SOLDIER OF FORTUNE


Small-town peanut warehouser's son of a good but obscure name
One day soon to be president and a man of international fame
For he's commander-in-chief of history's tried army and he does whatever      he will
Soldier of fortune from the great war, the war on Calvary hill


There will be times of utter frustration, tears of rage, compromise and much      pain
A wicked, vile and corrupt congress will utterly oppose everything that is sane
Though he promotes peace and goodwill, displays courage and gives sound      advice
He will lose popularity in the polls and be utterly reviled in the press


But there is an overall battle plan, a whole lot bigger than one would ever
     guess
For the last will someday be first and the vain and proud will soon be much
     less
He has been chosen to be an example of what a truly great leader should be
One who fears God with all his heart and who seeks peace through humility


He will promote peace through social justice, helping the poor find shelter
     and bread
For without a vision we the people perish and without works, our faith
     is dead
On history's great ancient rock he will build a solid Human Rights foundation
One that stands for peace and goodwill, for every tongue and for every nation


And like wise James of old who wrote history's little book of true revolution
He will go down in the pages of time as one who knew and practiced the      solution
Among often violent and corrupt modern rulers, he transcends the rest as being
     most wise *
President James Earl Carter---Twentieth Century Nobel Peace Prize **


Small-town peanut warehouser's son of a good but obscure name
One day soon to be president and a man of international fame
For he's commander-in-chief of history's tried army and he does whatever
     he will
Soldier of fortune from the great war, the war on Calvary hill
Holding earth's kings and pawns in his hand, he does whatever he will
Soldier of fortune from the great war, the war on Calvary hill
Soldier of fortune from the great war, the war on Calvary hill


The Carter Center

Habitat for Humanity International


*FootNote:  While being interviewed on national television, Walter Cronkite was asked, out of all of the 20th Century's political leaders he had personally met and talked with, which one in his opinion had the best grasp on issues and overall solutions to the most pressing modern problems facing our country and our planet.  Without a moment's hesitation, Mr. Cronkite answered, "President Carter".  Several years after the Carter administration, even Newt Gingrich admitted that most of what President Carter tried to push past an unbending, uncaring and self-serving congress was a good idea, fundamentally correct and in the long-term best interest of the American people.  One of the most unfortunate realities of modern American politics is that sitting presidents are often blamed for problems created by long since passed administrations and the ever-recalcitrant members of congressional malfeasance.  The watch of President Carter bore the downside brunt of the immeasurably costly (in many ways) results of the war in Viet Nam and an oil crises without precedent and beyond his control (thus double-digit inflation); the war, of course, occurred several years before President Carter was elected and the selfishness of OPEC had not previously been exposed as a significant global problem.  The skill in which the Carter administration reacted to the oil crises and dealt with OPEC spared America much future grief and ultimately brought the price of oil under control for decades to follow.

**FootNote II:  Written before President Carter was finally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2002, more than twenty years after he should have already received what should be the planet's highest honor, although several recent nominations have brought the credibility of the Nobel Prize itself into serious question.



           


Copyright © August 20th, 2003 by Richard Aberdeen.

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