Alvernia professor praises Carter’s legacy, moral credibility, humanitarian efforts | Reading-area

READING, Pa. — The United States is mourning the loss of its 39th president. Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president, died Sunday at the age of 100.

Tim Blessing, a professor of history at Alvernia University in Reading, said Carter leaves behind an enormous legacy.

“When he took over the presidency, we were in the throes of Watergate and we had just lost in Vietnam, and so the country was in a terrible mood,” said Blessing.

And he said when the former peanut farmer, businessman, and Navy officer was elected in 1976, credibility of the office of the president was at almost zero.

“And Carter, who was a decent, humane man, not a weak man, but a decent, humane man, managed to assure at least some of the moral credibility of that office,” said Blessing.

Blessing said the first major action President Carter did was to pardon those who dodged the Vietnam draft.

“He’s going to be remembered, of course, for the Camp David Accords, which were worked out over 13, 14, 15 days, in which he managed to get the Egyptians and the Israelis to agree to a basic set of principles to resume talking to each other,” said Blessing.

Carter made stops in our area, including at Lafayette College in Easton in 2013 and at Moravian University in Bethlehem in 1990. He also spoke at Albright College in Reading in 1976, discussing religion, jobs and a vision for the country.

The former president founded The Carter Center.

“He was able to organize people to go out, put in money, put their money where their mouth was and eradicate diseases,” said Blessing.

Carter was in hospice care for nearly two years.

“I don’t think any president ever entered the office with better intentions than Jimmy Carter,” said Blessing.

Carter, who was a longtime supporter of Habitat for Humanity, also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Photos: Former President Jimmy Carter through the years