Meeting the President

I consider it my good fortune to have met former United States President Jimmy Carter on Thursday night in Louisville. As you probably know, since leaving office President Carter has devoted much of his time and effort to resolving conflict in the Middle East. He has written several books on Middle Eastern relations and during his tenure as President, was credited with negotiating peace between Israel and Egypt. He has recently written a book called "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Those of you that know me know that I have a deep-rooted interest in Middle Eastern and Islamic affairs. I'm not sure where this came from exactly, but the relationships I've developed with friends from various Middle Eastern countries have only caused me to nurture a deeper interest and defense of Islam as a religion of peace. One of my close friends, Shima, who is studying with me in my graduate program at the University of Louisville, is from Palestine and is currently there visiting family. Growing up in America, I've been rather ignorant of the conflict between Palestine and Israel because as you know in America, if it doesn't happen in our country or involve our country, you won't see it on the news. However, I've gained a new and differing perspective on this conflict recently from conversations with Shima and from some non-American passages that I've read. It seems that there are in fact two sides to this conflict, rather than the one side many Americans want to believe.

Ok, so enough about politics. Truth be told, I had heard about this book recently and was interested in picking it up when I learned that President Carter himself would be in Louisville signing copies. I've met a sitting Vice-President, but never a President, so I thought I'd stop in. I'm glad that I did. The crowd was long and it took a while to reach the front, but I was able to meet him. As you can imagine, Secret Service was everywhere and instructing everyone "no conversation, no asking him to sign anything personal, etc. He'll sign his name only and that's it. No photos or even taking one's camera out until you go through the line, then you may stand behind the rope 20 feet away and take one photo, then you must move on. He'll shake your hand once, but don't ask for anything else." For a former leader of the world's biggest democracy, the set-up was a dictatorship at its finest.

President Carter seemed to be enjoying the event, contrary to what Secret Service preferred. I think the rules were in place more for him, because he seemed to want to greet and talk with each individual personally. He signed my book, shook my hand, and smiled and said "hello" sincerely. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and meet everyone. Fifteen seconds later, I was rushed through the line abruptly by Secret Service and told to be on my way.

It's not every day that one gets to meet a former President, and I'm glad that I did. He was elected to his only term when I was five months old, so his tenure had a great influence on me....:). His legacy has certainly improved tremendously with time, due to his work in the Middle East. I'm looking forward to one day giving this book to my daughter, and showing her the signature inside of a former US President. I only hope that her response to the book will be "You mean Israel and Palestine once did not get along?!?"