Jimmy Carter's 1980 State of the Union Offered Moral Guidance

James "Jimmy" Carter

As we celebrate today a National Day of Mourning for the late President Jimmy Carter, let us revisit key wisdom from his final State of the Union Address, delivered in the United States Capitol on January 23, 1980. Carter reminded all of us that the United States of America is, and should be, the world’s center of just government. Yet, he stated, we can meet our problems only by determined effort, not simplistic slogans. Carter, never an eloquent speaker, was often a wise one. In this speech, Carter offered the nation an eternal message.

Since the United States seems to have forgotten Carter’s simple lessons, let us remind ourselves that, as Carter said, the right way is always the best way, while we should never trust the easy way. In politics as in life, there are no shortcuts.

Carter offered those key points as he neared his conclusion:

“We will never abandon our struggle for a just and a decent society here at home. That’s the heart of America -- and it's the source of our ability to inspire other people to defend their own rights abroad.”

In his typically preachy language, Carter implied that having a “just and decent” society never comes easily. Yes, the founders of our great Republic created the world’s first modern representative government. Each generation, however, must continue the fight: never abandon our struggle. Carter continued:

“Our material resources, great as they are, are limited. Our problems are too complex for simple slogans or for quick solutions. We cannot solve them without effort and sacrifice.”

That is as true today as it was then. That point is, unfortunately, even less popular than it was in 1980. Now, as then, people pursue easy but chimerical solutions that lead them blindly on an unchanging course of failure.

Sadly, today, public figures who should know better scream that the solution to climate change is to rake our forests, or insist that we can hide in isolation from other nations’ struggles. In contrast, Carter remarked that, although we cannot do everything, we also must eschew easy answers. We must instead know that only “effort and sacrifice” can resolve our concerns. We must seize our greatness, not by force, but by justice and dedication.

Carter was sometimes criticized as a Preacher-In-Chief. Maybe so. But we needed to hear what he said. We still do.

Good luck to us all. Heaven preserve the United States of America as a land of justice, freedom, and equality.

Happy New Year!

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by William D. Harpine  

Copyright © 2024 by William D. Harpine

Image: Official Presidential Photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons