Jimmy Carter’s marathon enters its home stretch
Jules Witcover
It should come as no surprise that former President Jimmy Carter has elected to spend his last days, months, or years in the comfort and familiarity of his home town of Plains, Georgia. Jimmy, as he has preferred to be called, was at heart a small-town guy, as I quickly learned when I, along with the fraternity of exhausted souls, covered his campaign during those five grueling years from 1972 to 1976.
Carter has always been a person of faith and family, as has his devoted wife Rosalyn, who became the first lady of the country. She accepted that role almost literally on a wing and a prayer, as a devoted Christian who accompanied her husband and was always the supportive wife. When she became a Baptist at the church where he often preached, she cited that fact more proudly than that she had become the first lady of the country.
Carter was slated to take over the family’s peanut business after his father’s death, but the political bug had bit him. For years, he worked the state like a migrant hustling for harvest work, putting in a regular day at the family’s peanut plant, then driving to all corners of Georgia to speak and meet voters.
Once in office as governor of Georgia, Carter became known as one of the “New South” breed of governors who looked squarely down the shotgun barrel of racial segregation. In 1972, he was approached during the Democratic National Convention and persuaded to run for president.
Carter did so and survived. His tenacity and virtue touched the hearts of evangelical Democrats like himself and a dedicated field of opponents, dividing his opposition and enabling him to survive over Gerald Ford, George Wallace, Ted Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Running in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Jimmy Carter offered himself up as “Mr. Clean.”
At the same time, he was human, as he disclosed when he granted an interview to Playboy magazine. Carter described himself as a man who lives his own life and adhered to God’s standards. He emphasized that his own religious precepts would govern his public and private life.
Then came the bombshell. “I try not to commit a deliberate sin,” he confessed to Playboy, “[But] I’m human and I’m tempted. … I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something God recognizes I will do — and I have done it — and God forgives me for it.”
The Playboy incident inspired the press corps to make its own contribution to the hoopla. Walter Mears of the Associated Press and I wrote the words to the tune of “Heart of my Heart” and sang it to Jimmy and Rosayln:
Lust in my heart, how I love adultery, Lust in my heart, that is my theology. When I was young, at the Plains First Baptist Church, I would preach and sermonize– But oh, how I would fantasize…. Lust in my heart, oh it’s bad politically; Lust in my heart, but it brings publicity.
Carter laughed heartily. At the time, though, the Playboy matter was nothing for him to laugh about. His campaign had gotten off to a shaky start. He was not a household name, did not have much money, nor established political support.
Following him had been a marathon. The chaos of the campaign and the length of it risked voter disillusionment. But his incredible determination, acute sense of timing, and good luck — not to mention his ability to connect directly with the average person on the street — propelled him to the Oval Office.
He urged the country to save energy, became a beacon for human rights, and tried to battle nonstop inflation. When he left office, he helped others with his Emory University Center for World Peace and Habitat for Humanity.
Going home to Plains is only natural for the man of faith and family who never forgot where he came from, nor the religious purpose that still guides this most unusual and admirable American president.
Jules Witcover is the author of 15 books on American politics and history and co-author of five others. His solo books include Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency 1972-1976 and Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption.