1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 75

 

 
  On the same day that President Jimmy Carter pledges support for a Palestinian state, Lebanese Druze leader (a Lebanese religious sect) and PLO supporter Kamal Jumblatt is assassinated. 
     
      This may not seem like such a big deal, but at the time, Lebanon was already 2 years into a bloody civil war. A war that would last until 1990! Jumblatt was the leader of the opposition to the war. His Progressive Socialist Party, with it's ties to the backings of the Soviet Union and Syria, was actually winning the conflict, occupying over 70% of the nation. However, his assassination put a damper on the PSP's progress. 

     Many historians believe that had Kamal Jumblatt lived, the Lebanese Civil War might had ended before the 80s began.

      It's an odd coincidence that I came across this information. Regular readers of my blog know that I am a professional chef. I currently work for a Lebanese gentlemen as one of his chef managers and it was just the other day that he actually mentioned some of the horrors that had occurred in his beloved nation of Lebanon. Which is a first, as he never gets personal.

    I remember as a child when my parents would watch the nightly news, the reporters would always talk of fighting in Beirut. But I had no idea that Lebanon was undergoing such a trauma and for so long. The things children will hear but never put two-and-two together. Oddly, as a history major, I don't ever remember learning about the civil war in Lebanon either. I really am getting an education doing this project on my birth year. 

    Well, that's all the time I have for today's journey through my birth year. Until tomorrow...

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 66

  Today marks the first meeting between President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Though Rabin would be out of office before the end of the year, this historic 2-day meeting is what got the wheels rolling for a peace accord between the State of Israel and Egypt a couple of years later.

Different Room, Different Photo Op,
Same pose by Carter.

    Carter's peace plan between Israel and Egypt marked the first time in history that an Arabic nation acknowledged the Jewish state as a sovereign nation. This was big stuff as less than a decade prior to Carter's meeting with Rabin, Israel defended itself from Egypt and several other Arab nations in the Six-Day War, a skirmish that sought to wipe Israel off the map.

    As you know from reading this blog, I have a deep love for the Jewish people. My wife is Jewish and my five children (God rest their souls) are a quarter Jewish as a result. But there's another reason for my highlighting of this meeting and it has everything to do with Yitzhak Rabin.

The two heads of state and their wives.

    Rabin once again becomes Prime Minister in 1992 where he continues to serve until November 5, 1995. On that date, Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing extremist gunman who opposed Rabin's signing of the Oslo Accords, a peace process aimed at Israel recognizing and normalizing relations with the Palestinians. 

     Going to a Christian private school, let me tell you when word of Rabin's murder got out, everyone freaked. People were crying not for the tragedy but that they were convinced it was the end of the world. Having just gone to war in the Middle East in 1992 during the Gulf War and just about to turn 18 in 3 short weeks, I was scared too, convinced I was going to be drafted to serve in a another conflict over there.

Jerusalem Post front page dedicated to
the Rabin assassination.

     Well, the US didn't repeal the repeal on the draft, the assassination was viewed as a 'Lone Wolf' act, and war didn't break out between Israel and the US versus the Arabic nations of the Middle East as everybody at my school thought. But it truly was a frightening time and one that impacted me greatly all thanks to a short meeting between two heads of state in 1977.

    Until tomorrow...

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 42

Secretary Alexander's official government photo, 1977.

   
Today's date in A Madman Turns 40 history commemorates the historic appointment of Clifford Alexander Jr. On this day, Alexander was appointed as the first black Secretary of the United States Army. Nominated by newly elected Jimmy Carter, he served until January of 1981 when he was replaced by Reagan appointee, John Otho Marsh Jr. 

    Since this is Black History Month, I thought it was appropriate to highlight this moment in American military history. So just who is Clifford Alexander Jr.

Former Secretary Alexander, circa 2015.

    A former member of the New York National Guard, Clifford Alexander spent his term trying to revitalize the now 'all-volunteer' Army. The draft was halted in 1973, but recruitment efforts were at an all-time low in the late 70s due to the painful legacy of the Vietnam War. Alexander also lead President Carter's new mandate to encourage diversity by awarding minority owned businesses a fair share of government contracts.

