01 Oct 2010 03:39:11
In a string of recent appearances, Carter has called for the United States to seek better ties with Iran and North Korea, criticized what he sees as Israel's unwillingness to make peace and staunchly backed Muslims' right to build a community center near the former World Trade Center.
The 39th president has reserved his most stinging criticism for Fox News, accusing the widely watched channel run by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. of fanning polarization and hostility toward Obama.
"A lot of gullible folks in the United States actually believe what Fox puts forward as facts when most of it is just complete distortions," Carter told CNN talk-show host Larry King recently.
The United States "has never been this divided," Carter said. Referring to the Civil War president, Carter said: "I don't think it was this divided, as I said, even during the time of Abraham Lincoln."
Carter was never a quiet former president. A year after leaving the White House, he founded the Carter Center which promotes elections and mediates conflicts around the world. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter, who soundly lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan after hyperinflation and a bungled attempt to rescue US hostages in Iran, has won a renewed fan base.
And some experts see Carter as interested in shoring up his legacy.
"He hasn't lost ambition. We have former presidents all the time and they sometimes enjoy their retirement," said Stephen Hess, who served four presidents including Carter and is now a scholar at the Brookings Institution.
"Partly, I think this is because he had a failed presidency. It seems to demand the compensation of an exquisite subsequent presidency," he told AFP last week.
In the book, Carter did not hide his grudge against late senator Ted Kennedy, who challenged him for theDemocratic Party's presidential nomination.
Carter called Kennedy an "unsuccessful" person and accused him of scuttling efforts to expand health care coverage to the uninsured so as to weaken Carter. Kennedy is usually remembered as an advocate of health care reform, a longtime Democratic priority which finally passed this year under Obama.
In another interview, Carter said that he considered his post-presidency activities to be "superior" to those of other former US leaders.
Bill Clinton has fought poverty under the Clinton Global Initiative but has been less vocal about politics than Carter, other than playing a controversial role supporting his wife Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in 2008.
Former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush have taken lower profiles since leaving office, withholding criticism of their successors.
The 39th president has reserved his most stinging criticism for Fox News, accusing the widely watched channel run by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. of fanning polarization and hostility toward Obama.
"A lot of gullible folks in the United States actually believe what Fox puts forward as facts when most of it is just complete distortions," Carter told CNN talk-show host Larry King recently.
The United States "has never been this divided," Carter said. Referring to the Civil War president, Carter said: "I don't think it was this divided, as I said, even during the time of Abraham Lincoln."
Carter was never a quiet former president. A year after leaving the White House, he founded the Carter Center which promotes elections and mediates conflicts around the world. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter, who soundly lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan after hyperinflation and a bungled attempt to rescue US hostages in Iran, has won a renewed fan base.
And some experts see Carter as interested in shoring up his legacy.
"He hasn't lost ambition. We have former presidents all the time and they sometimes enjoy their retirement," said Stephen Hess, who served four presidents including Carter and is now a scholar at the Brookings Institution.
"Partly, I think this is because he had a failed presidency. It seems to demand the compensation of an exquisite subsequent presidency," he told AFP last week.
In the book, Carter did not hide his grudge against late senator Ted Kennedy, who challenged him for theDemocratic Party's presidential nomination.
Carter called Kennedy an "unsuccessful" person and accused him of scuttling efforts to expand health care coverage to the uninsured so as to weaken Carter. Kennedy is usually remembered as an advocate of health care reform, a longtime Democratic priority which finally passed this year under Obama.
In another interview, Carter said that he considered his post-presidency activities to be "superior" to those of other former US leaders.
Bill Clinton has fought poverty under the Clinton Global Initiative but has been less vocal about politics than Carter, other than playing a controversial role supporting his wife Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in 2008.
Former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush have taken lower profiles since leaving office, withholding criticism of their successors.
