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By Hemesh Patel

Daily Bruin Reporter

Today, Jimmy Carter will join the company of basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actor James Earl Jones and composer Henry Mancini – all of whom have received the university’s highest honor.

The 76-year-old former president will receive the UCLA Medal in Royce Hall this afternoon.

Carter will also deliver a lecture on “Talking Peace” as part of the 21st Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture Series on the Conditions of Peace.

The lecture series, which began in 1980, takes place each year and is sponsored by the UCLA Ron W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, found success in foreign relations with achievements including the Camp David Accord, which established peace between Egypt and Israel.

He was also responsible for completing full diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, which was initiated by Richard Nixon.

Despite these successes, the Carter administration saw a number of tragedies, including rising inflation and the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Harsh criticism followed the disasters of his presidency.

“In the heat of campaigns, nobody who reaches such a high position is evil or stupid,” said Thomas Schwartz, professor of political science at UCLA. “It’s the hardest job in the world, and it’s very easy to criticize it.”

Officials at the university have long wanted to present the award to Carter.

“President Carter has been nominated two times before but because of scheduling, he could not accept,” said Assistant Chancellor Antoinette Mongelli.

Schwartz said Carter could be called an “accidental president” because the 1976 election was so close – similar to this year’s election, which polls show is too close to call.

Many have granted Carter with negative criticism, some even saying that he won the election by default.

“Carter had very little relevant experience and acted like late-19th century Republican presidents, in that he ran everything from his desk,” Schwartz said. “He acted like he was running a small general store rather than a large government.”

Part of the criticism geared towards Carter has been his minimal interaction with those he worked with.

“He never had a loyal following, even in his own administration and in the cabinet,” Schwartz said. “He had no rapport at all with the Democratic leadership in Congress, and as a result he was unable to do anything.”

He said Carter inherited the country’s state of economic stagflation – a combination of high inflation and high unemployment – from Gerald Ford. The United States saw a huge jump in salaries under Carter.

“In 1973, I bought a considerably high-end car for $4,500, but today a high-end car costs $45,000,” he said.

The crisis in Iran, which occurred in 1979, involved a crowd of 500 seizing the U.S. Embassy and holding 90 Americans hostage.

The crisis lasted for 444 days, and 52 people remained in captivity until the end.

Despite opposition from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Carter attempted a rescue mission that failed. After three of eight helicopters were damaged in a sandstorm, the operation was aborted and eight people were killed in the attempt.

“The hostage crisis almost inevitably sealed his doom as president,” Schwartz said. “Carter took too much personal responsibility, it consumed him.”

“There’s nothing Carter could have done to save himself,” he said.

Apart from the number of failures that occurred during his administration, some praise Carter for his character.

“I love Jimmy Carter,” said visiting assistant professor Ted Rueter. “There’s no one I admire more.”

Rueter called him a man of great honor, integrity and good will. He said Carter is responsible for wiping out diseases in Africa and overseeing democratic elections in Latin America.

But Ronald Rogowski, another political science professor, disagreed and said the Carter administration was a disaster – although adding that the former president did make a push for human rights in areas such as Latin America.

“There was a beginning of some concern for human rights and dealings with other countries and has been a lasting kind of concern,” Rogowski said

After leaving the Oval Office, the former president established the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The center is a non-profit organization and has since begun projects in more than 65 countries to resolve conflicts, and prevent human rights abuses. It also observes foreign election processes to ensure they are run fairly.

Schwartz said some call Carter “the best ex-president” because of what he has accomplished since his departure from the White House.

“He was a far better former president, perhaps he was not ready to be president,” he said. “He is the most exemplary ex-president.”

But Schwartz disagrees with the statement made about Carter.

“I don’t think so, (Carter) says absurd things. For instance he praised Kim Il Sung as the George Washington of Asia,” he said.

Sung was the North Korean leader who attempted to unify North and South Korea under communism with force in 1949.

Schwartz said lessons learned from Carter’s administration apply to this year’s presidential election, warning voters to think about their choice.

“Do you want a president who has a head full of ideas or a president who has political leadership?” he said.

The event will take place at 4 p.m. this afternoon in Royce Hall and is open to the public. The event will be broadcasted live on the Internet at http://www.oid.ucla.edu/webcast.