Remarks at the
Dedication Ceremony for the Carter Presidential Center in
President
Reagan. President and Mrs. Carter, reverend clergy, Governor, Mr. Mayor, the
distinguished guests here, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that I
often get invited to library dedications. There aren't that many people still
around who knew Andrew Carnegie personally. [Laughter] But President Carter and
Mrs. Carter, it is indeed an honor for Nancy and me to be here. None of us
today need feel any urge, in the name of good will, to downplay our
differences. On the contrary, in a certain sense we can be proud of our
differences, because they arise from good will itself -- from love of country;
for concern for the challenges of our time; from respect for, and yes, even
outright enjoyment of, the democratic processes of disagreement and debate.
Indeed, from the time of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, frank debate
has been a part of the tradition of this Republic. Today our very differences
attest to the greatness of our nation. For I can think of no other country on
Earth where two political leaders could disagree so widely yet come together in
mutual respect. To paraphrase Mr. Jefferson: We are all Democrats,
we are all Republicans, because we are all Americans.
Now,
it occurs to me after the tour that Nancy and I just completed that in
dedicating the Carter Presidential Center we have set ourselves no easy task.
To name just a few of the Center's aspects, there are facilities for
organizations that will address President Carter's special concerns, such as
human rights, and some 27 million documents that scholars will be poring over
for decades to come. Of course, the Carter Presidential Center will mean
something different for each of the millions who will visit it and benefit from
it each year. But going through the Jimmy Carter Library just now and admiring
the many photographs and films, it struck me that perhaps the central gift that
this Center will give to the Nation is a story -- a story of one man's life, a
story that is distinctively American.
In
one of its aspects, the story of President Carter is the story of the family in
which he grew up. Jimmy Carter's father taught him the virtues of hard work and
self-discipline: From the time he was 6, he knew that when the farm bell rang
James Earl, Sr., expected to see him out of bed and going to work with
everybody else.
President
Carter. Amen. [Laughter]
President
Reagan. He and his sisters and brother -- Gloria, Ruth, and Billy -- gave each
other strength and support; Ruth especially providing counsel through all the
long years, all the joys and disappointments, until her death in 1983. He
misses her still, as do all who knew her. And then there was Miss Lillian --
exuberant Miss Lillian, Miss Lillian who went to work for the Peace Corps in
In
another of its important aspects, the story of President Carter is a story of
the South. For when Jimmy Carter was born on this date in 1924, many
southerners knew only poverty, and millions lived lives that were separate and
unequal because of the color of their skin. There's a photograph inside the
Library that sets the scene: A little boy is drinking from a fountain. He is
black. He's drinking from that particular fountain because on a tree next to
the fountain there's a sign that reads ``Colored.'' Well, the world has changed
now. It has changed because men and women like Jimmy Carter stood up in church
to protest the exclusion of black people from worship, and it has changed
because Jimmy Carter spoke those words in his inauguration address as Governor
of Georgia: ``I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination
is over. . . No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever again have to
bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity for an
education, a job, or simple justice.''
That
old world has been replaced by a new South, a South that combines the best
regional traditions of pride and hospitality with a new sense of openness and
opportunity for all. For at the same time they were combating discrimination,
southerners like Jimmy Carter were hard at work -- applying new techniques to
farming, opening new businesses, and encouraging new industry. And in so doing,
they were expanding economic opportunity and raising levels of education at
historic rates. One need only look at Atlanta -- bustling, prosperous Atlanta
-- to see that the South has truly risen again, transformed, self-confident,
moving vigorously on to still greater justice and opportunity. So, in
dedicating this Center today, I want to express what all of us feel today in
this beautiful
Yes,
yours is a powerful story of family and region. Yet for all that, Mr.
President, I cannot help thinking that, in perhaps its most important regard, yours
is a story of dedication to so many of the fundamental values that made our
nation flourish and grow great. Certainly the value of hard work is apparent
throughout your life. There were those early days of manual labor on the family
farm; then came the years in the Navy, working for a man never known for being
an easy taskmaster, Captain, later Admiral, Hyman Rickover.
Jimmy Carter distinguished himself under Captain Rickover
for his application to duty, for using his gifts -- in particular, his superb
intelligence -- to the utmost. He would likewise distinguish himself when he
returned to the family farm and expanded it, again in his early political life
as State senator and Governor, and perhaps most dramatically in those 2
grueling years during which he made political history, going from ``Jimmy
Who?,'' to use the cartoonists' phrase, to 39th President of the United States.
Beyond
hard work, there are the values of perseverance, loyalty, and family. I've
already mentioned the family in which President Carter grew up, but of course I
must mention the family he and Rosalynn raised. And
as a grandfather myself, I can't resist pointing out that the Carters' four
children have been joined by four grandchildren. And then there's perhaps the
most basic value of all: the value of faith -- faith that endures, faith that
gives strength and consolation and joy. President Carter is above all a man of
faith; time and again throughout his life, at moments great and small,
President Carter has turned to prayer. When he learned that President Kennedy
had been assassinated, Jimmy Carter knelt outside the farm warehouse in prayer.
When he became President himself, it was prayer that sustained him. He knew
that -- well, he knew what I have learned myself --
that, as
Well,
I must thank you once again, Mr. President, for inviting us to be here today.
It's been a high honor indeed. I'm afraid we won't be able to linger after the
program is concluded. Congress is still in session, and, as you know, somebody
has to keep an eye on them. [Laughter] So, I wonder whether I might close now
with a few personal words -- words, if you will, from one President to another.
Mr. President, you and Rosalynn know that the White
House is a place that resonates with history, with memories. And as you know,
Mr. President, these White House images, these memories, provide hope and
inspiration to anyone who lives there. They remind him that he has examples of
greatness to live up to, and they let him know that whatever challenges he
faces others have faced challenges like them.
And
I must tell you, Mr. President, that your countrymen have vivid memories of
your time in the White House still. They see you working in the Oval Office at
your desk with an air of intense concentration, repairing to a quiet place to
receive the latest word on the hostages you did so much to free, or studying in
your hideaway office for the meeting at
And
there's only one thing left to say. From the 40th President to the 39th, happy
birthday! And, Mr. President, if I could give you one word of advice: Life
begins at 70. [Laughter] Thank you all. God bless you all.
Note:
The President spoke at