Name: Jimmy Carter On "Unjust" Iraq War, Winning The Nobel Prize | David Letterman
Uploaded: 2025-01-09T16:00:43.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jimmy Carter On "Unjust" Iraq War, Winning The Nobel Prize | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-01-09. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jimmy Carter On "Unjust" Iraq War, Winning The Nobel Prize | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-01-09. Transcript available.

you look wonderful
recently earlier this month celebrated your birthday is that correct
yes
and do you mind telling us i guess we all know what the birthday was well when
i was uh 60 i
climbed mount kilimanjaro right uh when i was 65 i went 1100 feet above mount
uh above my average
base camp when i was 70 i climbed mount fuji uh when i was 80 i walked all the
way out to my wood
shopping back and didn't fall down so coincidentally uh roger williams was born
exactly the same day i
was so he and i celebrated our 80th birthday together at the carter center and
he played the
piano for 13 and a half hours wow pretty good to celebrate but he played the
piano i listened
but you look tremendous i get along fine and you feel well and uh absolutely
and continuing to lead
a very productive active life so that's great yes it's wonderful and your wife
is doing well
perfectly well she's a lot younger than i am yeah
let's talk a little bit about the the book now am i correct that this is your
first novel
it's the first novel that i've written and and they tell me it's uh the only
novel that a president's
ever written oh is that right yeah and uh other people related to presidents
have written works of
fiction haven't they or no i'm thinking oh maybe so dan quail's wife vice
president was actually writing
novels is that does that ring a bell with you i think that's true i think she
wrote some yeah and
i think margaret truman wrote some murder mysteries about the white house and
and uh this is based on
the the revolutionary war is that right yes it's a novel about the
revolutionary war and it's uh
and it's uh called the hornet's nest and it's a a very accurate description of
what the revolutionary
war was but i wove in of course fictional characters right it's a very good
book and and what in reading
in reading the book what would we learn about the revolutionary war that we we
didn't know
regardless of how much attention we paid in high school well first of all
almost all of the major
battles that shaped the war were fought in the south is that right from st augustine
florida through georgia
south carolina north carolina and southern virginia the second thing people
would would learn is that
george washington never won a major battle he wanted two skirmishes one at trenton
and one at
princeton but he lost philadelphia while that was going on and what most people
know about the
revolutionary war is that we fought a few skirmishes around boston and uh paul
revere rode a horse at night
and washington crossed the delaware on a storm and cornwallis surrendered that's
about all we know about
the revolutionary war which is the most important war obviously in our nation's
history and and it
was a very bitterly fought war the most ferocious and bloody war we ever fought
as far as hatred was
concerned and we never would have won in the end had the french not joined us
in the final battles and
and controlled the sea so all of those things i think are quite different from
what most americans
remember about the bloodier than the than even the civil war not as many people
died but the hatred was
so intense there was a standard um practice that developed throughout the south
where most of the
major battles were fought that then if you surrendered at the end of a battle
you were executed with a
bayonet thrust or bullet through your head there was it was take uh giving no
quarter i see in other words
don't take any prisoners right right uh how long did it take you to do this to
write the book uh seven
years wow uh well that was all the study the research and the writing yes but
in the meantime i wrote three
other books this is my 18th book yes what's my only no but good it's very
impressive well and it's a
bestseller for you it's a bestseller all right yeah that must be terribly gratifying
um what do you
i i guess as a former office holder this time of year uh you can't help but get
excited about the
election coming up can you that's that's true i i try not to get excited but i
do yeah yeah and and how
do you think things i guess today the most recent poll figures indicate a dead
heat that we're going
into a dead heat now well it looks like i think before the debates there was a
massive uh advantage
for president bush and then the debates i think turned things around and now
apparently on a nationwide
basis president bush is a little bit ahead but in the key states where they you
know electoral votes
are going to be forthcoming it's it's almost a dead heat yes and is this pretty
much exactly where we
were four years ago at this time it's very close yes as as you know it came out
in florida and of
course the florida election was a debacle and nobody ever knows who won that
that election but i think that
that it's as close now in my opinion and the pollsters opinion as it was four
years ago and and is it
likely that the same thing is ahead of us i think it's quite possible i hope
not likely still florida
is close there's not a uniform way to vote in florida there's no real certified
way to recount votes if
it's very close in a particular voting area and there's no doubt that the
secretary of state is a highly
bipartisan republican activist but despite all that my hope is that their close
attention paid
to key places like florida and ohio will result in an honest election that's i
believe it will and
and you've spent a great deal of time uh monitoring elections around the world
is should we be asking
you to go down there and take a look at this one well we just finished our 52nd
election that was in
indonesia and the one before that was in venezuela and i'll be going on a few
days to mozambique
and uh so we do elections all over the world but we have to be first of all
invited in by both sides
which is unlikely in florida
there has to be a central uh control for the entire election process of a
