A president who was ahead of his time

Since Jimmy Carter died at age 100 on December 29th, I have been listening to the accolades and recollections of his accomplishments as the 39th President of the United States, and thereafter as a civilian with his beloved wife Rosalynn. I am reminded of how much one person can accomplish for the greater good for so many when that person uses the power and prestige of the Office of the President, including thereafter in retirement.

The legacy of Jimmy Carter should be a lesson for us all.

Jimmy Carter was a little-known Georgia Governor when he became President of the United States in 1977. From a small Baptist farming community, he applied his intelligence and ambition to graduate from the Naval Academy and served on submarines for several years. He also studied nuclear physics at Union College to prepare for service on a nuclear submarine. But to the dismay of his devoted wife, he resigned from the Navy and returned to Georgia to run the family peanut farm when his father died. Thereafter, public service beckoned and when he became Governor of Georgia in 1970, his upbringing in a small community taught him to believe the judiciary should resemble as much of Georgia's population as possible. Thus began his journey in 1972, when he appointed more women and minorities, especially Black lawyers, to the judiciary in Georgia.

The Carter Administration served for a single term from 1977 to 1981. Walter Mondale served as Vice President and was important to the Carter Administration's nomination of judges. Mondale was a lawyer, and after graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1956, served as Deputy Attorney General and then Attorney General of Minnesota. In 1964, he was appointed to the Senate to replace Hubert Humphrey and became Carter's running mate in the 1976 election against Gerald Ford.

The Carter Administration made the most diverse federal judicial appointments in the country's 186-year history. When the Constitution was adopted in 1789, Article III provided for a judiciary, with the nomination of judges by the President and the approval by the Senate. From 1789 to 1977 - more than 186 years - only eight women were appointed to the federal court, one of whom was Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman who was appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1966. But during this lengthy period, only two women were ever appointed to the federal court of appeals, which is just below the United States Supreme Court.

This totally changed during the four years of the Carter Administration. With his small-town but diverse upbringing, coupled with Mondale's legal background, President Carter created the first nominating committee to ensure that he received recommendations of a wide spectrum of judicial candidates for his nomination and for Senate confirmation. This resulted in 41 women being appointed - 30 women were appointed to the Federal District Court and 11 were appointed to the Court of Appeal. In total, the Carter Administration appointed 262 Article III federal judges, including 56 judges to the Courts of Appeals, 203 judges to District Courts, two judges to the Court of Claims, and one judge to the Court of Customs and Patents Appeals. While Carter did not have an opportunity to make any appointments to the United States Supreme Court, two of his appointees to the Court of Appeals - Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsberg - were later elevated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton. To this day, President Carter retains the record for the most judicial appointments in a single term.

In the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal, which includes California, the Carter Administration appointed 18 Circuit Judges, more than any other President. This included Thomas Tang, one of the first Chinese-Americans, Mary Schroeder, Betty Fletcher, and Dorothy Wright Nelson, who were three of the first women, as well as Arthur Alarcon, one of the first Hispanic Judges, and Cecil Poole, one of the first African-American Judges. In the District Court in California, the Carter Administration appointed fourteen judges, including Thelton Henderson (N.D.), Marilyn Patel (N.D.), Robert Aguilar (N.D.), Terry Hatter (C.D.), Consuelo Marshall (C.D.), Mariana Pfaelzer (C.D.), Wallace Tashima (C.D.), Raul Ramirez (E.D.), Judith Keep (S.D.), and Earl Ben Gilliam (S.D.) - all women and minorities.

The Carter Administration made the federal bench more diverse and more connected to the people of our country than other prior presidencies. In addition, Carter established the Department of Education to provide education for children in the entire country, appointing California lawyer, Shirley Hufstedler, as the first head of that department and one of three women to the Cabinet. Carter also established the Department of Energy to control nuclear proliferation, but a prescient development as it now oversees environmental policies involving climate change. In addition, Carter appointed Joan Claybrook as the first woman to head the National Highway Safety Administration where she continued advocating for stricter automobile safety. Even now, she continues to advocate for consumer rights.

It is critical for the survival of democracy to promote the importance of judicial and political systems that reflect all of the people they serve, including women and minorities. For example, in California we appreciate a diverse judiciary that reflects the people served and are grateful to have governors who appoint women and minorities to our state courts - led by the example of the Carter Administration on the federal side. Starting in the 1970s with Governor Jerry Brown to Governor Gavin Newsom, we have led the country in appointing women and minorities to the state judiciary, and hope this trend continues far beyond 2025.

Again, the legacy of Jimmy Carter should be a lesson for us all.