Deceased President Jimmy Carter feuded with multiple presidents after he left office, including former President Bill Clinton.
Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States and advocated for a “competent and compassionate” government, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 100.
Over the course of his lifetime, Carter had a difficult relationship with the multiple presidents that followed his administration, including one incident with former President Bill Clinton when he celebrated a diplomatic achievement on CNN before first meeting with Clinton to share the news.
“Three months later, Mr. Clinton sent Mr. Carter to Haiti along with two other emissaries who together forced a military junta to surrender power and accept American troops,” according to The New York Times. “But once again, when Mr. Carter returned to Washington he went on CNN before meeting Mr. Clinton for breakfast and a planned joint news conference. Mr. Clinton was furious and shouted. Mr. Carter shouted back.”
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100
Carter also once criticized Clinton for sending his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, to Sidwell Friends School, a private school that former President Obama’s children also attended.
Carter also came into conflict with President George W. Bush over the Iraq War and with his father, George H.W. Bush, over the United Nations authorization of force for the U.S. military in the Gulf War.
“As he has aged, he was not constrained by political considerations,” Carter’s White House Chief of Staff, Jack Watson, told The Times. “Carter has spoken with a frankness that has not always endeared him to others. But he calls it as he sees it.”
LIVING US PRESIDENTS REACT TO DEATH OF FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER
However, Carter’s longest-running and deepest dislike for a fellow member of the president’s club was his one-time rival, former President Ronald Reagan.
After Reagan defeated Carter in the 1980 presidential election, Carter held a grudge against Reagan for never inviting him to a state dinner at the White House, per the Times. Carter also bonded with former President Ford over their shared dislike for Reagan.
“It was no secret that Carter was not a member in good standing of the ex-presidents’ club, in part because he never accepted their code,” author Jonathan Alter wrote in his book, “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life.”
“Most of them recognized that Mr. Carter could be useful in the right circumstances, Alter wrote. “The challenge for them was managing their high-maintenance predecessor.”
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