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Carter: 'Probably superior' to other ex-presidents *** UPDATE 3:59 pm ET *** Former President Carter issued a written statement after his comments aired: "What I meant was, for 27 years the Carter Center has provided me with superior opportunities to do good." In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former President Jimmy Carter, who has been a target of the right through the years, lauded his own post-presidency, telling Williams, "I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents." Carter, who is out with a new book defending his legacy, backed up...

The news that is not White House approved... Carter: The Sequel Former President Jimmy Carter is fuming. Given his disastrous record in office you would think that he would be happy to be compared to the Anointed One, but apparently President Obama has made such a mess that even Carter is now distancing himself. When foreign policy analyst Walter Russell Meade compared the two in the journal Foreign Policy, Carter submitted a letter to the editor noting this displeasure, stating, "I resent Meade's use of such phrases as, 'In the worst scenario turn him [Obama] into a new Jimmy Carter'...

Former President Jimmy Carter, who can get good and cranky when he feels his legacy is being misrepresented, is slamming Foreign Policy for publishing a takedown of his foreign affairs record that cautioned President Obama from succumbing to the "Carter Syndrome." The former president, who is credited with brokering the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, took issue with author Walter Russell Mead, who accused him of crafting a scattered and indecisive foreign policy. Plus the editors should have called him for comment, he says in an emotional and candid letter. "The editors apparently accepted without checking the author's...

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of not telling the truth about warnings she said her department gave Carter not to speak to Hamas before a Middle East trip. The State Department has said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, issued the warning before Carter, a veteran of Middle East diplomacy, went on his trip last week. Rice said in Kuwait on Tuesday: "We counseled President Carter against going to the region and particularly against having contact with Hamas." "President Carter...

Yesterday, I received a promotional mailing for the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek. I quickly opened the slick marketing package to learn about this year’s list of speakers and the other pertinent information. Then, like an unexpected punch in the stomach, I saw that former President Jimmy Carter was listed as a speaker, about leadership. I have long respected Bill Hybels; his seemingly innate ability to reinvent himself, find a new path, and expand his universe is something rarely seen, especially in the Christian community. However, I am disappointed that he chose the former president to speak to a group...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy. The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday...

Former President Carter blasts Bush 11 minutes ago Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy. The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in...

To bring about peace in the Middle East, the United States needs to play a more prominent leadership role, and Israel must allow Palestinians to regain control of the West Bank, former President Carter told a packed audience at UC Berkeley on Wednesday afternoon. "The bottom line is this: Israel will never find peace until it is willing to withdraw from its neighbor's land," he said. "And the hostility toward Americans throughout the Islamic world is directly related to the continued bloodshed between Israel and Palestine and the (United States') lack of effort to bring peace to that region." Carter...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is calling for an international conference to convene on alleviating the damage done by the war in Iraq. Carter told Voice of America that such a conference would provide reassurance to the Iraqi people that the international community cares about them. He said participants in the conference would include the countries surrounding Iraq, European nations, the United States and others. Carter in particular said he believes Iran and Syria should be brought into the process, although he said this may not involve direct talks between the two nations and the U.S. Carter also called for...

ATLANTA Former President Jimmy Carter says his 1994 peace efforts regarding North Korea are now "in the wastebasket," because of actions by the Bush administration. Carter criticized the administration for not agreeing to direct, bilateral talks and guaranteeing that the U-S will not attack North Korea. Carter spoke at a panel discussion last night about his 1994 peace efforts. But Carter says he does not foresee the current dispute over North Korea's test of a nuclear bomb leading to war. Although North Korea has branded the current U-N sanctions an act of war, Carter says they are not as stringent...

Nobel laureate and ex-envoy Jimmy Carter, on CNN (after his dealings with dictator Kim Il-sung) on June 22, 1994 CARTER: What the North Koreans were waiting for was some treatment of their exalted leader with respect and a direct communication. I didn't have to argue with him. When I outlined the specific points that were the Clinton administration's position, I presented them to him. And with very little equivocation, he agreed. I think it's all roses now. I've known that there were people in Washington who were sceptical about any direct dealing with the North Koreans. They were already condemned...

