A conversation between Paul Courtright of Emory University and Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College on his new book, Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter. Balmer talks about how Carter’s religious formation in the American evangelical tradition informed his early character and later political ambitions that took him to the White House and a continuing career in public service. Balmer attributes much of Carter’s moral vision, focus on human rights as a political agenda, and commitment to mediating conflict to Carter’s religious self-understanding. Randall Balmer is a major interpreter of the evangelical thread in the tapestry of American religious history and its tangled relation to American politics.