completely non-partisan
basis and of course money shouldn't make any difference in that all the
candidates regardless
of whether they have any money or not should have a chance to present their
plant camp on platform on
the television radio i tell you when we come back i want to ask you what your
impression of
was how things went in afghanistan last week all right fine all right we'll be
right back here with
president jimmy carter everybody the book is the hornet's nest and i i forgot
to mention that in
addition to everything else that we've discussed regarding the book you've also
painted the the
cover very impressive oh thank you and this is likely what it would have been
like fighting in the
revolutionary war well that's the main character in my book and i wanted to
present it the way i think
he actually looked with blonde hair and a ponytail in the back and shooting a
rifle properly my publisher
uh simon schuster wanted me to have a different one that nc wife painted of daniel
boone but it
wasn't like i wanted so i decided to take up painting and uh and do the job
you want it done right by gosh good for you
so to your uh to your observation and what you know which i'm guessing is far
more than most of us
know regarding the election in afghanistan did it turn out all right or not all
right well we don't
yet know i think they've only counted 10 percent of the balance but apparently
it was a safe election
and i think a major step forward yes and and what about the proposed supposed
election in january in iraq
it seems to me to be quite conjectural david you know whether we can have
enough peace and stability and safety on the streets so not only can election
monitors go to
the different places but also so the voters can go without fear of intimidation
that's very
uh doubtful if not unlikely in january and uh so regardless of who is the
president doubtful if
not unlikely in january well i think so well i think ultimately it'll depend on
whether the united
nations is willing to take that responsibility on and i think that would be
regardless of who the
president is i hope i hope a schedule does not slip but you asked me what my
opinion was i think it's
unlikely that we'll be ready in january it takes months and months ahead of a
complicated election to
arrange everything we know from many experiences and and we're not yet doing
that in in your view as a
uh a man of the world and a man of great intellect is is this just the mess uh
iraq now just the mess
that we have to put up with and and tolerate and and grieve over to to
eventually take a step forward
in that region or not well i think so i i personally thought that the war was
unjust and
completely unnecessary it was based on false premises but but now that we are
in iraq i think the best
thing to do is for us to figure out the best way to extricate ourselves and
leave iraq is in charge of
their own political situation and also to bring in allies who can help take
over the responsibilities for
the economic future of iraq and also for the military security of iraq that has
to be done so far we have
not been willing to relinquish as you know either the military or political or
economic control or
influence in iraq and and the deep resentment against our continued presence i
think will be alleviated
consider considerably if and when the united states makes it very clear that
under these conditions and
in this time frame we will withdraw our troops and let the iraqis run their own
affairs and if uh if
if senator carey prevails it's uh on the uh basis of the argument about how the
post-invasion iraq will
be handled do you think that will turn the election i think that still is a
major issue but but i know from
experience uh not only here but around the world that whenever uh a beleaguered
uh leader like a
president or prime minister changes from being the administrator of of health
and welfare and
education and taxation and becomes the commander-in-chief without troops
overseas and in danger
immediately that that escalates the status and the popularity of the incumbent
president as it has
done in the case of george bush and also his his father who was uh who was
before him and that always
happens but i think that uh that has has been the major factor that has perpetuated
george bush into
the present popularity that he has now as you say it's very close had it not
been for that circumstance
as the commanding chief when it's very uh improper in some people's minds even
to criticize the mistakes
that he makes i think he would be much lower in the polls uh tell me a little
bit about when you won the
nobel prize i a couple of years ago i thought maybe one day i'd win one yeah
well man it's not too late
but i've kind of given up on that don't give up no don't give up i was a lot
older than you
what what what is the what is that experience for you i mean you're do you you're
notified that you're
in the running you're notified that you won how does that happen i had no idea
in fact i was sound
asleep when the telephone rang the morning that they notified me i didn't even
know it was a day for
the nobel prizes to be awarded i had hoped many years earlier when i negotiated
the peace treaty
between israel and egypt and so and sadat and begging got the nobel prize i
thought i would get it
i thought i deserved to get it but i didn't so so i gave up
but then but but then i was as you remember i was involuntarily retired from
the white house
at a fairly early age and i started and i began the carter center's work in 65
nations in the world
for for peace and for democracy and freedom and environment and alleviation of
suffering and human
rights and it was because of the carter center's work that they finally gave me
the nobel peace prize so
i was very grateful and at the time there were people suggesting that it might
have been a statement
in reaction to the invasion of iraq by the current administration people
celebrating a more
a different way to approach world problems did you believe that that was a
factor then well i i heard
that mentioned but i think it was because early on i did conclude the peace
treaty in egypt and israel
and the work that the carter center has done for the last 25 years and are you
still building houses
