Writing, Revolution Keep Carter Energized At 80

In the years since he left the White House, President Jimmy Carter has marshaled his seemingly boundless energies on behalf of world peace - a quest rewarded two years ago with the Nobel Prize. But when Carter decided to write a novel and thereby become the first US president to turn his hand to fiction (the published kind, anyway), he chose as his subject a bitter, protracted, and, in Carter's view, much-misunderstood conflict: the Revolutionary War.

"Americans inherently want to avoid [thinking about] the brutality and callousness and intense hatred and bloodiness of that war," Carter said yesterday in a telephone interview."But it was by far the worst one in which America has ever fought." It is also, in his view,"the most important conflict in American history," but one that has been"seriously neglected as far as a true description of what did occur."

Carter turned 80 a couple of weeks ago, but he shows no signs of slowing the pace that has made him one of the most active ex-presidents in US history. He will be at the Framingham Barnes & Noble at 6 p.m. today to sign copies of the just-published paperback versions of his novel set during the War of Independence,"The Hornet's Nest," and a memoir,"Christmas in Plains."

As a candidate facing off against Gerald Ford in 1976 and as an incumbent challenged by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Carter took part in debates that some historians view as decisive (in Carter's favor in 1976, when Ford committed the gaffe of saying Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination, and to Carter's detriment in 1980, when Reagan exceeded expectations and got off his"There you go again" line).

Though Carter focused primarily on his book in yesterday's interview, he has clearly been paying attention to the current presidential campaign, and he said in response to a question that he believes Democratic nominee John F. Kerry benefited from his three debates with President Bush.

"All three debates, the general public thought that John Kerry clearly won, which certainly enhanced his capability in winning votes," Carter said."The debates certainly helped Kerry in every respect, compared to the prospects he had before the debates." He noted that some polls still show Bush with a slight lead, but added,"What we can't forget is that it is key states that make a difference."

While unpopular at the time he left office in 1980, Carter has won wide admiration for the way he has spent the past 24 years. He and his wife, Rosalynn, who still live in the small town of Plains, Ga., have built houses for the poor as part of Habitat for Humanity. As president, he sought to push human rights to the top of the national agenda; as an ex-president, he founded the nonpartisan Carter Center, which has launched proj ects to combat disease and foster peace in more than 65 countries. The Nobel Peace Prize capped two decades during which Carter was called upon to mediate numerous conflicts and to monitor elections around the world.

He has also filled a small bookshelf with his own literary outpouring."The Hornet's Nest" is his 15th book since he left office and his 18th overall. Carter spent seven years researching and writing it while also working on three other books."I had written all kinds of books before, including an autobiography and memoirs and how to negotiate a peace agreement and two religious books and a book of poetry, so I was ready to try something new." Carter said yesterday.

So he asked college literature professors to"take me on as an unofficial student and give me advice on plots, creating characters, and writing dialogue." He needed no advice on the novel's subject: Carter settled on the Revolutionary War because his ancestors were involved in the conflict and because he believed that many misconceptions had become embedded in the American understanding of the war.

For one thing, he said, the importance of the battles fought in the South had been seriously shortchanged by historians. He suggested it has something to do with the fact that"most of the books had been written by people from the Boston area." So while many people know about events such as Paul Revere's ride, he said, they are not aware that"the basic thrust of the war really took place in the South, from Florida up through Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina and into Virginia."