Radio Interview from the Chris Hahn Radio show

Based out of New York, the Chris Hahn Radio show is one of the leading Progressive news programs in the nation.
Here is a link to the interview which starts at minute 52

http://christopherhahn.com/

New Book Cover for Jimmy Carter in Plains The Presidential Hometown

The book is now available for Pre-Order on  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A million
Videos with images from the book are also on youtube 

Robert Buccellato Jimmy Carter In Plains Author Events

Robert Buccellato's Upcoming Events
Date City, State Venue Event

Feb 1, 2016
7:00 PM Atlanta, GA Jimmy Carter Presidential Library Robert Buccellato "Jimmy Carter in Plains, A Presidential Hometown" Lecture/Book Signing Monday, ...

Feb 2, 2016
10:25 AM Fremont, NE Back Porch Writer Author interview with Backporchwriter.com radio blog show

Feb 4, 2016
6:00 PM Ronkonkoma, NEW YORK Christoper Hahn Radio Show author book interview on new book Jimmy Carter in Plains

Feb 13, 2016
3:00 PM Americus, Georgia Bittersweet Author Book signing and presentation TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Feb 14, 2016
2:00 PM Plains, Georgia Jimmy Carter National Historic Site Book Presentation and Signing at the Plains High School

Jimmy Carter in Plains Book Endorsement by Kevin Mattson

I am very honored to present the book endorsement made by author Kevin Mattson, the author of several exceptional books including "What the heck are you up to Mr President" and "Just Plain Dick."

"This marvelous little book shines light on the truly populist campaign that landed Jimmy Carter in the White House.  You can actually SEE the authentic and regular-guy style of Jimmy Carter at work.  The images of Carter's small-town background are especially compelling.  Political and historical junkies will find this book a great piece of entertainment that doesn't discount the moral and visionary heft that Jimmy Carter brought to Washington, D.C."
-Kevin Mattson, Author of "What the heck are you up to Mr President."

"Jimmy Carter in Plains, A Presidential Hometown" book signing

author Robert Buccellato will be signing books at the Jimmy Carter Presidential library
Lecture/Book Signing
Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:00pm
Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater
Free and Open to the Public

Jimmy Carter In Plains Book Endorsement by Grant Hayter Menzies

Endorsement for Jimmy Carter in Plains: The Presidential Hometown

Though it may sound as if I'm stating the obvious when I say I wrote Lillian Carter: A Compassionate Life after falling in love with President Jimmy Carter's mother and all she stood for, that is only partly true.  I also fell in love with Plains, Georgia, the little Sumter County town where her son would make history in 1976.

Miss Lillian herself loved Plains with a depth and breadth even she, no stranger to eloquence, was unable to fully define.  As I wrote in my book, Lillian loved not just "the straight-backed pines, the snowy dollops of cotton and the little russet hills of turned peanuts; the pink and purple sunsets and the way night falls impenetrably dark as dreamless sleep", but also something else: "a special, unique something which flows through Plains like a slow, silent southern river, a quiet music you can never hear if you're just passing through."  It was the place where she, who had traveled the world, would rather be, she said, than anywhere else in the world.  I, who have traveled the world, didn't understand this till I went there myself.

When I picked up Robert Buccatello's gloriously illustrated new book, Jimmy Carter in Plains: The Presidential Hometown, I fell in love with the town all over again.  Of course, the history of the Carter family permeates the place.  It's a history reaching back almost two centuries, encompassing land grants and plantations and slaves as well as President Carter's Depression-era childhood as soon of a woman who, in her words, refused to recognize a color line, whose compassionate care for black families in the area helped build the character and compassion of our 39th president and global humanitarian.  But Plains, as described above, has its own special, unique something.  And you have to be there to understand, and to fall in love with it yourself.

Plains has served as crucible for both past and future; and where the two have collided, the future tends to win.  Yet the best of the past remains: the charming simplicity, the neighborliness of a kinder, more trusting era, and that bracing air of compassion for the less fortunate--those hungering in spirit as much as in body--the afterglow of which Miss Lillian left behind and which Mr. Jimmy continues to tend for all who will partake.  There is a magic in Plains you will not only scarcely believe when you go there to experience it, but a magic you will wonder you took so long to embrace, and I would urge you to do so whenever you can.  Before you do, though, get yourself a copy of Robert Buccatello's book.  It is a moving map to the heart of the town that made Jimmy Carter.  It is also a map to a place that will win your heart for good, and for the goodness that is Jimmy Carter's Plains.

