Jimmy the Baptist: Carter redefined ‘evangelical,’ from campaigns to race and women’s rights

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Before reaching the 1978 peace deal between Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter managed months of intense preparation, high-stakes negotiations at Camp David and a field trip to the Gettysburg battlefield to demonstrate the consequences of war.

But looking back on his most celebrated foreign policy achievement, the 39th president said intricate diplomacy ultimately wasn’t the deciding factor.

“We finally got an agreement because we all shared faith in the same God,” Carter told biographer Jonathan Alter, as he traced his Christianity, Begin’s Judaism and Sadat’s Islam to their common ancestor in each religion’s sacred texts. “We all considered ourselves the sons of Abraham.”

Carter, who died Sunday at 100, was widely known as a man of faith, especially after his long post-presidency became defined by images of the Baptist Sunday School teacher building homes for low-income people and fighting diseases across the developing world.

Yet beyond piety and service, the Georgia Democrat stood out from his earliest days on the national stage with unusually prolific, nuanced explanations of his beliefs. Carter quoted Jesus and famous theologians and connected it all to his policy pursuits, living out his own definition of what it means to be a self-professed Christian in American politics.

“Most people go to Washington in search of their own power,” said David Gergen, a White House adviser to four presidents. “Carter went to Washington in search of our national soul. That doesn’t mean those others didn’t have good intentions, but for Jimmy Carter it just seemed like a different purpose.”

As a candidate in 1976, Carter described himself as a “born-again Christian.” Based on the New Testament, the reference is routine for many Protestants in the South who believe following Jesus means adopting a new version of oneself. To national media and voters unfamiliar with evangelical lexicon, it made Carter a curiosity.

“We saw ourselves as being very much cultural outcasts” as evangelicals in the mid-1970s, said Dartmouth College professor Randall Balmer, who has written extensively on Carter’s faith. The evangelical movement had not yet become a political force mostly aligned with Republicans, and “to have someone use our language to describe himself and still be taken seriously as a presidential candidate,” Balmer said, “was startling, really.”

Carter used the presidency to elevate human rights in U.S. foreign policy, champion environmental conservation and resist military conflict. He criticized American greed and consumerism. He proselytized to other world leaders.

Carter continued the approach for decades thereafter through The Carter Center and its global efforts on peace, democracy and public health. Into his 90s, Carter criticized American militarism and noted one of Jesus’s Biblical monikers: “Prince of Peace.”

“He carried his faith with him every minute of every day, and he put it to use every single minute of every single day,” said Jill Stuckey, a Plains resident and longtime friend of Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023 at 96.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attended some of Carter’s church lessons in Plains, Georgia, and sought the former president’s counsel during his own campaign in 2020. He said Carter elevated faith beyond partisan divisions.

“There are a lot of conservatives who seem to use the Bible almost as a weapon or a cudgel, and there are a lot of liberals who seem to use faith mostly as a way to desperately signal that they’re not bad people,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press. “President Carter demonstrated a third thing — faith that calls you to make yourself useful to others.”

Carter’s unabashed evangelism was an outlier in a Democratic Party that grew more secular and pluralistic during his public life. Yet Carter advocated “absolute and total separation of church and state” and opposed public money for religious schools. He admired the Rev. Billy Graham personally, but called it “inappropriate” to invite the nation’s leading evangelical to lead White House prayer services, as Graham did for previous administrations.

Carter further distinguished himself from many evangelicals by criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and taking liberal stances on race relations, women’s rights and, as he grew older, LGBTQ rights. He once described feeling shocked when a “high official” in the Southern Baptist Convention told him in the Oval Office that “we are praying, Mr. President, that you will abandon your secular humanism as your religion.”

By his later years, Carter “was happy with the label of ‘progressive evangelical,’” Balmer said.

Carter grew up as the son of a deacon in the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative denomination founded before the Civil War as a regional splinter group that supported slavery. He did not openly question his father’s segregationist views or the white supremacist origins of his denomination, and he didn’t yet consider himself an evangelical as a young man. But he had exposure to Black evangelical traditions by occasionally visiting St. Mark AME Church, the congregation of the tenant farming families that worked his father’s land.

“I could see spirit, sincerity and fervor in their worship services that we lacked in our church in Plains,” Carter once wrote.

Decades later, during the Civil Rights Movement, Carter urged his Plains congregation to allow integrated worship, but he and Rosalynn stood virtually alone. Carter was a state senator by then, and notably did not offer such explicit integration advocacy beyond church walls.

After his failed bid for governor in 1966, Carter was “disillusioned with politics and life in general,” he wrote. His sister Ruth, a well-known evangelist and faith healer, persuaded him to go on “pioneer missions.” The future president knocked on doors to share the gospel in Pennsylvania and in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods of Massachusetts. He came to see these sojourns as a catalyst to “apply my Christian faith much more regularly to my secular life.”

