A few weeks ago, a New Yorker cover poked fun at our baby-boom politicians with a drawing of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump racing for office, each with a racing-style number on their chest, each leaning forward on a walker. Cartoonist Barry Blitts and the magazine received a bit of criticism for the drawing but at our house it was pinned on the refrigerator for a good long time. What could these leaders be doing if they retired?
First off, they could go home and work at solving home-style problems. The passing of Rosalynn Carter brings the opportunity for productive retirement into bold relief: Since joining Habitat for Humanity in 1984, Habitat and the Carters have been responsible for the building, renovating and repairing 4,390 homes in 14 countries. You may know some of these folks. I do. To say that home ownership has given these families a boost would be a huge understatement. If you are looking for how democracy and capitalism can co-exist, the Carters’ work in retirement makes an excellent example.
But the Carters are rare folks. They started with firm ideals and prepared themselves to put those ideals into action. According to the Habitat website, Jimmy was jogging in New York and came upon a group of workers involved in a Habitat project. With his work life behind him, he liked the Habitat ideas and took the news home to Rosalynn. Considering the power of their voices, the Carters were able to make a difference that most of us cannot, but folks with ideals and direction are always the best leaders.
According to the White House Historical Association website, Rosalynn was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the cusp of the Great Depression. She was the eldest of four children. When she was 13, her father died, and her mother became a dressmaker to help support the family. Rosalynn helped with sewing, housekeeping, and the other children.
Rosalynn completed high school and enrolled in Georgia Southwestern College at Americus. In 1945, after her freshman year, she first dated Jimmy Carter, who was home from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. In 1946 they were married. She was 19 years old.
They started married life with the Navy. When his father died in 1953, the Carters returned to Plains to run the family business. Managing the accounts of the peanut, fertilizer, and seed enterprise, Rosalynn (like many farm wives) was working full-time from home. When Jimmy was elected President, having served as Georgia governor, she attended Cabinet meetings and major briefings.
She focused national attention on the performing arts. She brought major artists to the White House—classical artists from around the world, as well as bluegrass bands, fiddlers and other traditional American artists. She also took a strong interest in programs to bring attention to mental health issues, the community, and the elderly.
And, in retirement, she wielded a hammer for Habitat.
There should be a lot of similar examples but there aren’t. The rarity of folks like the Carters shows how poor our system is at preparing people for lives beyond work. In retirement, a human’s inner life becomes obvious. While work life forces us to suppress our desires for the good of our masters, the freedom of retirement means that we can let loose. In their grasping for office, most politicians reveal that they have nothing to offer except the competitive drive that brought them to politics in the first place. Governing? Advocating for the voiceless? Don’t be ridiculous. Even the act of listening is beyond most of our politicians, deafened by their own voices in the megaphones.
It’s hard to say what Biden, Pelosi, McConnell or Trump could do to help solve problems in the hammer-wielding way of the Carters. Eighty-three-year-old Pelosi could use her voice and her time to work on passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Twenty-four words that could change America and the world.
We can imagine Biden working for veterans’ causes. Plenty to do in that area. According to American Addiction Centers, “In 2020, there were 6,146 veteran suicides, which averages to 16.8 veterans dying by suicide every day. Additionally, in the two decades between 2001 and 2020, the prevalence of mental health or substance use disorder among participants using Veterans Health Administration rose from 27.9% to 41.9%.”
It is hard to imagine McConnell or Trump doing anything more than speaking at fundraisers for Republicans, but maybe they have some beloved causes now hidden by their ambitions to stay in power. Unlike the Carters, they seem to be without any ideals at all. But maybe they have hobbies that could help society. Poodle rescue? Bass fishing? Stand-up comedy?
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, January 1-15, 2024
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