An Agenda With Presidential Stature

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Jimmy Carter, one of the youngest Presidents to serve in the White House, addressed a meeting of Young Presidents' Organization Inc., held in Hawaii in February. Carter shares some of his thoughts on YPO and its members.

"I tried to encourage the young leaders to address public affairs and the shaping of the nation's and the world's future with the same degree of commitment, enthusiasm, and ability that they'd already exhibited in their own personal business afairs," he says.

"They were particularly interested in the business management aspects of government," the former President recalls, "how the budget was put together, what some of the conflicting demands were on the President's time, how foreign policy was shaped... how we related to foreign countries in matters involving a combination of government policy, diplomacy, economics, finance, and trade. They were very broad and, I thought, very intelligent questions."

Carter said that YPO had been highly recommended by friends. "I was impressed with the broad range of national and international affairs that had been placed on the agenda of the university....I found YPOers to be very serious and dedicated businessmen, and the diligence with which they pursued these fairly advanced theoretical and practical questions was quite impressive."

His peanut processing business in Plains, Ga., wasn't large enough to qualify Carter for YPO membership until shortly before he became governor. "But by then," he notes, "I was deeply involved in politics."