Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

How does a peanut farmer become Governor of Georgia and President of the United States? Only in America could such a story be true. As a small child, Jimmy Carter set his sights on the United States Naval Academy. After graduation in 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith, and six years later, Carter followed the brilliant Captain Hyman G. Rickover into the uncharted waters of the Navy’s nuclear submarine program. When Carter left the Navy, he returned with his young family to the fields of the family farm in Plains, Georgia. Not satisfied with the climate of injustice he witnessed in his daily life, Carter sought a political career and was elected state senator in 1962 and again in 1964. He successfully won the 1970 campaign for Governor of Georgia. In 1975, Carter announced he would run for President. Under the new Federal Election Laws only $21.8 million would be provided for the General Election Campaign. A trivial amount compared to future campaigns. An army of loyal supporters, friends, neighbors, and elected officials, known as the Peanut Brigade, joined the campaign. They traveled across the country, joining Jimmy and Rosalynn, knocking on doors, standing at factory gates, walking streets, asking voters to vote for Jimmy Carter for President. In 1976, Carter was elected the 39th President of the United States and served one term. Since leaving office, Carter has not stopped working on behalf of not just Americans, but for people worldwide. While the basics of his story are well known, they have never been told from the perspective of a “soldier” in the Peanut Brigade. Dorothy “Dot” Padgett, with an earthy, honest, and Southern voice, tells the story as if new to all of us. Humor and insight abound in this direct telling of how a peanut farmer from Georgia became President and leader of the United States. The secret is in his character, his morality, and in his being truly human.

1144611752
Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

How does a peanut farmer become Governor of Georgia and President of the United States? Only in America could such a story be true. As a small child, Jimmy Carter set his sights on the United States Naval Academy. After graduation in 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith, and six years later, Carter followed the brilliant Captain Hyman G. Rickover into the uncharted waters of the Navy’s nuclear submarine program. When Carter left the Navy, he returned with his young family to the fields of the family farm in Plains, Georgia. Not satisfied with the climate of injustice he witnessed in his daily life, Carter sought a political career and was elected state senator in 1962 and again in 1964. He successfully won the 1970 campaign for Governor of Georgia. In 1975, Carter announced he would run for President. Under the new Federal Election Laws only $21.8 million would be provided for the General Election Campaign. A trivial amount compared to future campaigns. An army of loyal supporters, friends, neighbors, and elected officials, known as the Peanut Brigade, joined the campaign. They traveled across the country, joining Jimmy and Rosalynn, knocking on doors, standing at factory gates, walking streets, asking voters to vote for Jimmy Carter for President. In 1976, Carter was elected the 39th President of the United States and served one term. Since leaving office, Carter has not stopped working on behalf of not just Americans, but for people worldwide. While the basics of his story are well known, they have never been told from the perspective of a “soldier” in the Peanut Brigade. Dorothy “Dot” Padgett, with an earthy, honest, and Southern voice, tells the story as if new to all of us. Humor and insight abound in this direct telling of how a peanut farmer from Georgia became President and leader of the United States. The secret is in his character, his morality, and in his being truly human.

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Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts

