Turning Point; A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age

25 c. xxv, [1], 223, [7] pages. Illustrations. Appendix. Index. Signed by the author, Jimmy Carter, on the title page. James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former farmer who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Since leaving the presidency, Carter has remained active in the private sector; in 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center. In 1982, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights. He has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations. Carter is considered a key figure in the Habitat for Humanity charity. He has written over 30 books ranging from political memoirs to poetry while continuing to actively comment on ongoing American and global affairs, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The earliest-serving of the five living U.S. presidents, Carter is the longest-lived president, the longest-retired president, the first to live forty years after their inauguration, and the first to reach the age of 95. Turning Point is President Carter's story of how he first sought public office in 1962, and how the social and political conflicts in the South during that era shaped his vision of how people of good faith can join forces to right the wrongs of our society. In re-creating his own experiences amid the volatile atmosphere of that time, Carter paints a vivid portrait of America poised on the verge of political and social change that nearly tore it apart--an image that applies just as aptly to our nation today. Derived from a Kirkus review: The Man from Plains continues his admirable post-White House literary career with a blow-by-blow account of his first run for office, in 1962. As a wet-eared newcomer, Carter pits his goodwill and little else against the corrupt local Democratic machine. Carter, a 38-year-old peanut farmer and liberal integrationist, doesn't know what he's up against when he makes a bid for the Georgia state senate against an incumbent controlled by good-ole-boy segregationist Joe Hurst. But the "Coons and Carters Go Together" signs should have tipped Carter off: 1962 is the year of the Supreme Court's bombshell one-man, one-vote decision, and the whites-only crowd-which controls every important political office in the state-doesn't cotton to new southerners-like Carter-who refuse to join the neighborhood White Citizens Council. After a glance at his family history-his father was a segregationist but his mother, the beloved Miss Lillian, befriended blacks-Carter plunges into memories of the primary campaign, a two-week affair that culminates in a blatantly rigged election. Boss Hurst bullies voters in the booth and tears up ballots he doesn't like. What's more, it seems that the good citizens voted in alphabetical order, and that the local graveyard contributed its share of ballots. An outraged Carter challenges, but the party machine ignores his complaints. Then a crusading reporter and a wily attorney get on the case, the results are reversed, Carter wins the nomination and the general election, and heads for the White House. Justice triumphs most satisfyingly here, with enough cliffhangers to keep readers glued. Carter tacks on an appendix describing the Atlanta Project, his ambitious program to help the urban poor.…