Michelle Martin

When we come back, a look at Jimmy Carter's life after the presidency, a life many say made him the nation's greatest former president.

I'm Rachel Martin, and you're listening to a special edition of Up First. So a year after leaving the White House, now former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, founded the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is devoted to issues relating to democracy and human rights.

I'm Rachel Martin, and you're listening to a special edition of Up First. So a year after leaving the White House, now former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, founded the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is devoted to issues relating to democracy and human rights.

I'm Rachel Martin, and you're listening to a special edition of Up First. So a year after leaving the White House, now former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, founded the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is devoted to issues relating to democracy and human rights.

And Dawn, it really did launch Carter's career as a sort of roving peacemaker.

And Dawn, it really did launch Carter's career as a sort of roving peacemaker.

And Dawn, it really did launch Carter's career as a sort of roving peacemaker.

And so much of that work, their work on democracy and human rights, had a lot to do with their Christian faith. I mean, Jimmy Carter was a deeply religious man until very late in his life. I love this detail. He was still teaching Sunday school at his church in Georgia, and people would sign up like on a waiting list.

And so much of that work, their work on democracy and human rights, had a lot to do with their Christian faith. I mean, Jimmy Carter was a deeply religious man until very late in his life. I love this detail. He was still teaching Sunday school at his church in Georgia, and people would sign up like on a waiting list.

And so much of that work, their work on democracy and human rights, had a lot to do with their Christian faith. I mean, Jimmy Carter was a deeply religious man until very late in his life. I love this detail. He was still teaching Sunday school at his church in Georgia, and people would sign up like on a waiting list.

And, Don, I just have to share with you that I had the opportunity to talk to President Carter in 2014. I interviewed him for a book that he had just written. It was called A Call to Action, Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. And we talked about his faith. And he argued in this book that religious texts often are used to justify the oppression of women. Let's listen.

And, Don, I just have to share with you that I had the opportunity to talk to President Carter in 2014. I interviewed him for a book that he had just written. It was called A Call to Action, Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. And we talked about his faith. And he argued in this book that religious texts often are used to justify the oppression of women. Let's listen.

And, Don, I just have to share with you that I had the opportunity to talk to President Carter in 2014. I interviewed him for a book that he had just written. It was called A Call to Action, Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. And we talked about his faith. And he argued in this book that religious texts often are used to justify the oppression of women. Let's listen.

I guess we could just go on and on with what he accomplished in his post-presidential life. I mean, this is a man who tackled guinea worm.

I guess we could just go on and on with what he accomplished in his post-presidential life. I mean, this is a man who tackled guinea worm.

I guess we could just go on and on with what he accomplished in his post-presidential life. I mean, this is a man who tackled guinea worm.

So, I mean, Carter's presidency may have been complicated and seen as less than successful in those four years. But, I mean, he got all kinds of international acclaim for his life after the presidency. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

So, I mean, Carter's presidency may have been complicated and seen as less than successful in those four years. But, I mean, he got all kinds of international acclaim for his life after the presidency. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

So, I mean, Carter's presidency may have been complicated and seen as less than successful in those four years. But, I mean, he got all kinds of international acclaim for his life after the presidency. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

And I wanted to play a little bit of his acceptance speech, which he gave in Oslo in December of that year, because it really does sum up who he was not just as a leader, but as a human being.