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Overview

How does a peanut farmer become Governor of Georgia and President of the United States? Only in America could such a story be true. As a small child, Jimmy Carter set his sights on the United States Naval Academy. After graduation in 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith, and six years later, Carter followed the brilliant Captain Hyman G. Rickover into the uncharted waters of the Navy’s nuclear submarine program. When Carter left the Navy, he returned with his young family to the fields of the family farm in Plains, Georgia. Not satisfied with the climate of injustice he witnessed in his daily life, Carter sought a political career and was elected state senator in 1962 and again in 1964. He successfully won the 1970 campaign for Governor of Georgia. In 1975, Carter announced he would run for President. Under the new Federal Election Laws only $21.8 million would be provided for the General Election Campaign. A trivial amount compared to future campaigns. An army of loyal supporters, friends, neighbors, and elected officials, known as the Peanut Brigade, joined the campaign. They traveled across the country, joining Jimmy and Rosalynn, knocking on doors, standing at factory gates, walking streets, asking voters to vote for Jimmy Carter for President. In 1976, Carter was elected the 39th President of the United States and served one term. Since leaving office, Carter has not stopped working on behalf of not just Americans, but for people worldwide. While the basics of his story are well known, they have never been told from the perspective of a “soldier” in the Peanut Brigade. Dorothy “Dot” Padgett, with an earthy, honest, and Southern voice, tells the story as if new to all of us. Humor and insight abound in this direct telling of how a peanut farmer from Georgia became President and leader of the United States. The secret is in his character, his morality, and in his being truly human.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780881465860
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Publication date: 09/01/2016
Edition description: Signed
Pages: 530
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Dorothy "Dot" Padgett organized the Carter presidential campaign effort known as the Peanut Brigade. During the Carter Administration, she was appointed assistant chief of Protocol at the State Department. Padgett is a former member of the Democratic National Committee, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and the Metropolitan Mental Health Association. She presently serves on The Carter Center Board of Councilors. Padgett lives in historic downtown Douglasville, Georgia.

Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, and served as thirty-ninth President of the United States. He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization that prevents and resolves conflicts, enhances freedom and democracy, and improves health around the world. He is the author of numerous books, including A Full Life, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, An Hour Before Daylight, and Our Endangered Values. Carter received a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy Award for his recording of Our Endangered Values.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Preface xi

Foreword Jimmy Carter xiii

1 Making the Grade 1

2 A Defining Moment 10

3 Growing Up Plain 14

4 Georgia Senate Race 17

5 Georgia Senator 24

6 Bridging the Gap 27

7 The Dashes in Our Lives 34

8 What Will I Tell My Grandchildren? 36

9 Jimmy Carter For Governor 43

10 People Power 49

11 Inaugural Festivities and Gowns 55

12 The Swearing-in-Governor of the State of Georgia 57

13 The Carter Women 60

14 Governing the State of Georgia 66

15 Reorganization and Zero-Base Budgeting 73

16 Georgia Parks, Peaches, and Potato Chips 81

17 1974 Candidate for the Presidency 84

18 Jimmy Carter is Running for What? 93

19 The Phone Was Ringing - I Picked It Up 99

20 1974 Georgia Law Day 107

21 A Think Tank for the Issues 114

22 Iowa 120

23 Georgians Freezing in New Hampshire 128

24 Florida Primary 139

25 Wisconsin 150

26 Ethnic Purity 157

27 Jerry Brown and Andy Young in Maryland 162

28 A Mixed Bag… Pa… Tx… Cotton and Cattle 169

29 California, New Jersey, Ohio 180

30 Plains, the Summer of 1976 190

31 In The Spirit of Unity and Love and Victory 197

32 New York Convention with Dot Padgett 209

33 Fritz and Grits 214

34 Hometown Plains 217

35 A Presidential General Election 222

36 Leaders for a Change 232

37 What the Press Said about President Carter 246

38 A People's Inaugural 251

39 Inaugural Reflections 263

40 Human Rights 269

41 The Bert Lance Affair 274

42 Energy 278

43 Panama Treaties 286

44 After the Treaties 300

45 Camp David Peace Accords 304

46 After Camp David 317

47 Normalization of Diplomatic Relations With China 321

48 Hostage Crisis 327

49 Hostages, Handshakes, and Hugs 343

50 Election and Home 346

51 Home to Plains 349

52 Opening of the Presidential Center 354

53 The Carter Center, Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope 364

54 Rosalynn Carter: Driving Force in Support for the Mentally Ill 377

55 Born Again 388

56 The Sunday School Teacher 395

57 Loyalty 401

58 Nobel Peace Priize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Carter Tribute 409

59 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter 414

Appendix 1 The Peanut Brigade 423

Appendix 2 Jimmy Carter Presidential Library/Museum 431

The Peanut Brigade List 435

Notes 445

Index 467

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