♪ ♪ ♪ >> Stephen: WELCOME BACK,

EVERYBODY.

MY NEXT GUEST IS AN MSNBC ANALYST AND "NEW

YORK TIMES" BESTSELLING PRESIDENTIAL BIOGRAPHER.

HIS LATEST BOOK, ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JIMMY CARTER, IS CALLED

"HIS VERY BEST."

PLEASE WELCOME TO "A LATE SHOW," JONATHAN ALTER.

JON, GOOD TO SEE YOU.

>> HI, STEPHEN.

>> Stephen: PEOPLE OUT THERE DON'T KNOW, BUT FOR REASONS WE

DON'T HAVE TO GET INTO RIGHT NOW, YOU WERE A PERSON WHO WAS A

GREAT RESOURCE FOR ME OVER AT THE "COLBERT REPORT."

YOU GAVE US PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT HAPPENS HAPPENING POLITICALLY

FREQUENTLY ON THAT SHOW.

AND YOU HAVE A REAL VIEW ON THE HISTORY OF THE POLITICS IN

AMERICA.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THE DEBATE WE SAW LAST NIGHT?

>> YOU KNOW, NO.

IT IS COMPLETELY UNPRECEDENTED.

IT'S ALSO AN EXTRAORDINARILY EMBARRASSING MOMENT FOR OUR

COUNTRY.

AND I KIND OF ACHE FOR OUR COUNTRY AFTER SEEING THAT.

YOU KNOW, THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING, AND THIS MAN IS, YOU

KNOW, A MENACE TO PUBLIC HEALTH, A MENACE TO OUR COUNTRY, A

MENACE TO DEMOCRACY.

AND THAT'S WHAT THE REAL ISSUE IS NOW, IS THAT HE'S MADE IT

CLEAR THAT HE WILL NOT ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION IF

THEY DON'T GO HIS WAY.

WE HAVE LITERALLY NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN OUR WHOLE

HISTORY.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, AFTER A SECOND TERM, HE STEPPED DOWN AS

PRESIDENT.

AND THAT SET THE PRECEDENT, REALLY, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN

THE WHOLE WORLD, OF A PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.

AFTER THAT, EVERY ELECTION, THERE WAS A PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF

POWER, EVEN WHEN IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY CLOSE, WENT TO

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THERE STILL WAS THAT TRANSFER OF

POWER.

>> Stephen: WELL, LET'S TALK ABOUT A PRESIDENT WHO IS MUCH

MALINED DURING HIS TERM, AND CERTAINLY HIS PRESIDENCY HAS

BEEN MALIGNED SINCE, BUT HE INVENTED THE POSTPRESIDENT.

ASK THAT IS JIMMY CARTER.

THE BOOK IS CALLED "HIS VERY BEST."

DO YOU THINK CARTER IS MISUNDERSTOOD?

>> YOU KNOW, HE IS COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTOOD.

I MEAN, IT STARTS WITH, YOU KNOW, THIS KIND OF LAZY-MINDED

ASSUMPTION, WHICH IS VERY COMMON AND UNDERSTANDABLE, THAT HE WAS

A BAD PRESIDENT AND A GREAT FORMER PRESIDENT.

IN FACT, HE WAS AN UNDER-RATED, MISUNDERSTOOD PRESIDENT.

AND, YOU KNOW, AN INSPIRATIONAL FORMER PRESIDENT, BUT HE HASN'T

HAD ANY LEVERS OF POWER, YOU KNOW, TO DO-- TO MAKE REAL

CHANGE.

HE'S HELPED ERADICATE DISEASE.

HE DID SOME PEACEMAKING.

HE'S BUILT HOUSES, AS PEOPLE KNOW.

HE'S MONITORED ELECTIONS OVERSEAS-- ALL GREAT WORK BY THE

CARTER CENTER.

HE REVOLUTIONIZED WHAT FORMER PRESIDENTS DO.

BUT HE DID SO MUCH MORE WHEN HE WAS IN OFFICE.

THE PROBLEM IS THAT HE WAS A POLITICAL FAILURE AND A

STYLISTIC FAILURE AT A CERTAIN POINT.

I ARGUE THAT EVEN THOUGH HE WAS A POLITICAL FAILURE AND GOT HIS

BUTT KICKED BY RONALD REAGAN IN 1980 AND MADE A LOT OF MISTAKES,

HE WAS A SUBSTANTIVE AND FARSIGHTED, EVEN VISIONARY

SUCCESS.

EIGHT OUT OF 14 ENVIRONMENTAL BILLS HE SIGNED.

HE SIGNED MORE LEGISLATION THAN ANY PRESIDENT, EXCEPT FOR LYNDON

JOHNSON, SINCE WORLD WAR II.

