Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will lie in state next week in Washington, D.C. Carter, who grew up in Plains, Georgia, where he was a peanut farmer before going into public service, is admired by many Americans for his humanitarian accomplishments after leaving the presidency. What did the 39th President of the United States have to say about Puerto Rico?
1978 anniversary address
On July 25, 1978, Carter marked the anniversary of the Constitution of Puerto Rico with an address commemorating that anniversary. “Since 1898 and as American citizens since 1917, you have made a rich contribution to the life of the United States while preserving your own unique culture and traditions within the broader community,” he began.
He went on to assure the people of Puerto Rico that “the United States remains fully committed to the principle of self-determination for the people of Puerto Rico.” The term “self-determination” continues to be used in Washington, even though it has begun to sound meaningless.
“President Eisenhower made that commitment in 1953, and this has been the position of all U.S. administrations since that time,” said Carter. “We continue to regard it as the fundamental principle in deciding Puerto Rico’s future.” We could say that every administration since Carter has also made a commitment to self-determination, but it seems to have been more meaningful to Carter than it is now. “My administration will respect the wishes of the people of Puerto Rico and your right to self-determination,” he continued. “Should the government of Puerto Rico decide to hold a referendum, I will support, and urge the Congress to support, whatever decision the people of Puerto Rico reach.”
The speech ended with continued support for Puerto Rico’s free choice of political status: “The people of the United States are proud of our cultural and political associations with Puerto Rico over the last 80 years. We know that we can best honor our friendship, and our own democratic principles, by respecting your free choice about your own future.”
Now here we are, nearly half a century later. Puerto Rico has chosen statehood in four referenda, most recently in 2024 with 58% of votes favoring statehood. Congress has not yet supported the decision the people of Puerto Rico have reached.
Statehood supporter
Newspapers at the time of that speech claimed that Carter supported statehood, and that his neutral-sounding words promising self-determination were intended to hedge his political bets. Having returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama and foreseeing further controversy with the United Nations Decolonization Committee, Carter may have felt that he needed to back away from the statehood question. Nonetheless, “Jimmy Carter is fast on the way to becoming the patron of Puerto Rico as the 51st state,” The Washington Post announced. “In Puerto Rico the statehood tide is unquestionably flowing.”
Carter was just one of the many U.S. presidents who have supported statehood for Puerto Rico. While it is Congress, not the president, who must vote to admit a new state, a supportive president can speed up the process. Some presidents in the past have vetoed statehood bills admitting territories as states. Congress presented the bills to a later president and the territories were eventually admitted.
The admission of Puerto Rico as a state was not part of President Carter’s legacy, even if he would have wanted it to be. Which president will get the bragging rights for the 51st state?
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