While the nation and world eulogize the 39th president of the United States, my fondest and earliest personal interaction with Jimmy Carter came very early in his campaign, not long after he announced he was running for president.
I did some work for the Alabama Young Bankers Association, especially working on their 1975 annual meeting at Orange Beach. I had followed Jimmy Carter as governor of Georgia and then his decision to run for national office. I suggested to the association that we should invite Gov. Carter to speak to the conference.
His campaign accepted and my wife Mary Ann and I picked up Carter and his traveling assistant Frank Moore at Pensacola Airport. Frank sat in the front seat with me and Carter sat in the back seat with Mary Ann. I remember we shared stories about growing up in rural, small towns – he in Plains, GA and me in Monroeville, AL.
His speech was the typical campaign speech with a couple of key phrases I remember. Of course, he introduced himself by the now familiar line, “I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for president.” He told the group he would never lie to the American public which he repeated throughout the campaign. It was an obvious reference to Nixon and Watergate. But second, he did not say “if I’m elected president,” he said, “When I’m elected president.” Even at that early stage of the campaign, he was a very positive, determined man and I saw that throughout his campaign.
The second interaction came a few months later when the campaign scheduled a trip for him to Alabama. Still early in the campaign and still no Secret Service.
I was his escort and driver for the two-day visit and met him at Birmingham Airport and somewhat surprisingly, he was traveling commercially and alone. The staff in Atlanta had sent me an itinerary which reflected the beginnings of his campaign when it was difficult to convince leaders and media that he was a serious candidate for president.
But we had a full schedule with speeches to fairly small groups and some interviews with the media. The last Birmingham event was a speech at Birmingham-Southern College and then we were off to Montgomery.
As we were driving through Hoover I looked over and he was fast asleep. Obviously, it was a quiet ride to Montgomery, and he woke up just as we arrived at WSFA-TV. His explanation dozing off was that when you campaign 18 hours a day, you get your sleep whenever you can.
We were scheduled for a TV interview but first he was to appear on the Marge Payne afternoon kid’s program. We went into the studio, and she took Gov. Carter aside for a short conversation. Then she began the conversation with questions that children could understand, and he reciprocated with simple answers and a couple of humorous stories. At the end of the interview, she said to him, “Governor, when you’ve had a long day working and you get home, what is the first thing you want to do?” I wasn’t prepared for the answer but then thoroughly understood the earlier conversation. Gov. Carter replied, “I want to see a Bugs Bunny cartoon.” Of course, that was the lead in for the cartoon.
Later, he said that the kid’s interview was fun – something he didn’t get to experience very often in an intense campaign.
Those were my last real personal interactions with Gov. Carter, but I continued to help the campaign in Alabama. There were future events in the state but, with his ascension as a serious candidate, no more driving him around. As the campaign continued to grow there were staff meetings in Atlanta which shed light on their strategy to capture the Democratic nomination. As they say, timing is everything and Jimmy Carter’s timing was perfect. And his plain-spoken speech and famous toothy smile captured the electorate at a time when we were recovering from Watergate.
A peanut farmer from Plains, GA yet a graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. A very intelligent man who continued to teach a Sunday School class at the Plains Baptist Church even at 90 years old. A complicated presidency that historians are revisiting with fresh eyes to determine the true impact of his single term. And the most active, impactful and famous ex-president in American history.
If there was ever a life to celebrate, it is the full life of Jimmy Carter.
Neal Wade is the Chairman of the Paths for Success Foundation Board of Directors. He is a career economic developer, who is currently is Managing Partner for the Advanced Economic Development Leadership Program. He previously served as Director of the Economic Development Academy at the University of Alabama, Chairman of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, and Director of the Alabama Development Office (now the Alabama Department of Commerce).