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.

Author: Dorothy Padgett
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Published: 09/01/2016
Pages: 530
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.95lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9780881465860


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/29/2016

About the Author
Padgett, Dorothy: - 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.Carter, Jimmy: - 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.

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