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A review by jeremyanderberg
His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life by Jonathan Alter
5.0
Let me say it from the get-go: His Very Best is just about everything I want and hope for in a big presidential biography. Alter tells an incredibly compelling story, clears up a lot of myths people have about Jimmy Carter (and the 70s in general), gives the reader an incredibly personal look at the man himself, and convincingly makes the case for the importance (not necessarily effectiveness) of his presidency.
Simply for the fact that the guy is still kicking, there haven’t been any full-scale biographies about Jimmy Carter. Surprisingly, though, there isn’t much out there about his presidency either. Thus far, the consensus has basically been that he wasn’t good as president but is as decent a human being as exists.
That story isn’t entirely rewritten, but Alter does add the necessary nuances. The Carter administration was far more impactful than it seems, but was largely done apart by two things: the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan and the overshadowing of foreign affairs—mainly the Iran hostage situation.
Alter covered the political aspects of Carter’s presidency superbly. I’m a sucker more for personal details, so sometimes in a biography my eyes glaze over amidst the details of deal-making, but I was entranced on nearly every page of His Very Best.
As for the personal stuff, the reader gets a clear sense of who Jimmy Carter is as a human. While there’s not a “dark” side to the man like there are with a lot of leaders, there is a prickly stubbornness and a foolish unwillingness to engage in the optics of politics—which is a big part of why he served a single term and didn’t win re-election.
I can’t think of any faults with this biography, other than the fact that I wanted more. A deeper dive into some other players of the era would have been great, but asking for too much. I nearly impulse-bought Alter’s other three books, but I exercised some restraint, for now. I’m already excited to read ‘em someday.
On a related note, there’s another big Carter bio coming in the spring, authored by the illustrious Kai Bird. I’ll be curious to see how his take compares with Alter’s.
Simply for the fact that the guy is still kicking, there haven’t been any full-scale biographies about Jimmy Carter. Surprisingly, though, there isn’t much out there about his presidency either. Thus far, the consensus has basically been that he wasn’t good as president but is as decent a human being as exists.
That story isn’t entirely rewritten, but Alter does add the necessary nuances. The Carter administration was far more impactful than it seems, but was largely done apart by two things: the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan and the overshadowing of foreign affairs—mainly the Iran hostage situation.
Alter covered the political aspects of Carter’s presidency superbly. I’m a sucker more for personal details, so sometimes in a biography my eyes glaze over amidst the details of deal-making, but I was entranced on nearly every page of His Very Best.
As for the personal stuff, the reader gets a clear sense of who Jimmy Carter is as a human. While there’s not a “dark” side to the man like there are with a lot of leaders, there is a prickly stubbornness and a foolish unwillingness to engage in the optics of politics—which is a big part of why he served a single term and didn’t win re-election.
I can’t think of any faults with this biography, other than the fact that I wanted more. A deeper dive into some other players of the era would have been great, but asking for too much. I nearly impulse-bought Alter’s other three books, but I exercised some restraint, for now. I’m already excited to read ‘em someday.
On a related note, there’s another big Carter bio coming in the spring, authored by the illustrious Kai Bird. I’ll be curious to see how his take compares with Alter’s.