uh sunday i'll be leaving for vera cruz and uh and puebla in mexico and my wife
and volunteers will
build 75 homes in vera cruz 75 homes in puebla in five days for poor people in
need that's what i'll be
doing that's next week
this is the novel times bestseller the hornet's nest uh written by president jimmy
carter he painted the
cover art and he just told me that he hand numbered each page an amazing
accomplishment congratulations on
on a wonderful life thank you president jimmy carter ladies and gentlemen we'll
be right back with brandi chastain

Jimmy Carter On "Unjust" Iraq War, Winning The Nobel Prize | David Letterman

you look wonderful
recently earlier this month celebrated your birthday is that correct
yes
and do you mind telling us i guess we all know what the birthday was well when
i was uh 60 i
climbed mount kilimanjaro right uh when i was 65 i went 1100 feet above mount
uh above my average
base camp when i was 70 i climbed mount fuji uh when i was 80 i walked all the
way out to my wood
shopping back and didn't fall down so coincidentally uh roger williams was born
exactly the same day i
was so he and i celebrated our 80th birthday together at the carter center and
he played the
piano for 13 and a half hours wow pretty good to celebrate but he played the
piano i listened
but you look tremendous i get along fine and you feel well and uh absolutely
and continuing to lead
a very productive active life so that's great yes it's wonderful and your wife
is doing well
perfectly well she's a lot younger than i am yeah
let's talk a little bit about the the book now am i correct that this is your
first novel
it's the first novel that i've written and and they tell me it's uh the only
novel that a president's
ever written oh is that right yeah and uh other people related to presidents
have written works of
fiction haven't they or no i'm thinking oh maybe so dan quail's wife vice
president was actually writing
novels is that does that ring a bell with you i think that's true i think she
wrote some yeah and
i think margaret truman wrote some murder mysteries about the white house and
and uh this is based on
the the revolutionary war is that right yes it's a novel about the
revolutionary war and it's uh
and it's uh called the hornet's nest and it's a a very accurate description of
what the revolutionary
war was but i wove in of course fictional characters right it's a very good
book and and what in reading
in reading the book what would we learn about the revolutionary war that we we
didn't know
regardless of how much attention we paid in high school well first of all
almost all of the major
battles that shaped the war were fought in the south is that right from st augustine
florida through georgia
south carolina north carolina and southern virginia the second thing people
would would learn is that
george washington never won a major battle he wanted two skirmishes one at trenton
and one at
princeton but he lost philadelphia while that was going on and what most people
know about the
revolutionary war is that we fought a few skirmishes around boston and uh paul
revere rode a horse at night
and washington crossed the delaware on a storm and cornwallis surrendered that's
about all we know about
the revolutionary war which is the most important war obviously in our nation's
history and and it
was a very bitterly fought war the most ferocious and bloody war we ever fought
as far as hatred was
concerned and we never would have won in the end had the french not joined us
in the final battles and
and controlled the sea so all of those things i think are quite different from
what most americans
remember about the bloodier than the than even the civil war not as many people
died but the hatred was
so intense there was a standard um practice that developed throughout the south
where most of the
major battles were fought that then if you surrendered at the end of a battle
you were executed with a
bayonet thrust or bullet through your head there was it was take uh giving no
quarter i see in other words
don't take any prisoners right right uh how long did it take you to do this to
write the book uh seven
years wow uh well that was all the study the research and the writing yes but
in the meantime i wrote three
other books this is my 18th book yes what's my only no but good it's very
impressive well and it's a
bestseller for you it's a bestseller all right yeah that must be terribly gratifying
um what do you
i i guess as a former office holder this time of year uh you can't help but get
excited about the
election coming up can you that's that's true i i try not to get excited but i
do yeah yeah and and how
do you think things i guess today the most recent poll figures indicate a dead
heat that we're going
into a dead heat now well it looks like i think before the debates there was a
massive uh advantage
for president bush and then the debates i think turned things around and now
apparently on a nationwide
basis president bush is a little bit ahead but in the key states where they you
know electoral votes
are going to be forthcoming it's it's almost a dead heat yes and is this pretty
much exactly where we
were four years ago at this time it's very close yes as as you know it came out
in florida and of
course the florida election was a debacle and nobody ever knows who won that
that election but i think that
that it's as close now in my opinion and the pollsters opinion as it was four
years ago and and is it
likely that the same thing is ahead of us i think it's quite possible i hope
not likely still florida
is close there's not a uniform way to vote in florida there's no real certified
way to recount votes if
it's very close in a particular voting area and there's no doubt that the
secretary of state is a highly
bipartisan republican activist but despite all that my hope is that their close
attention paid
to key places like florida and ohio will result in an honest election that's i
believe it will and
and you've spent a great deal of time uh monitoring elections around the world
is should we be asking
you to go down there and take a look at this one well we just finished our 52nd
election that was in
indonesia and the one before that was in venezuela and i'll be going on a few
days to mozambique
