Jimmy Carter made a campaign stop in West New York just before the New Jersey primary in 1976.

I was young at the time, but already interested in politics. Living in Union City, I journeyed about 30 blocks north to watch the proceedings.

Folks like to talk these days about how mean and nasty politics has become. Probably so.

Then again, things were not always civil nearly 50 years ago either. While waiting for Carter to arrive at the campaign stop – somewhere on Bergenline  Avenue – a spirited debate ensued on the sidewalk.

I vividly recall a man haranguing a woman and Carter supporter. The woman had her daughter, who looked to be about 10-years-old, with her.

The man said that Carter was “going to bus that child – bus her into the central ward of Newark.”

Busing to integrate and racially balance schools was a big issue back then, and this guy clearly was not a fan of busing – or Carter.

Carter, of course, won the nomination and came back to the area during the fall campaign for a rally at North Bergen’s Scheutzen Park, which dated back to the early twentieth century when northern Hudson County was mostly German.

I missed that one, but a New York Times report noted that Carter was being heckled. It added:

“The slogans and Bronx cheers continued until halfway through Mr. Carter’s 10‐minute speech, when someone in the crowd punched one of the hecklers.”

Welcome to Hudson County.

The point of these anecdotes establishes the inevitable “Jersey connection” to just about everything.

Much is now being written about Carter’s presidency after his death Sunday at 100. As is normal in such cases, not much of it is new.

Many people know how he won the presidency after the corruption of Watergate by promising to be decent and honest – and regular. He famously walked the inaugural parade route.

Also well remembered was how high energy prices, inflation and the Iranian hostage crisis destroyed his presidency.

That, unfortunately, seems to have overshadowed the Carter-engineered Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, which continue to this day.
Carter has received the most accolades for his post-presidential career and rightly so.

In simple terms, Carter and the initiative he created have spent decades working to settle disputes overseas, monitor elections and eradicate some awful diseases. There also was his work with Habitat for Humanity.

It’s impossible to think of a president who has done more for the common good after leaving office.

It is worth mentioning here that Carter’s faith as a born-again Christian can not be overlooked.

Follow politics for a bit and you often hear candidates and officeholders talk piously about their faith – and how they are guided by a belief in a higher power.

A lot of times this tends to be lip service, nothing more.

That didn’t seem to be the case with Carter whose faith was genuine. He taught Sunday School into his 90’s and he continued to live in Plains, Ga, a small hamlet in the southwest part of the state. Clearly, he had no need to live in a mansion in an exotic location – or for excessive material treasures.

As historians look back, Jimmy Carter will not be judged as a great president.

But he will be judged as a great former president. Maybe the best ever.