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The question

If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Jimmy Carter

39th President of the United States, 1977–1981; Governor of Georgia 1971–1975

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
I wish I sent one more helicopter to get the hostages and we would have rescued then and I - I would have been re-elected, but that may have - and that may have interfered with the foundation of the Carter Center. And if I had to choose between four more years and the Carter Center, I think I would choose the Carter Center.

News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 203 →
Steve Pemberton British actor and comedian
Nothing – haven’t you heard of the butterfly effect? I could find myself still collecting glasses in Charnock Richard while Donald Sutherland would be enjoying my life.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 May 2019 source ↗
Jodie Whittaker English actress
Getting my tongue pierced aged 15, when I had train-track braces on both my top and bottom teeth. Huge error.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 September 2018 source ↗

More from Jimmy Carter

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Question What became visible only after your working life slowed down or ended? Time & hindsight
I'm the only president that's ever visited Africa south of the Sahara Desert. I went to two (African) countries while I was president, and I didn't know the potential of that continent, nor the challenges that faced those people. Now I do. To a much greater extent I didn't understand the [widespread] problems in our own country, from a personal point of view. I was dealing with billions of dollars that would be allocated for education or health or welfare or housing, or whatever. But I didn't know from a personal point of view the people that actually were in need or that were the recipients of those quite often inadequate and ill-designed programs.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Atlanta, Georgia, 25 October 1991 source ↗
Question Does the thought of dying frighten you? Death & what remains
At first I - I felt that it was confined to my liver and that they had - the operation had completely removed it. And so I felt quite relieved. And then that same afternoon we had an MRI of my head and neck and it showed up that it was already in four places in my brain. So I would say that night and the next day, until I came back up to Emory, I just thought I had a few weeks left. But I was surprisingly at ease. You know, I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends and I've had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence. So I was surprisingly at ease, much more so than my wife was.
Recorded News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗
Question What are you still hoping to finish? Death & what remains
As far as the Carter Center's concerned, I would like to see guinea worm completely eradicated before -- before I die. I'd like for the last guinea worm to die before I do. ... I think right now, we have 11 cases. We started out with 3.6 million cases. And I think we have two cases in South Sudan and one case in Ethiopia and one case in Mali and seven cases in Chad. That's all the guinea worms in the world, and we know where all of them are. So obviously, that would be my top priority.
Recorded Maria Saporta, News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗
Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains
Well, the best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn. That's the pinnacle of my life. And we've had 69 years together. Still together. And so that's the best thing that happened to me. But I think getting involved in politics and going up, you know, as a state senator, then governor, and then president of the United States is, obviously a glorious event. So - and we have a growing family. We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren now and they're coming every year. So - so we have a good, harmonious family.
Recorded News conference at the Carter Center, Atlanta, as transcribed by CNN, 20 August 2015 source ↗
Question Which teacher, parent, coach, or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them? Relationships
My mother in that way I've described. My daddy taught me how much a man could do in dealing directly with a multiplicity of responsibilities. Outside my family, the main person, outside of my father, the main man who has had an influence on my life is Admiral Hyman Rickover. I was one of the two young officers in the program to build atomic submarines. There were two built: the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf. I was in charge of the crew that was helping to build the Sea Wolf and building the nuclear power plant that later became a prototype. Rickover was a man who demanded absolute excellence and total dedication from all those who worked under him. He demanded as much from himself. And so he set a standard of commitment and perfection in life that I had never experienced before. He really had a great impact on my life.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview source ↗

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