Carter even got to share his Christianity with Bob Dylan, in a one-on-one session the iconic folksinger sought with the Georgia governor in 1971.

In 1977, during his first foreign trip as president, Carter was invited by Edward Gierek, Poland’s top leader under Moscow’s Soviet control, to speak without their aides present, Carter later recalled. Gierek was “somewhat ill at ease” while explaining that he was an atheist in conformity with the Kremlin, but wanted to learn about Christianity. So Carter shared some Christian principles, and “asked him if he would consider accepting Jesus Christ as his personal savior.”

Gierek replied that he could not make a public declaration, and “I never knew what his decision was,” Carter later wrote. But in 1979, Gierek rebuffed Moscow’s orders by allowing newly elected Pope John Paul II to visit his native Poland. The Kremlin deposed Gierek in 1980, but that visit became a seminal moment in John Paul’s papacy and his efforts to break the Soviet Union.

At a White House dinner, Carter pressed Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to allow freedom of worship and Bible ownership and admit American missionaries. Xiaoping allowed the first two but not the latter. Carter in 2018 noted projections that China, by 2025, will have more Protestants than America.

And at Camp David, Carter prayed often and talked openly of faith with Begin and Sadat, unpacking ancient animosities between their religions.

When the Carters left the White House in 1981, having had enough of the lingering racial tensions at Plains Baptist Church, they transferred to nearby Maranatha Baptist Church, Balmer said. Carter’s hometown funeral will take place there after his state service at Washington’s National Cathedral.

Carter disaffiliated from Southern Baptists two decades later, at the age of 76, because the denomination’s leadership, he said, demeaned women as subservient to men in the home, church and wider society. Carter remained at Maranatha, noting that the congregation’s deacons were divided about evenly between the sexes.

“There is one incontrovertible act concerning the relationship between Jesus Christ and women,” Carter explained in his final book, “Faith,” published in 2018. “He treated them as equal to men, which was dramatically different from the prevailing custom of the times.”

Carter had a slower shift on LGBTQ matters. In a 1976 campaign interview with Playboy magazine, he said he considered sexual relations outside of marriage a sin and, thus, could not easily reconcile homosexuality. The answer did not contemplate same-sex marriage as a legitimate civil or religious institution.

As his 75th wedding anniversary approached in 2021, however, Carter had a different view on government- and church-sanctioned marriage for same-sex couples. “I don’t have any opposition it,” he told AP, declaring himself “very liberal” on any issue “that relates to human rights.” Sexuality “will continue to be divisive” within Christianity, he predicted, “but the church is evolving.”

Buttigieg, an Episcopalian whose same-sex marriage is recognized by his church, said Carter’s willingness to be open about his faith, in all its complexity, provides a “tremendous example” for “a generation of Christians who don’t believe that God belongs to any political party.”

The Rev. Bernice King, the daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., praised Carter as a “man of peace and compassion” and argued that for all his books and expositions and Sunday School lessons, the Baptist from Plains hewed to a simple faith.

“He looked at the life of Jesus Christ and how Christ interfaced and interacted with people,” King said. “He wrestled with that as a leader. I think he took serious: ‘What would Jesus do? ... What would somebody that is love-centered do?’”

This name of a former Chinese leader has been corrected to Deng Xiaoping. The last name was spelled incorrectly in previous versions as Xioaping and Xiaping.

FILE - Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., Rosalynn Carter, President Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King, Christine Parris King, sister of the late Dr. King, and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young sing during a reception honoring friends of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change in Washington on Oct. 3, 1978. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

FILE - Day breaks over the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

FILE - Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, background right, looks at former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, while visiting a weekly protest in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on Oct. 22, 2010. The protest was organized by groups supporting Palestinians evicted from their homes in east Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga, on June 8, 2014. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

FILE - Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xioaping and President Jimmy Carter smile as they face photographers in the Oval Office in Washington on Jan. 29, 1979. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - President Jimmy Carter and Polish First Secretary Edward Gierek shake hands after their formal talks in Warsaw on Dec. 30, 1977. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter, center, listens to a speech by former President of Costa Rica Rodrigo Carazo Odio, right, at the opening of the Joan B. Kroc Institute For Peace and Justice on the campus of the University of San Diego, in San Diego, on Dec. 6, 2001. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., on Nov. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)

FILE - President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter chat with Rev. Charles Trentham as they leave the First Baptist Church in Washington on March 20, 1977. (AP Photo/Charles W. Harrity, File)

FILE - Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter shakes hands with church-goers outside the Plains Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., on July 18, 1976. (AP Photo/Peter Bregg, File)

FILE - Georgia Democratic Gov. Jimmy Carter officially announces his candidacy for president in Atlanta on Dec. 12, 1974. (AP Photo/BJ, File)

FILE - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, stand at attention as the national anthems of their respective countries are played on the north lawn of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 24, 1979. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown on Aug. 23, 2015, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 119th Congress is convening for the first time on Friday and House Speaker Mike Johnson is fighting for his political life — again.

