Can translation shape a presidency? Nataly Kelly believes that translation affects the oval office in more ways than most people realize. The commander-in-chief has extraordinary power to shape policy related to translation and language in general.

Earlier this summer we reported on a story outlining the ten most widely held myths about language translation, according to Nataly Kelly, Co-Author of Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World.

Now Ms. Kelly has decided to explore whether language translation can play a role in shaping a presidency, namely that of President Jimmy Carter. In this two-part post we’ll outline ten interesting links between the former president and language translation.

In today’s post, we present the first five and most significant examples. We’ll bring you the remaining five in our next post.

1. When Carter accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, a sign language interpreter appeared on nationwide television for the very first time. This marked an important and groundbreaking moment and raised awareness of the deaf population living in the United States.

2. Carter's inaugural parade in 1977 was an important event for the national recognition of the World War II Navajo Code Talkers, who marched with pride. Without these Native American interpreter heroes, the war in the Pacific may have had a very different outcome. So recognition for their courageous service had been long overdue.

3. The newly sworn-in president was to make an important speech during a visit to Poland. But the interpreter, who had not been provided with an advance copy of the speech, interpreted, "my desires for the Polish people" as "my lusts for the Polish people." The incident caused great embarrassment and highlighted the importance of proper interpretation.

4. Carter's chief speechwriter asked presidential interpreter Harry Obst for a strong sentence that Carter could pronounce in German for a keynote speech at the Airlift Memorial in Berlin. Obst came up with the clever rhyming phrase, "Was immer sei, Berlin bleibt frei" (No matter what, Berlin remains free). It was well-received by the media appearing in many headlines the following day. Carter’s efforts in using interpreters to win over the foreign press were paying off.

5. In October 1978, Carter signed the Court Interpreters Act, establishing the right of any individual involved in federal proceedings to have a certified court interpreter if needed due to a language barrier. This was an important step forward for the rights of individuals with limited English.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• More about language translation
  Translation is the act of rewriting a document, changing it into another language.
• More about language interpretation
  Language Interpreting is the process of translating spoken words from one language into another.
• More about the Presidency of Jimmy Carter
  Jimmy Carter served as the thirty-ninth President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
• More about Nataly Kelly
  Nataly Kelly has worked in the language services industry since 1996 as a certified court interpreter and freelance translator.