His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life

Jonathan Alter's biography traces Jimmy Carter's life from his childhood in rural Georgia during the Jim Crow era to his presidency and decades of humanitarian work. Carter grew up without electricity or running water, raised partly by a Black farmhand, and later became a naval nuclear engineer, peanut farmer, and governor before his 1976 presidential campaign. Alter examines Carter's presidency in the 1970s, including his failures during economic hardship and the Iran hostage crisis, alongside his achievements: brokering peace between Israel and Egypt, establishing an environmental record, advancing human rights globally, normalizing relations with China, and expanding government diversity. The biography also covers Carter's post-presidency work eradicating diseases, building homes for the poor, and teaching Sunday school into his nineties. Alter portrays Carter as a complex figure of faith and moral conviction—intelligent, intense, and witty—whose commitment to truth and racial justice shaped his political career and humanitarian legacy. The book examines how Carter's early silence during the civil rights movement influenced his later pursuit of justice at home and abroad.