It is with great sadness that I and my fellow Americans honor President Jimmy Carter on the occasion of his death. However, it is with great joy that we treasure Jimmy Carter’s accomplishments as President of the United States and his contributions to humanity in his post Presidential years.
I first met then Governor Jimmy Carter at a Young Democrats Convention in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in February 1975. He was our Keynote Speaker on a cold below zero evening. There were several Democratic candidates for President at the time, but Jimmy Carter was the only one who responded to our request to speak. He gave his famous “I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for President” speech. After the speech, some of us talked with him and like good Wisconsin college students, we invited him to a party in our hotel room. He informed us that he had to meet with some people but would try to stop in later. Much later that evening, there was a knock at our hotel room door. We answered, thinking it was more partiers, but it was Jimmy Carter, who responded, “I heard there’s a party here.” He shook hands with everyone in the room. We offered him a drink, but he informed us that he didn’t drink, except for an occasional glass of wine with his wife Rosalynn.
Later that year, at the Wisconsin Democratic Party State Convention, I met Governor Carter again. I immediately volunteered to work on Carter’s Presidential campaign. I was also a Jimmy Carter delegate to the 1980 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
My family and I have visited with President and Mrs. Carter in Plains and Atlanta on several occasions. We enjoyed participating in President Carter’s Sunday School programs at Maranatha Baptist Church (https://mbcplains.org) in Plains.
We have been involved with Habitat for Humanity (https://www.habitat.org/). In June 1989, Jimmy Carter and wis wife Rosalynn came to Milwaukee to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. We are also Ambassador members of The Carter Center in Atlanta (https://www.cartercenter.org). After leaving the presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for this effort. The Carter Center has informed us that the Carter family requests that you consider a contribution to The Carter Center in honor of President Carter.
I also collect Jimmy Carter political campaign items. I have enjoyed meeting with President Carter over the years at the Carter Political Items Collectors Chapter Annual (CPIC) Conventions in Plains, GA and at the annual Plains Peanut Festival. At a CPIC event the group presented President and Mrs. Carter with a gift of a wine set. Mrs. Carter remarked that it would be nice to now drink from matching glasses.
It has been an honor and privilege to know this outstanding statesman, who made such great contributions to our nation.
Jimmy Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He served seven years as a naval officer in the Navy’s submarine service.
Carter returned home after his military service and revived his family’s peanut-growing business. He became an activist within the Democratic Party. Carter served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967 and as Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. In his gubernatorial inaugural speech, he declared that “The time for racial discrimination is over.”
Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States In 1976, defeating President Gerald Ford.
Carter’s expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands. He created the Department of Education and established the Department of Energy.
In the Middle East, through the Camp David agreement of 1978, he helped bring peace between Egypt and Israel. He also succeeded in obtaining ratification of the Panama Canal treaties.
Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to government jobs. During his administration, the United States Foreign Service “lifted its ban on gay and lesbian personnel.” In 1977, Jimmy Carter’s administration became the first American presidential administration to invite gay male and lesbian rights activists to the White House to discuss federal policy to end employment discrimination in federal jobs on the basis of sexual orientation. By the end of his administration, Carter had increased American jobs by nearly eight million and decreased the federal budget deficit.
Following his Presidency Carter wrote numerous books, ranging from political memoirs to poetry.
Thank you, President Carter.
