Someone asked me today who I would invite to dinner if I could ask anyone anywhere, living or dead.

Other people in the group selected deceased loved ones who they wanted to see again, but I picked the person I always pick when I’m asked this question — Jimmy Carter.

Carter was the first person I ever voted for for president, although, as usual, my vote didn’t count because of the Electoral College. I wish Carter had been a better president. I think history has labeled him mediocre at best (mediocre actually sounds pretty good right now). But he certainly is the best former president in my lifetime, perhaps ever. While others are being paid tens of thousands of dollars for giving speeches (Bill  Clinton, another candidate who didn’t get to count my vote), or are resting on their laurels down at the ranch, Carter has traveled around the world supervising elections. And while other 95-year-olds are telling stories from rocking chairs on their front porches, he and his wife are working on Habitat for Humanity sites, continuing to make life better for people around the world.

After we finish talking about what an idiot Trump is, I have lots of questions for Carter: Is he ever sorry he ran for president? How hard was it to parent from such a powerful job? But today, I want to know what he’s doing during quarantine. Has he found a way to continue to make a difference, or is he sitting in Plains in his sweatpants?

PHOTO: Jimmy Carter tours Oak Ridge, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Domain. I used this picture because I was there, interning at The Oak Ridger during Carter’s visit. Click here if you’d like to read the article I wrote that day about an anti-nuclear demonstration.