Jimmy Carter Profile 1976

After two terms in the state senate and one failed attempt, Carter would win the Governorship of Georgia in 1970 following a four year campaign effort that began immediately after his 1966 defeat. His success on this second campaign was largely due to his efforts to win over conservative Democrats and portraying himself as a common peanut farmer. Billy Carter had been in charge of the family business for the past six years, since Jimmy’s election to the governorship. He also purchased the local service station from owner, Mill Jennings. It would become a popular gathering place for the national press and local barbecues. It was also the first place local wives came to look for their husbands after work. During the first three months of the campaign, the entire Carter family which included his wife Rosalynn, their three sons, their wives, and Carter’s mother and siblings, traveled to forty different states, cultivating and nurturing support among the state’s press, unions, and party structure. In these early days, it was not uncommon for a potential Carter supporter to be showered by personal phone calls and hand written letters from both Carters. On December 12th 1974, Jimmy Carter officially declared his candidacy for the presidency. The determination of this one man and the devoted support of his hometown didn’t seem to sway many people early on. “Jimmy is running for what?” was a popular headline in the Atlanta Constitution and he is still the only modern president whose announcement wasn’t preserved on film for posterity. This was due to the conviction by many that he would never win. 

As the Carter presidency began to look like a serious possibility, the town’s fathers started to think hard about the community’s future. Even in the fall of 1976, there was talk of turning much of the town into a national park. While some of the more ambitious schemes and plots unraveled, the idea of preserving key structures of the town as a park continued to flourish. The start of Carter’s campaign was marked by loneliness. No reporters followed him as he made the sometimes embarrassing journey across Iowa and New Hampshire asking for votes. With a stack of green and white brochures in hand, Carter stopped people on the street and said with a smile, “Hello, my name is Jimmy Carter and I’m going to be your next president.”One resident remembered it as “waking up to find your home in the middle of a world’s fair.” Before, it wasn’t uncommon to see local women turning up at the business district of the town in curls or without makeup. After the frequent and prolonged national exposure the town was receiving, they wouldn’t dare step foot there without full makeup and hair, because they would most likely end up on the evening news.