Jimmy Carter’s Legacy in Africa

Dwayne Wong (Omowale)
4 min readDec 31, 2024
Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Carter

Vox may have accurately summed up the legacy of President Jimmy Carter in its article, “Jimmy Carter’s legacy: A disappointing presidency, a remarkable post-presidency, explained.” I state this because Carter’s legacy is marked more so by what he did after the presidency than what he did while he was president. Carter only served one term in office before losing to Ronald Reagan in one of the worst landslides in American history.

Carter’s political legacy would have been a rather unremarkable one if not for the humanitarian work which he did after leaving office. This included building homes, combating guinea worm, and advocating for democracy around the world. The Alliance for Change (AFC) party in Guyana paid tribute to Carter for Carter’s role in helping to usher in fair and free elections in Guyana after years of rigged elections under the leadership of Forbes Burnham.

The humanitarian work which Carter engaged in after his presidency is certainly commendable, but I don’t think this should cause his human rights record as president to be overlooked. As president, Carter’s foreign policy was one which was centered on promoting human rights, but, as Human Rights Watch noted, “Carter’s human rights records had its shortcomings. At times he failed to condemn abuses of longtime allies — such as Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Suharto in Indonesia — in favor of other US interests.” Carter’s government also continued to support the brutal regime of the Shah in Iran until the revolution there overthrew the Shah. The American support for the Shah ensured that the regime which came to power in Iran after the revolution in 1979 was hostile towards America. To this day America’s relationship with Iran is shaped by this hostility.

Among those human rights abusers whom Carter continued to support was Joseph Mobutu of Zaire. This included providing military support for Mobutu to combat the Congolese National Liberation Front. Carter also accused Cuba of supporting the rebel movement against Mobutu. This resulted in embarrassment for the Carter administration due to the lack of evidence which linked Cuba to the invasion. Fidel Castro not only denied involvement, but it was revealed that Castro had informed the United States that he tried to stop the invasion before it happened. Carter later admitted: “I think now that I overreacted, maybe based on incorrect intelligence. I think that Castro’s assurances to me about his limited role were probably more truthful than I thought at the time.”

Carter also provided support for Samuel Doe who came to power in a bloody military coup in Liberia. Carter’s policy in Liberia led Rufus Berry to state: “The legacy of U.S. interference under Carter’s administration remains deeply felt by many Liberians today. While post-presidency Jimmy Carter earned global respect for his humanitarian efforts, his role in the destruction of Liberia’s stability and peace is an indelible stain on his record.”

Yet another foreign policy blunder in Africa was when Carter decided to send Muhammad Ali on a five nation tour in Africa to get African nations to support the American calls to boycott the 1980 Olympics which were being held in Moscow. Ali agreed to this due to his outrage over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The problem was that Ali was not properly briefed on Soviet policy in Africa. For example, Ali was not aware that the Soviet Union was supporting liberation movements in Africa.

Ali’s tour ended with mixed results. Of the five nations he visited, only two of the nations (Kenya and Liberia) agreed to observe the boycott. President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania refused to even meet with Ali. Nyerere had denounced the fact the United States had ignored the call by African states for stricter sanctions on South Africa. There were other Tanzania officials who questioned why a boxer was sent to conduct a diplomatic mission in the first place. The whole incident seemed to display a lack of serious concern for Africa on the part of Carter.

Carter’s policy in Africa were typical of US presidents who have tended to support dictatorships in Africa while treating African concerns with little seriousness or urgency, but, as noted before, it was the humanitarian work which Carter did after he left office that was unique and it is that work that seems to have defined Carter’s legacy as a public figure. Even so, I think it is important not to overlook the harmful impact of Carter’s policy in Africa, especially considering that American foreign policy in Africa continues to engage in the very same misteps which Carter made during his time in office.

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Dwayne Wong (Omowale)
Dwayne Wong (Omowale)

Written by Dwayne Wong (Omowale)

I am a Pan-Africanist activist, historian, and author. I am also certified in CompTIA Security +

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