From Plains, Georgia to Washington D.C Jimmy Carter’s story is an amazing one.
Former WSB radio reporter Peter Maer covered Carter from his political start. On January 12th, 1971 Jimmy Carter became the 76th Governor of Georgia. Maer says he first learned of Mr. Carter’s White House ambitions while at a meeting at the Governors Mansion in 1974. When the question about a Presidential campaign came up Maer says, “I still recall almost biting through my cheek to keep from laughing, but Carter characteristically voiced very strong confidence that he would be running.”
When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries in 1976, he was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians; his name recognition was two percent. Many people saw Carter as just a peanut farmer, but he promised truth in government in the wake of the Watergate scandal and pledged he would never tell a lie.
Carter of course went on to win the Presidency and that was Maer’s big break. He was assigned to cover Jimmy Carter’s presidential transition after the 1976 election and he flew into Washington with Carter for the Inauguration in 1977. “What you saw is what you got with Carter,” says Maer.
Jimmy Carter’s time in the White House is remembered for inflation, the energy crisis and the hostages in Iran. The one highlight of his time as President was the historic 1978 Camp David Accords, where he mediated a historic peace agreement between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat. After just one term in office, voters strongly rejected Carter in favor of Ronald Reagan.
The three words Maer uses to describe the former President are religious, humble and patriotic . “He was truly the last humbled President that we’ve seen,” says Maer.
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