# Jimmy Carter — "The title of citizen" > [!quote] "In a few days I will lay down my official responsibilities in this office — to take up once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of President, the title of citizen." > — Jimmy Carter, Farewell Address to the Nation, January 14, 1981 (six days before handing power to [[Ronald Reagan]], who defeated him) ## Context Carter delivered his farewell having lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan in a landslide. He had conceded on election night and pledged a smooth handover; in the address he promised to "work hard to make sure that the transition from myself to the next President is a good one." The "title of citizen" line is his summation of what it means to leave power willingly. ## Why this matters The democratic inversion of status, stated by a sitting president on his way out: in a republic, "citizen" outranks "President." Carter frames yielding power not as defeat but as a return to the only sovereign office that matters — the people themselves. It is the disposition that makes peaceful transfer possible: a leader who believes the office is a trust to be returned, not a possession to be defended. The contrast with a president who treats losing as theft, and the presidency as his by right, is the whole point of staging these receipts. ## Verification - **Primary source:** [The American Presidency Project, Carter Farewell Address to the Nation, January 14, 1981](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/farewell-address-the-nation-0); [Jimmy Carter Presidential Library](https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/the-carters/selected-speeches/president-jimmy-carters-farewell-address). - **Status:** Verbatim from the official text. Undisputed. ## Related quotes - [[Gerald Ford - the genius of the American system]] — the man Carter beat in 1976, describing the same transfer from the losing side. - [[Ronald Reagan - nothing less than a miracle]] — the man who beat Carter, marveling at the transfer six days later. - Featured in [[Presidents on the Peaceful Transfer of Power]].