AND MANY OF THEM CHANGED-- MANY OF THESE BILLS CHANGED THE

COUNTRY IN FUNDAMENTAL WAYS.

THE PRESS JUST WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION TO IT.

>> Stephen: I KNOW YOU SAT DOWN WITH THE PRESIDENT MANY

TIMES FOR THIS BOOK.

HE COOPERATED WITH THIS BIOGRAPHY.

>> HE DID.

>> Stephen: WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THE MAN?

I KNOW HE'S IN HIS 90s NOW.

WHAT DID YOU NOT EXPECT?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I THINK A LOT OF IT WAS JUST THE MODESTY OF

HIS LIFE, AND THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, HE AND ROSALYN, THEY SLEEP

ON A MURPHY BED WHEN THEY'RE IN ATLANTA.

THEY SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME IN PAST ON THE ROAD TRAVELING TO

120 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES DOING GOOD WORKS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, IN ATLANTA, THEY SLEEP ON A MURPHY BED AT THE

CARTER CENTER.

AND, YOU KNOW, HE CUT THE GRASS FOR A LONG TIME, UNTIL QUITE

RECENTLY, AT THEIR CHURCH.

AND THEY'RE VERY ACTIVE IN, YOU KNOW, LOCAL THINGS-- CHURCH

SUPPER ON PAPER PLATES.

THINGS ABOUT THEIR LIVES.

MRS. CARTER GAVE ME THE LOVE LETTERS WHICH HE WROTE HER FROM

THE NAVY.

WHICH ARE VERY STEAMY.

>> Stephen: REALLY?

>> YOU KNOW, AND THEY ARE QUITE A BIT BEYOND JOHN AND ABIGAIL

ADAMS IN THEIR EXPLICITNESS.

>> Stephen: ARE THEY IN THE BOOK?

>> THEY'RE IN THE BOOK.

>> Stephen: I THINK YOU MOVED SOME PAPER.

WE HAVE A SEXY PEANUT FARMER IN HERE.

>> AND SOME AWESOME STUFF I FOUND OUT ABOUT HIM.

AT ONE POINT HE WENT DOOR TO DOOR AS A MISSIONARY, AND HE

CAME ACROSS A BROTH EXPEL TRIED TO CONVERT THE MADAM.

HE IS NOT INTOLERANT OF PEOPLE NOT AS RELIGIOUS AS HIM.

HE BECAME FRIENDLY WITH BOB DYLAN.

GONZO HUNTER HELPED MAKE CARTER PRESIDENT.

ONE OF THE REASONS I WANTED THAT ANDY WARHOL OF HIM ON THE COVER

IS THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HE WAS VERY COOL, AND I THINK A YOUNGER

GENERATION IS KIND OF REDISCOVERING HIM NOW, IN PART

BECAUSE HE IS THE UN-TRUMP.

>> Stephen: HIS 96th BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW.

OTHER THAN BUYING THIS BRILLIANT BIGRAPHY OF JIMMY CARTER, HOW

CAN PEOPLE CELEBRATE IT?

>> FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR THE COLBERT BUMP.

>> Stephen: YOU GOT IT.

>> SO I THINK THE WAY TO HONOR HIM IS HE IS ASKING FOR PEOPLE

NOT TO GIVE RIGHT NOW TO THE CARTER CENTER, BUT TO GIVE FOR

COVID RELIEF.

THERE ARE A LOT OF COUNTRIES THAT THAT ARE IN REAL DANGER AND

DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES WE HAVE, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE SUFFERED

WORSE THAN ANY OTHER MAJOR COUNTRY.

AND, ALSO, HE FEELS REALLY STRONGLY, BECAUSE HE'S MONITORED

ALL THESE ELECTIONS, ABOUT THE INTEGRITY OF ELECTIONS, AND I

THINK HE WOULD URGE PEOPLE TO BE POLL WATCHERS, TO, YOU KNOW,

BRING FRIENDS TO VOTE FOR BIDEN, NOT JUST YOURSELF.

MAYBE USE THE CALL TOOLS SO YOU CAN CALL INTO BATTLEGROUND

STATES TO GET OUT THE VOTE.

AND I THINK THAT THE GREATEST 96th BIRTHDAY PRESENT THAT

ANYBODY COULD GIVE HIM WOULD BE TO WORK THEIR BUTTS OFF FOR JOE

BIDEN AND SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY >> Stephen: HIS BOOK, "HIS VERY

BEST," IS OUT NOW.

THE MAN IS JONATHAN ALTER, EVERYBODY.

WHEN WE COME BACK, ONE OF MY WRITERS HEADS OUT INTO THE WILDS

OF COVID PARENTHOOD.

STICK AROUND.