I’ve talked a lot of my time in Americus, Ga. and how I worked at the Americus Times-Recorder which was nearby Plains, Ga., where former President James E. Carter Jr., otherwise known just as Jimmy, was born 100 years ago and passed away on Sunday, Dec. 29.
He may not have been considered one of the best Presidents at the time or since, but he was coming to the office in the aftermath of Watergate. Americans in general were skeptical of all politicians. They always have been but they got worse after Watergate. Maybe that’s why the 1976 election of Jimmy seemed so memorable. He might have been governor of Georgia at one time, but he was a small-town peanut farmer. He grew up in rural America.
I remember talking with some of the press corps who covered his campaign and their memories were optimistic. Most of them felt it was the last time in America that a President candidate actually felt like a human being rather than trying to be a superstar. (I just want to tell Sam Donaldson there’s no hard feelings for not returning my calls.)
Sadly, Jimmy had the political turmoil and the economic issues that came from the energy crisis to deal with. Americans don’t like to wait. They expect immediate results even if it’s just a knee-jerk response to an issue that won’t have any lasting effects in the positive way. Jimmy also happened to become President during the rise of the Televangelists.
And he wasn’t going to be pushed around by them. So, they found someone who they could – Ronald Reagan. During the campaign, Jimmy would go outside the church and ask the press in to worship without their cameras or their notepads. He didn’t need a foolish photo of him holding a Bible outside of a church.
After he left office, he might have become a joke on the sitcoms and late-night TV talk shows, but he managed to do more things in the last 40 years of his life that was no laughing matter. He helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity while all George W. Bush can do is paint in an affluent neighborhood of Dallas. Jimmy decided to return to Plains and begin the next chapter in his life. He lived modestly.
Incidentally, actress/comic Ana Gasteyer was a childhood friend of Amy Carter and even got to do a sleepover at the White House. She said Jimmy was laughing very hard at the way the people on Saturday Night Live were making fun of him and his administration. Gasteyer would go on to appear on SNL when she grew up.
His grandson, Jason Carter, recalled in his book Power Lines, that when he walked into a McDonald’s in nearby Cordale, Ga., a person was surprised to see him there. Jason was my neighbor for a few years while I was a young child in Calhoun, Ga., as he lived down the street from me.
I would later bump into Jason while covering the Plains Peanut Festival in 2001. And I must’ve interacted with Jimmy and his wife, Rosalynn, many other times. Seeing him around the community was so common you don’t get as excited anymore. They were just Jimmy and Rosalynn.
I’ve told other stories before on this blog. I know we shouldn’t be sad they’re both now gone. But if there is a Heaven, they are together again. And people who follow the Christian faith should be glad they both tried to live their lives the best they could. Jimmy and Rosalynn earned a Fast Pass to Heaven. I don’t think we can really say the same thing about the incoming President.
Not to get too political, but we can take some comfort this happened while President Joe Biden is still in office. I’d hate to see how the next President would make the passing all about him. Going by his recent social media post on Christmas, he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Jimmy.
Jimmy wanted to make the world a better place for others. The fact that he put solar panels on the White House and Reagan took them off tells you a lot. And Reagan was the first President who commanded that he be saluted by military personnel. Jimmy who was a Navy man and obtained the rank of lieutenant earned the right to be saluted by others but would’ve salute higher ranks out of respect and admiration. You salute the rank not the person.
The world needs more people like Jimmy. Let’s not end the year 2024 by losing a great person but instead begin 2025 by having more people who are inspired by him.
Peace and love be with his family and close friends.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 