and uh so we do elections all over the world but we have to be first of all
invited in by both sides
which is unlikely in florida
there has to be a central uh control for the entire election process of a
completely non-partisan
basis and of course money shouldn't make any difference in that all the
candidates regardless
of whether they have any money or not should have a chance to present their
plant camp on platform on
the television radio i tell you when we come back i want to ask you what your
impression of
was how things went in afghanistan last week all right fine all right we'll be
right back here with
president jimmy carter everybody the book is the hornet's nest and i i forgot
to mention that in
addition to everything else that we've discussed regarding the book you've also
painted the the
cover very impressive oh thank you and this is likely what it would have been
like fighting in the
revolutionary war well that's the main character in my book and i wanted to
present it the way i think
he actually looked with blonde hair and a ponytail in the back and shooting a
rifle properly my publisher
uh simon schuster wanted me to have a different one that nc wife painted of daniel
boone but it
wasn't like i wanted so i decided to take up painting and uh and do the job
you want it done right by gosh good for you
so to your uh to your observation and what you know which i'm guessing is far
more than most of us
know regarding the election in afghanistan did it turn out all right or not all
right well we don't
yet know i think they've only counted 10 percent of the balance but apparently
it was a safe election
and i think a major step forward yes and and what about the proposed supposed
election in january in iraq
it seems to me to be quite conjectural david you know whether we can have
enough peace and stability and safety on the streets so not only can election
monitors go to
the different places but also so the voters can go without fear of intimidation
that's very
uh doubtful if not unlikely in january and uh so regardless of who is the
president doubtful if
not unlikely in january well i think so well i think ultimately it'll depend on
whether the united
nations is willing to take that responsibility on and i think that would be
regardless of who the
president is i hope i hope a schedule does not slip but you asked me what my
opinion was i think it's
unlikely that we'll be ready in january it takes months and months ahead of a
complicated election to
arrange everything we know from many experiences and and we're not yet doing
that in in your view as a
uh a man of the world and a man of great intellect is is this just the mess uh
iraq now just the mess
that we have to put up with and and tolerate and and grieve over to to
eventually take a step forward
in that region or not well i think so i i personally thought that the war was
unjust and
completely unnecessary it was based on false premises but but now that we are
in iraq i think the best
thing to do is for us to figure out the best way to extricate ourselves and
leave iraq is in charge of
their own political situation and also to bring in allies who can help take
over the responsibilities for
the economic future of iraq and also for the military security of iraq that has
to be done so far we have
not been willing to relinquish as you know either the military or political or
economic control or
influence in iraq and and the deep resentment against our continued presence i
think will be alleviated
consider considerably if and when the united states makes it very clear that
under these conditions and
in this time frame we will withdraw our troops and let the iraqis run their own
affairs and if uh if
if senator carey prevails it's uh on the uh basis of the argument about how the
post-invasion iraq will
be handled do you think that will turn the election i think that still is a
major issue but but i know from
experience uh not only here but around the world that whenever uh a beleaguered
uh leader like a
president or prime minister changes from being the administrator of of health
and welfare and
education and taxation and becomes the commander-in-chief without troops
overseas and in danger
immediately that that escalates the status and the popularity of the incumbent
president as it has
done in the case of george bush and also his his father who was uh who was
before him and that always
happens but i think that uh that has has been the major factor that has perpetuated
george bush into
the present popularity that he has now as you say it's very close had it not
been for that circumstance
as the commanding chief when it's very uh improper in some people's minds even
to criticize the mistakes
that he makes i think he would be much lower in the polls uh tell me a little
bit about when you won the
nobel prize i a couple of years ago i thought maybe one day i'd win one yeah
well man it's not too late
but i've kind of given up on that don't give up no don't give up i was a lot
older than you
what what what is the what is that experience for you i mean you're do you you're
notified that you're
in the running you're notified that you won how does that happen i had no idea
in fact i was sound
asleep when the telephone rang the morning that they notified me i didn't even
know it was a day for
the nobel prizes to be awarded i had hoped many years earlier when i negotiated
the peace treaty
between israel and egypt and so and sadat and begging got the nobel prize i
thought i would get it
i thought i deserved to get it but i didn't so so i gave up
but then but but then i was as you remember i was involuntarily retired from
the white house
at a fairly early age and i started and i began the carter center's work in 65
nations in the world
for for peace and for democracy and freedom and environment and alleviation of
suffering and human
rights and it was because of the carter center's work that they finally gave me
the nobel peace prize so
i was very grateful and at the time there were people suggesting that it might
have been a statement
in reaction to the invasion of iraq by the current administration people
celebrating a more
a different way to approach world problems did you believe that that was a
factor then well i i heard
that mentioned but i think it was because early on i di