Mr Jimmy Carter richly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him yesterday for his peace-making and human rights work. He has carried on such work tirelessly since his electoral defeat by Ronald Reagan in the 1981 presidential campaign.
Famously his deeds out of office earned him the tribute that he was a better ex-president than an incumbent.
As James Reston put it, his whole life has prepared him for elder statesmanship - except that his doggedness and determination have been untiring, involving work in 65 countries over the last 20 years. The range and scope of that work are daunting. So also are the imagination, detail and sympathy Mr Carter has brought to bear on it. Abiding themes have been the need to find peaceful solutions to conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, environmental protection and energy conservation. And that is not all. His organisation has helped to eliminate Guinea worm disease in Africa, and has built houses in many poor communities.
Mr Carter lost power as a result of the 1979 revolution in Iran and the hostage crisis involving US citizens there. This coincided with an economic recession - a lethal combination electorally. It is interesting that the Nobel award should coincide with another looming crisis in the region - over Iraq.
Mr Carter has been critical of any rush to war by the Bush Administration, demanding that maximum effort be made to find a peaceful resolution through the United Nations. In this he has been more outspoken than many current Democratic Party leaders fearful of being branded as soft on Saddam Hussein.
Mr Carter was somewhat embarrassed yesterday by the outspoken remarks made by the chairman of the Nobel panel in Oslo. Mr Gunnar Berge said the award "can and must be interpreted as a criticism of the position of the administration currently sitting in the US towards Iraq." Although other committee members distanced themselves from his remarks, the thrust of what he said resonated widely. That should be a warning to Mr Bush not to take allies and friends of the US for granted in coming weeks and months, as the Iraq crisis deepens. He has a huge job to convince people at home and abroad that Iraq poses the threat he insists it does and merits the military assault he is threatening.
The award to Mr Carter reminds us that the US is a very diverse society indeed politically and culturally.