Here is how a president's retirement should look

My 98-year-old mother, Flo, a longtime Illinois resident now residing in Carmel, California, recently commented on the curious state of affairs in our country under the current president and what might happen after the Nov. 3 election.

She grew up in a single parent household with three siblings, survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, 911, 17 presidents and now a pandemic.

"Remember Jimmy Carter?" she said. "Remember what he did AFTER he left the presidency?"

After a single term President Carter did not move into self-absorbed retirement, licking his wounds and sulking. He remained active on the world stage for years helping improve the condition of so many:

• He founded the Carter Center in 1982. With a mission to advance peace and health worldwide, the center has helped improve life for people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts and advancing democracy, human rights and economic opportunity. The center has also observed 100 elections in 38 countries - ensuring fairness and helping to strengthen democracies.

• He has been associated with Habitat for Humanity, first participating in work crews in 1984.

• In 1998 Carter received the United Nations' Human Rights Prize, awarded only once every five years. • He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

I wonder how our current president will slither into retirement. Thanks, Mom, for your subtle prodding, devoid of politics, on what a true world leader is.

Dennis Terdy

Glen Ellyn