While the Louisiana Republican has the support of President-elect Donald Trump, it will be House Republicans who will decide whether to reelect him to his post as Speaker of the House. Far-right Republicans have at times grown frustrated with Johnson’s leadership and are prone to demanding concessions when their votes become essential.

A flop by Johnson could throw Monday’s congressional certification of Trump’s 2024 election victory into turmoil without a House speaker.

Here's the latest:

House Democrats find themselves in a familiar place, watching their colleagues across the aisle battle it out over who will become speaker once again.

Members laughed and gasped as several Republican lawmakers voted for candidates besides Johnson on the first ballot.

Their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, posted on social media during the vote, saying, “The GOP Civil War is in full swing. And it’s only Day 1.”

Rep. Stacey Plaskett, who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands, received cheers and jeers as she inquired why members of Congress elected by U.S. territories were not included in the roll call for House speaker.

“We are collectively the largest per capita of veterans in this country,” said Plaskett, who added that the territories are home to more than 4 million American citizens.

The territories include Plaskett’s home territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands

“We must do something about this problem,” Plaskett said as she received a standing ovation from her Democratic colleagues and calls for “order” from Republicans across the aisle.

Only members of Congress elected from U.S. states are eligible to vote for speaker.

His allies are talking to some of the holdouts on the House floor.

Speaker Mike Johnson walked off the floor as the first ballot for his speaker’s race was coming to a close.

Three Republicans voted for other candidates besides Johnson.

Texas Rep. Keith Self voted for Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida for House Speaker, in lieu of Rep. Mike Johnson.

It is the third GOP defection from the incumbent speaker.

With Reps. Thomas Massie and Ralph Norman both voting for candidates that are not Johnson, the Louisiana Republican is now at risk of losing his first ballot for speaker.

There were several far-right members who abstained from voting thus far and could potentially vote at the end.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a standing ovation from her Democratic colleagues when she cast a vote for Jeffries, her successor as Democratic minority leader, to serve as House Speaker.

The two, sitting across the aisle from each other in the chamber, embraced for a quick hug before voting resumed.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie kept to his word on Friday in voting against Johnson for speaker on the first roll call vote, voting instead for the No. 3 Republican, Rep. Tom Emmer.

Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson received back-to-back standing ovations from their respective sides of the aisle as they each cast votes for themselves to serve as speaker of the House.

They are standing in the back row of the chamber. It’s unclear if they will vote at the end of the roll call when the clerk calls their name again.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said achieving perfection requires incremental gains and hard decisions.

“None of us will get exactly what we want,” she said.

The message is aimed at some of the most conservative members of the House Republican conference who have come into Friday’s vote without previously committing to Johnson.

House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain kicked off the speaker election by nominating Mike Johnson to be the speaker for the 119th Congress.

1. Nominations

Once the House is in a quorum — meaning the minimum number of members are present to proceed — nominating speeches will be made on behalf of the nominees for speaker. Republicans chose Johnson as their nominee for speaker in a closed-door vote in November. A week later, Democrats unanimously chose Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to remain their leader despite the party’s electoral losses.

2. Voting

Lawmakers call out the name of their choice for speaker from the floor, a rare and time-consuming roll call. Members often liven up the proceedings by shouting or standing when casting their vote. Lawmakers are not obligated to vote for their party’s nominated candidate. Any name can be called out from the House floor. While it has been the tradition for the speaker to be a member of the House, it is not required.

3. Results

Should Johnson come up short, it is likely the clerk will move immediately to start another roll call vote. If a speaker candidate wins a majority of those present and voting, a bipartisan committee, usually consisting of members from the home state of the chosen candidate, will escort the speaker-elect to the chair on the dais where the oath of office is administered.

As Johnson’s political fate hangs in the balance, members are using this time to take selfies with the Louisiana Republican.

GOP lawmakers are bringing their babies, grandbabies and siblings to take a photo with the speaker before the House begins his reelection vote.

The next speaker must receive a majority of the votes cast. If not, balloting continues until someone meets that threshold.

Two years ago, it took Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of balloting before he gained enough support to take the gavel.

Those voting won their election in November, but they cannot take the oath of office until a new speaker has been elected.

New and returning lawmakers donned their Sunday best to the first day of the new Congress, with many of the women adhering to the traditional colors of their political party.

Red ties and dresses for Republican members can be seen scattered across the House floor while across the aisle Democratic women styled various shades of blue.

Johnson commands one of the slimmest majorities in modern times, 220-215, having lost seats in the November election.

The abrupt resignation of Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida drops his tally to 220.

