Jimmy Carter died Sunday (December 29th, 2024) at 100 years old.

With his death, there have been many commentaries on his life, his presidency, and his post-presidential life.

By all accounts, his personal life and his post-presidential life were exemplary – reflecting his strong personal and religious values.

His time as president was mixed, starting with his memorable pre-election interview in Playboy (I still recall Barbi Benton was the centerfold).

Others have written of his presidency – with both his successes and his failures (of the latter there were many – some self-inflicted due to personnel choices; some not).

I only wanted to comment on two things.

First, he was president when I was in the Navy and he had been a Navy nuke – even though he had never gone to sea in a boat (he would have served on the first USS Seawolf if he hadn’t resigned his commission due to the death of his father).

The second reason was that he was a fly fisherman – along with his wife Rosalynn,  was a committed environmentalist, and a man who saw his time past his presidency as returning to the people.

Yvon Chouinard. founder of Patagonia, released his own statement about Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and their support of the environment.

Fly Fisherman had a retrospective on his fly fishing adventures.

For both his time as Naval Officer and his fly fishing, I say Fair Winds, Mister President, and Tight Lines!