Rest In Peace President James Earl Carter (October 1, 1924-December 29, 2024).
I took this photo shortly after interviewing him behind the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas on Oct. 30, 1980.
I was shaking his hand and taking this picture at the same time, so of course I was thrilled it turned out well.
About 5 days later he lost reelection to Ronald Reagan who was able to get our 52 American hostages in Iran released after 444 days on his Jan. 20, 1981 Inaguration Day. I was quite honored. God Bless.
In 1927 in Plains, Georgia, a three-year-old boy named Jimmy Carter lived next door to an auto mechanic, Francis Smith, and his pregnant wife, Allie.
That August, Allie went into labor, and Jimmy’s mother, a nurse, helped deliver her daughter. The next day, little Jimmy went next door and peered into the crib. The baby inside was named Rosalynn.
As a teenager, “Rosie” had a fierce crush on Jimmy, but he was three years older, and apparently took little notice of the shy kid next door.
During WWII, he left town to join the Naval Academy. One day in the summer of 1945, Jimmy returned to Plains on vacation. While riding in the rumble seat of a friend’s Ford, he looked toward the United Methodist church and saw Rosie, now seventeen and all grown up, standing out front.
He was gobsmacked.
Jimmy hopped out of the rumble seat and asked her to the movies. She jumped right in. He came home that night and told his mother that the baby she had delivered seventeen years earlier was the girl he was going to marry.
Jimmy and Rosalynn, at 77 years, celebrated the longest marriage in presidential history. They knew each other for almost one hundred years.
☆☆☆☆☆
IN GOD WE TRUST
Thanks for supporting independent true journalism with a small tip. Dodie & Jack
Dodie & Jack Dennis are regular customers of Green Pasture. Highly recommended.
Green Pasture Here!
Use Code CLEVER10 for a 10% discount on other Green Pasture products today!
Get Your Natural Vitamins A & D from the Sea!
☆☆☆☆☆
Clever Journeys 
The election in 1976 was the first election I was old enough to vote. I didn’t vote for Carter, or Ford, I voted for the Libertarian candidate. I liked Carter but he wasn’t a very effective President. May he rest in peace.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, my first too. I did vote for him, but I was naive. Voted for Reagan in 80. Learned a lot in those long 4 years. Thank you.
LikeLike
You likely had a typo for 1981 here: “after 444 days on his Jan. 20, 2021 Inauguration Day.” Good head shot of Carter and great bio. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well written, Jack. The Carter’s were good folks. He was more effective after leaving the white house. Some people aren’t cut-out to be a president, he didn’t have the ego needed to pull it off. I didn’t vote for him, but I would have liked to sit and chew a bit with the farmer. A lot of folks say he was the worst president in history, I never thought that of him, and now I know he wasn’t. The current one makes Carter look like a sainted genius. Nice tribute.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I wasn’t old enough to vote in 1976. I voted for Reagan in 1980. I think that Carter was relieved when he lost which is why he conceded so early. Seeing clips of the debates, he wasn’t a happy person. Some people especially people of color thought that the election of 1980 was a conspiracy. I heard them. I think deep down that he really didn’t want to win but ran under obligation. I think that Carter was a decent man and did what he thought was right. I think that he wasn’t a strong enough person for the job.
One term presidents tend to live longer see John Adams, Herbert Hoover, GHW Bush and Jimmy Carter. As far as post presidency, I would put as third best. Hoover, who ran the food program after WW2 that fed up to a billion people which was a third of the world’s population at the time, is first. Taft, who became Chief Justice, is second.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s a great story about Jimmy and Rosalynn; so sweet. It’s true, mainly I liked him, but absolutely not as President. Getting an interview with him had to be a thrill, and that’s a great shot; one-handed to boot.
He was a lot better at being the boots on the ground guy, and what you saw was what you got.
We can honor a man like that.
LikeLiked by 1 person