     After Alexander's term as Secretary ended, he returned back to the private sector where he served in numerous functions as well as a member of the American Stock Exchange's board of governors; a position he still holds. In the 90s, Mr. Alexander spoke before Congress against President Clinton's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy which barred openly gay Americans from serving in any military function. In 2011, Alexander and other opponents of the government's approach towards homosexuals in the military, celebrated in 2010 when President Obama signed an official appeal of DADT into law.

President Obama signing the
Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal into law, 2010

     Well, that's all this Madman has time for today. Check in again tomorrow- who knows where I'll go next in 1977 history...
   

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 20

President Carter's official Presidential Portrait,
National Gallery.

         40 years ago today, America got a new leader as Jimmy Carter became the 39th President of the United States. In one of his first acts as Supreme Leader, Carter will dive headfirst into a very tricky subject- the pardoning of Vietnam-Era draft dodgers. Due to his Christian values, Carter was personally compelled to showing others some mercy and as a result, pardoned thousands of draft dodgers who fled to Canada. Though many veterans protested this move, the act played a large part in helping the nation heal from the Vietnam War.

     Had he ran for President four years earlier, Carter probably wouldn't had won. But changes to the primary system for selecting the candidates made it more of a personable experience allowing for a little known governor from Georgia to beat out a Kennedy. Doesn't matter if the Kennedy was Teddy, Carter still beat him in a David and Goliath political battle of the ages.

      The Democrat Carter was a very controversial President. Not because he had some major scandal or was a total dirt-bag; he was pretty decent choir-boy of a fella. Not the debate over whether Carter was a good or bad President is because he was cursed with some rather bad luck. I'm not even talking about the Iranian hostage crisis or the flap with the Summer Olympics, or even the fuel crisis and huge rise in unemployment as a result of both international issues. 

     The bad luck I'm mentioning are things like how Carter fainted once during a jog from heat exhaustion on live TV. Plus, there's Carter's 'I lusted in my heart' Playboy interview that made him the subject of much ridicule over his morals and mockery as to his manliness. Let's also not forget the time that Carter was whisked away by Secret Service agents who protected the POTUS from a rabid bunny! (Seriously!) All three of which episodes were listed as reasons by one of my college professors as to factors that lead to the President being soundly defeated 4 years later by Republican Ronald Reagan. (BTW- she was a staunch Democrat and a biographer of Carter's presidency.)

The President and Mrs. Carter walking in the Inaugural Parade.

       It wasn't all bad for Carter. His ability as a master negotiator helped him foster a peace between Egypt and Israel. Plus Carter's  tenure in the Navy's nuclear program put him in the right position to deal with Three Mile Island, the closest we've ever come to a complete nuclear meltdown.

Carter's improbable run to the White House lead to him being named
Time's Man of the Year, January 3, 1977.
The same thing happened just recently with Donald Trump.
Both are sworn in on the same day, too!
Cue Twilight Zone theme...

       Jimmy Carter's career actually got better after his only term as President. He helped make Habitat for Humanity become a household name and even personally built some of the houses himself. He's written several best sellers including a children's book. His personal dedication to his fellow man has lead to him supporting dozens of humanitarian causes to which he won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. Plus, if there's an international crisis that a President needs personal help with, Carter is the man current Commander's-In Chief will call on to lead a diplomatic envoy.

      Being a liberal and Christian has resulted in Jimmy Carter being a very complicated man. For example, he's personally against abortion but has lead many campaigns to defend it's constitutionality and legality. Carter's never been afraid to criticize any of his predecessors, Republican or Democrat. Oddly enough, he's also the only former President to RSVP to be at Trump's inauguration today. (Obama doesn't count as until Trump is sworn it, he's still the current POTUS. And Bill Clinton is coming not as a former POTUS but as Hillary's Plus-One!)

Picture from January 11th, speaking on the eradication of
Guinea Worm Disease, another cause championed by the former President.

      40 years and 2 Dark Horses come out of nowhere and become Presidents. Coincidence? With election being every 4 years, maybe not. Or is it that after 8 years of one political parties way of thinking, people desire a change? In 1976, Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford because the people spoke that they were tired of the same-old same-old of the GOP with their vote. (Like with Trump, it was a very close election. Carter got more popular votes at 50.1% but carried less states than Ford.)

     I don't know why it is that Carter and Trump's road to the White House seem to have taken similar paths. I only hope that Trump's presidency doesn't go as bad or worse as Carter's did. Because if it does, God help us all!!!
   

A current and future President meet.
Photo from circa 1979.