Rosalynn and Jimmy

I received my annual Christmas Card from Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter the other day, and put it on my desk at home, right under the portrait of George Washington.

Yes, I know that the Carters send these Christmas cards out by the thousands, to all who donate to the Carter Center's work with tropical diseases and the monitoring of elections, and perhaps to Habitat supporters as well. But it is still a treat to hear from them every December. The card is always a print of one of Jimmy's oil paintings; this year, a dove on a blue background. He is not a great artist; this is just a hobby for him, and it gives their Christmas greeting a homespun touch.

The current president has embraced the social media: Facebook, Twitter. He doubtless has many thousands of "friends." Rosalynn and Jimmy are from another generation; they send Christmas cards. And thank-you notes: after my mother died, I sent a part of my inheritance to the Carter Center in her honor, a check that was for me a substantial sum, for my mother respected him every bit as much as I do. In due time, I received a short handwritten thank-you note from Jimmy Carter. I do not think that this was something a secretary did for him; I think that he took the time himself to write it.

He is a Good Man.

Some would say that he was not a good president; I would say that he was perhaps the last good president (as is morally good, not necessarily "good" in the sense of "successful") that we will have in this country. He was elected in the wave of revulsion over the moral bankruptcy of Richard Nixon, and times have changed; someone like Carter could never be elected now.

I send Rosalynn and Jimmy my heartfelt good wishes for a blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. May God's blessings be with them.