President Jimmy Carter Was An Antidote To Politics As Spectacle | Ro Khanna

Jimmy Carter represented politics at its highest calling

I first met President Jimmy Carter at a sports bar in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics. I was interning for the Carter Center in the same summer class as Jason Carter, his grandson. President Carter made a point to speak to every intern. He shared with us that he loved the Olympics because it represented a hope for peace and diplomacy. For a 19 year old, son of immigrants, this encounter was exhilarating. I left the internship in awe of American politics.

Jimmy Carter represented politics at its highest calling. He reminded me of my grandfather, Amarnath Vidhyalankar, an Indian freedom fighter who served in jail as part of Gandhi’s independence movement. They both shared a commitment to standing up for principle.

Representative Ro Khanna is a Democrat from California