White House Diary

By: Jimmy Carter

Narrated by: Jimmy Carter, Boyd Gaines

The edited, annotated diary of President Jimmy Carter - filled with insights into his presidency, his relationships with friends and foes, and his lasting impact on issues that still preoccupy America and the world.

Each day during his presidency, Jimmy Carter made several entries in a private diary, recording his thoughts, impressions, delights, and frustrations. He offered unvarnished assessments of cabinet members, congressmen, and foreign leaders; he narrated the progress of secret negotiations such as those that led to the Camp David Accords. When his four-year term came to an end in early 1981, the diary amounted to more than 5,000 pages. But this extraordinary document has never been made public - until now. By carefully selecting the most illuminating and relevant entries, Carter has provided us with an astonishingly intimate view of his presidency. Day by day, we see his forceful advocacy for nuclear containment, sustainable energy, human rights, and peace in the Middle East. We witness his interactions with such complex personalities as Ted Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, Joe Biden, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin. We get the inside story of his so-called “malaise speech”, his bruising battle for the 1980 Democratic nomination, and the Iranian hostage crisis. Remarkably, we also get Carter’s retrospective comments on these topics and more: 30 years after the fact, he has annotated the diary with his candid reflections on the people and events that shaped his presidency, and on the many lessons learned. Carter is now widely seen as one of the truly wise men of our time.

Offering an unprecedented look at both the man and his tenure, this fascinating audiobook will stand as a unique contribution to the history of the American presidency.

©2010 Jimmy Carter (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

An Annotated Diary

Essentially, this is an annotated edition of President Jimmy Carter’s diary which he kept while in Washington. He has very brief comments related to each portion which refer to specific circumstances, explain circumstances, or comment on current, present outcomes. I am not a particular fan of Jimmy Carter, but I did find the book interesting though not exciting. It allows a glimpse into the President’s daily life and routine and reads in a routine sort of way. It is revealing in a few places, but there are not real surprises if you are familiar with the territory. If you are a fan of Carter you will be rewarded. If you are not a fan, you will find the diary self serving. However, diaries and memoirs are written to support one’s own point of view. If readers will simply suspend judgment and let Carter explain himself, they will be rewarded. For me, a far more exciting and rewarding glimpse into how a president’s life in office is revealed in “Reading for Glory” the White House tapes of Lyndon Johnson. These are also annotated and edited, but it is LBJ unguarded. This record is also available from Audible and a wonderful listen. The annotations are read by the President and the diary portions are aptly interpreted by Boyd Gaines.

A great book

A wonderful book that outlines the fantastic presidential administration that Jimmy Carter held. I highly recommend this book!

Carter's religion overrides

This book is well written and well performed and helps the listener to understand Carter's failures that resulted from his placing his personal religion before the needs of the country. Carter did not understand that is necessary for the president to engage with the press and support their legitimacy in our democracy. He continually dismisses the press and thinks he could do better without them. Like Trump he has no sense of humor nor the courage to do the White House correspondents dinner. Carter seems to interpret form policy through the lens of his personal religion.

An inside look at the demands of the Presidency

Carter's WHITE HOUSE DIARY pulls back the curtain on the day-to-day activities of the President in a way that I have not seen in other presidential memoirs. It is an honest assessment of the daily successes and failures, as well as the very human frustrations and frills of the job. The book contains chronological excerpts from Carter's diary. What I liked most about the book was that Carter (in his voice) provided a modern (c.a. 2010) analysis of many of the entries, casting them in a historical light, admitting mistakes, celebrating successes, making this a kind of annotated diary.

Lots of detail

great detailed introspection of the details and daily life of the President Jimmy Carter years.