What would you like to be remembered for?

Originally asked

Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions

A recurring legacy prompt in Vogue's 73 Questions, appearing with only minor wording changes.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Jimmy Carter said elsewhere, not written here
Well, the best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn. That's the pinnacle of my life. And we've had 69 years together. Still together. And so that's the best thing that happened to me. But I think getting involved in politics and going up, you know, as a state senator, then governor, and then president of the United States is, obviously a glorious event. So - and we have a growing family. We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren now and they're coming every year. So - so we have a good, harmonious family.

News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗

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Kathy Lette Australian-British author
As a writer who championed women with grit and wit.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2024 source ↗

More from Jimmy Carter

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Question Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them? Relationships
My mother in that way I’ve described. My daddy taught me how much a man could do in dealing directly with a multiplicity of responsibilities. Outside my family, the main person, outside of my father, the main man who has had an influence on my life is Admiral Hyman Rickover. I was one of the two young officers in the program to build atomic submarines. There were two built: the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf. I was in charge of the crew that was helping to build the Sea Wolf and building the nuclear power plant that later became a prototype. Rickover was a man who demanded absolute excellence and total dedication from all those who worked under him. He demanded as much from himself. And so he set a standard of commitment and perfection in life that I had never experienced before. He really had a great impact on my life.

Recorded Academy of Achievement interview source ↗

Question Which book changed the way you think, and what did it change? Taste & recommendation
When I was a young boy, [my schoolteacher Julia Coleman] introduced me to Leo Tolstoy's novel, "War and Peace." She interpreted that powerful narrative as a reminder that the simple human attributes of goodness and truth can overcome great power. She also taught us that an individual is not swept along on a tide of inevitability but can influence even the greatest human events.

Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 10 December 2002 source ↗

Question Are you afraid of death? Death & what remains
At first I - I felt that it was confined to my liver and that they had - the operation had completely removed it. And so I felt quite relieved. And then that same afternoon we had an MRI of my head and neck and it showed up that it was already in four places in my brain. So I would say that night and the next day, until I came back up to Emory, I just thought I had a few weeks left. But I was surprisingly at ease. You know, I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends and I've had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence. So I was surprisingly at ease, much more so than my wife was.

Recorded News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗

Question What are you still hoping to finish? Death & what remains
As far as the Carter Center's concerned, I would like to see guinea worm completely eradicated before -- before I die. I'd like for the last guinea worm to die before I do. ... I think right now, we have 11 cases. We started out with 3.6 million cases. And I think we have two cases in South Sudan and one case in Ethiopia and one case in Mali and seven cases in Chad. That's all the guinea worms in the world, and we know where all of them are. So obviously, that would be my top priority.

Recorded Maria Saporta, News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗

Question If you could edit your past, what would you change? Failure & regret
I wish I sent one more helicopter to get the hostages and we would have rescued then and I - I would have been re-elected, but that may have - and that may have interfered with the foundation of the Carter Center. And if I had to choose between four more years and the Carter Center, I think I would choose the Carter Center.

Recorded News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗

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