That leaves him relying on almost every Republican for support in the face of Democratic opposition, though the typical 218 majority needed could shift with absences and others voting only “present.”

Before his election for speaker can begin, Speaker Mike Johnson opened Friday’s session by declaring that the 118th Congress has come to a close.

On his way to the House floor earlier, he was asked by reporters if he will win the speakership during the first round of voting.

“I hope so. We’ll see,” he said.

Lawmakers are quickly filtering into the House chambers for the start of the 119th Congress, where the first order of business will be a quorum call and then a roll call vote to elect the next speaker.

For now, it’s a festive atmosphere with many lawmakers bringing their children onto the House floor with them to take in some history.

Soon, it will become more serious as the speaker vote is held.

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., has the backing of President-elect Donald Trump, but can’t afford hardly any holdouts from the Republican side of the room if he hopes to return to holding the gavel.

Democratic lawmakers are standing and applauding as Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi has entered the House chamber as a new Congress begins to gather.

The former speaker had hip replacement surgery recently at a U.S. military hospital in Germany after falling while at an event in Luxembourg with other members of Congress.

The former speaker walked gingerly to a seat in the middle of the chamber. Several colleagues moved quickly to greet her.

New and returning lawmakers walked around the chamber, taking selfies with their children and families ahead of what is expected to be a contentious few hours as Republicans fight amongst themselves to elect a speaker.

Johnson commands one of the slimmest majorities in modern times, 220-215, having lost seats in the November election. That leaves him relying on almost every Republican for support in the face of Democratic opposition.

Here’s a look at some of the Republicans who’ve signaled they may vote against him:

The speaker’s election is set to dominate the opening of the new Congress, but the day will also bring a roster of history-making members.

In the Senate, two Black women — Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland — will be sworn in, the first time in the nation’s history two Black women senators will serve at the same time.

Sen.-elect Andy Kim of New Jersey also is making history as the first Korean American to join the chamber.

In the House, Sarah McBride is the first openly transgender person in the Congress.

And Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who recently suffered a fall overseas and underwent hip replacement surgery, will make her own return to Washington, a reminder of the power she wielded when Democrats last held the majority.

The speakership has been vacant only 13 times in U.S. history, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. No speaker had ever been removed until eight Republicans joined with Democrats to oust McCarthy.

Barring those instances, a speaker is normally elected at the start of a new Congress and serves in the job for the full two-year session.

House Speaker Mike Johnson walked into the Capitol on Friday morning seemingly optimistic about his chances of being reelected speaker by his conference despite growing frustrations amongst far-right members of the party.

When asked by a reporter what his message was to his holdouts, the Louisiana Republican said, “We need to unify,” adding that the speaker election “is not just about one person but about moving forward with the America First agenda, the mandate given forward by the American people.”

Johnson denied that he was making any back-door deals.

“There is no quid pro quo here. I don’t do anything in exchange for a vote other than commit to make this institution work as effectively and efficiently as possible,” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump called the U.S. House speaker “a fine man of great ability” and wished him good luck on Friday, when the new Congress convenes and Republican lawmakers will decide whether to reelect Mike Johnson to lead their party.

Trump endorsed the Louisiana Republican earlier this week, but whether that support will be enough is unclear. Trump said Johnson “is very close to having 100% support,” but some members of the far right have grown increasingly frustrated with Johnson’s leadership and his handling of funding fights such as the recent short-term spending bill.

“A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Johnson’s weak grip on the gavel threatens not only his own survival but Trump’s ambitious agenda of tax cuts and mass deportations as Republicans sweep to power in Washington.

A flop by Johnson could throw Monday’s congressional certification of Trump’s 2024 election victory into turmoil if there is no speaker.

Johnson commands one of the slimmest majorities in modern times, having lost seats in the November election, leaving him relying on almost every Republican for support and with nearly no votes to spare.

Electing a speaker is the first order of business for the U.S. House after a new session of Congress begins at noon. It’s a vote that members take even before being sworn into office.

The House cannot organize until it has a speaker because that person effectively serves as the House’s presiding officer and the institution’s administrative head. The House can elect a new speaker at any time if the person occupying that role dies, resigns or is removed from office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with members as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., right, as the House of Representatives convenes the 119th Congress with a slim Republican majority, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., seen as the House of Representatives convenes the 119th Congress with a slim Republican majority, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is pictured as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, and Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., left, are pictured as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is pictured as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Members of the Freedom Caucus gather at the back of the room during the roll call as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., accompanied by his wife Kelly Johnson, left, walks to the House Chamber before starting the 119th United States Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., accompanied by his wife Kelly Johnson, left, walks to the House Chamber before starting the 119th United States Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

House Chaplain retired Rear Adm. Margaret Kibben offers the opening prayer as the House of Representatives meets to elect a speaker and convene the new 119th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., takes the oath to be the new House speaker from the Dean of the House Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)