unauthorized biography (which benefits from lengthy interviews with its subject) include the story of how Carter worked relentlessly to undermine President Bush in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, as well as Carter's difficult relations with President Clinton. Also, Brinkley appreciates, and treats seriously, Carter's religious faith in a way many previous analysts have not. An excellent portrait of a complicated man. --John J. Miller

From AudioFile

Narrator Edward Lewis has terrific diction, excellent pacing and good technical skills. His voice, though, is monotonous and, as Dorothy Parker might have said, spans the vocal range from A to B. In small doses, Lewis comes off as informative and authoritative. Listening for an extended period of time is difficult because his voice begins to sound robotic. This is a shame because he has great material. Author Brinkley's solid, detailed book about Jimmy Carter's post-White House years yearns for more power and emotion than Lewis can give. The book is worth a listen, but it cries out for more narrative depth. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Group USA
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140276165
• ISBN 13: 9780140276169
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 587