39th President of the United StatesIn office January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) was the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) and the Nobel Peace laureate in 2002. Previously, he was the Governor of Georgia (1971–1975). In 1976, Carter won the Democratic nomination as a dark horse candidate, and went on to defeat incumbent Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. As President his major initiatives included the consolidation of numerous governmental agencies into the newly formed Department of Energy, a cabinet level department. He enacted strong environmental legislation;...

RENO, Nev. Former President Carter is urging northern Nevadans to elect his son, Jack, to the Senate to help combat a Bush administration he says has brought "international disgrace" to the country. The former president told a crowd of about 300 on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno today that the nation is more sharply divided that it has ever been as a result of Bush's policies. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, he says he's deeply embarrassed that the American government now stands convicted around the world as one of the greatest abusers of...

Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday major policy changes are needed because the Iraq war has divided the nation "almost as much as Vietnam." "So there's no doubt that our country is in much more danger now from terrorism than it would have been if we would have done what we should have done and stayed in Afghanistan," he said on the campaign trail with his son, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Carter. The former president said the Bush administration made a "terrible mistake" by invading Iraq and diverting troops from Afghanistan. Jack Carter criticized his opponent, Sen. John Ensign,...

FALLON, Nev. - Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday major policy changes are needed because the Iraq war has divided the nation "almost as much as Vietnam." "So there's no doubt that our country is in much more danger now from terrorism than it would have been if we would have done what we should have done and stayed in Afghanistan," he said on the campaign trail with his son, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Carter. The former president said the Bush administration made a "terrible mistake" by invading Iraq and diverting troops from Afghanistan. Jack Carter criticized his opponent,...

New Haven, Conn. -- Democrat Ned Lamont said Wednesday the U.S. is weaker because of the war in Iraq backed by rival Sen. Joe Lieberman, and he called for shifting forces to Afghanistan and elsewhere. "We have sacrificed our daughters and sons and our treasure in a war we didn't have to fight," Lamont said. "We have ignored the real threats and security needs in the war we should be fighting, the one against the terrorists. ... Senator Lieberman believes that President Bush has it right in Iraq. I believe that he's dangerously wrong." The Democrat, who upset the three-term...

For an event that would turn a page in American history, former president Jimmy Carter has agreed in principle to host former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami for talks during his visit to the United States starting this week. Carter's term as president was dominated by the rupture in relations after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days until the day he left office. Iranians made the overture for the meeting, and the Carter Center in Atlanta is working on the possible timing, said Phil Wise,...

There are so many sad things to write about today but we all need the cathartic diversion of a true laughingstock, so let us talk about Jimmy Carter. Carter, by all biological indications, is still alive, so we may speak of him ill. Very, very, incurably ill. From Jan. 20, 1977, through Jan. 20, 1981, our nation endured an unpleasant, aberrant, tragicomic episode. In the somewhat confused political atmosphere subsequent to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the electorate succumbed to the blandishments of a folksy Georgia governor who espoused a form of bland centrism. The theory, presumably, was that boredom...

"In my opinion, maybe the worst ally Israel has had in Washington has been the George W. Bush administration, which hasn't worked to bring a permanent peace to Israel," Carter told the newspaper.

Carter: Bush pursuing 'erroneous' policy 41 minutes ago Former President Carter, who helped broker the historic Camp David peace accord, said President Bush has pursued an "erroneous policy" that has fostered violence in the Middle East. Carter said the United States should work for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and the world community should concentrate on a long-term solution, but he is uncertain whether Bush can accomplish a cease-fire. "It depends on whether world opinion is strong enough to get the administration to change its erroneous policy, which has been to encourage the continuation of attacks on both...