Jimmy Carter has baffled the public from his first bid for elective office in racially divided rural Georgia through his post-presidential career as a global peacemaker and human rights activist. Is he a moral visionary or a well-meaning but sometimes misguided moralizer? More importantly, what might America learn about itself by examining the life and legacy of this enigmatic leader? In Jimmy Carter, American Moralist, Kenneth E. Morris aims to show readers that any conclusions about Carter's leadership and its adequacy to his challenges as president cannot ignore the moral quandary that vexed the American nation not only under Carter but ever since. Through film and popular music, personality profile and campaign summaries, poll findings and landmark court decisions, the author attempts to shed light on the cultural forces that shaped Carter and produced the troubled society that made him president.