The Peanut Farmer
I was sad to hear the news about Jimmy Carter. While Bill Clinton may have been my first vote that counted, Jimmy Carter received my first vote in the elementary school Weekly Reader poll. I gave him my vote because I loved peanut butter and heard people calling him “the peanut farmer.” It made perfect sense in my brain that a second term for Jimmy Carter would be the best situation for the country and ensure that I had continual access to peanut butter, pretty much the only thing I ate at the time.
I cried hard when he didn’t win despite his strong support from my elementary school class. My dad told me that this wouldn’t be the first time the person I wanted to win would come in second, which is how it sometimes happened with elections. I remember that every time I go to vote.
6 comments
Thank you for this sweet story of little Mel and a very kind and principled leader 💗
I am sad for his family. He seems like a genuinely kind, good person and I’m sure they will miss him.
I was in high school when he was president… I took an American history elective in Grade 11 & I remember whenever my teacher mentioned him, he’d switch into southern accent mode. 😉 I don’t remember what I really thought about him then — I didn’t pay as much attention to American politics then as I did a few years later — but there’s no question he’s probably made the most of life AFTER the job than any other president before or since. I was sad to hear the news too — we need his example now more than ever! — but hey, he’s had 98 years! well lived — most of them with Rosalynn, too! Pretty amazing.
I was sad to see this news, too. He is the first US President I actually remember (though I was born during the Nixon administration — eeek!)
Before Carter, US Presidents were like British Kings and Queens. They didn’t quite seem real. But in the 1980 election, I was living in Bangkok, and three of my schoolmates were US citizens. One of them told me about her dad volunteering for Carter’s campaign. We went to the AUA (American University Alumni) where our exchange programme office was based, and attended their election event, watching the results come in. It was the first US election that seemed real. Of course, it was only afterwards, as I became immersed in international politics and issues, that I got to know more about the man. It is sad, but his life is to be celebrated.
I still don’t understand why people think he was so terrible as a president. I think he was dealt some terrible situations, and he did his best. But he was not enough of a player.