Grant Hayter-Menzies

Jimmy Carter in Plains Book Endorsement - by Betty Pope

How do you capture a magical time in your life? This book of photographs and descriptions are evidence of Jimmy Carter's hometown and campaign for President of our USA.  Your book gives a true feeling of Plains, then and now.  People can experience the small town life and "down to earth" people who brought forth a awesome welcome to visitors then , now and forever.

I really enjoyed the revisit to the past!  Unforgettable.

- Betty Pope Founding member of the Carter Peanut Brigade

Jimmy Carter in Plains Book Endorsement - by Max J. Skidmore

Visual representations of politics in America are too often ephemeral,
taking the form of campaign literature that quickly vanishes, or news
reports that do not last beyond the headlines. Robert Buccellato, in what
obviously was a labor of love, has produced something different. His
presentation in pictures of the political life of President Carter before
and during his presidency should be welcomed by general readers who are
interested American presidents. Perhaps more important, these pictures
offer unique insights, making this book a contribution to American Studies
and to presidential history.

Max J. Skidmore
Author of After the White House: Former Presidents as Private Citizens

friends at last - The Carter/Ford friendship

It took a long time for these two men to become friends, but over the course of the thirty years between election night 1976 and Gerald Ford's passing, the former presidents became very close. This is evident in Jimmy Carter's eulogy of his predecessor, he had been asked personal by Ford to deliver his eulogy a short time before his passing, with Carter replying "Only if you promise to deliver mine."

It began with and ended with the now much quoted first line of Carter's inaugural speech in 1977, " For myself and for my nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land".  In a time period when Bush 43's presidency was nearly universally disliked due to it's handling of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and partisan tenses starting to flair up as a result of both a recent wave election that gave the Democratic Party control of both houses of congress and the sudden early start of the 2008 presidential election with John Edwards announcement in New Orleans on Dec. 28, 2006. It was both heart warming and comforting to see just how well the
nation's former presidents had been behaving with one another, which was on full display as Jimmy Carter spend much of the eulogy fighting back tears for much of his time at the alter( It should also be noted that at this time both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were traveling around the country for Katrina relief and around the world for the tsunami relief which was much lauded at the time).

Who would have watched the debates between the two men and thought for one moment that they ever would have been anything more then civil or respectful to one another.  But, in the 30 years after the 1976 election, the democratic and Republican parties candidates had become so close, that during the white house's 200th anniversary dinner party, historians told carter and ford that there friendship was the closest of any former modern day presidents. It didn't happen over night, even with the respect Carter gave to Ford and his advice during his term of office. Every month then President Carter would send his national security advisor to Ford's home in Rancho Mirage, California and brief him.  The Briefing were filled with as much information as possible and were exceedingly more detailed than the Briefing Carter would receive under the Reagan administration, wish he received only after insisting on it.

That great show of respect Carter showed Former president and Ford's support for the New administration's controversial Panama Canal Treaty did much to help calm things down between them. But it wasn't until 1981 on a trip to Cairo where Ford, Carter and President Nixon represented the country for the state funeral on Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, that the two finally started to bridge the gap.  The subject that started it all was funding for Carter's Presidential library. Shortly after his defeat in the 1980 election, Carter told the White House Press Corp that he wouldn't use his fame as a president to any form of commercial benefit. Four Years early Gerald Ford had made many lucrative deals with fortune 500 companies to sit on the boards and speech for them across the country.  But Carter wanted to take a leaf from his ideal Harry S.  Truman and deal with the burdensome task of finding the financing for his library some other way.  The Presidential library would have to house nearly 25 million official documents, photos, papers, and mountains of film and other mementos, and with Carter having the image of a failed president the millions he would need to raise was going to be both a humiliating and argued to say the least.

Ford was already an expert in the area and was more then welling to help Carter with information from putting together a staff, mission statement, and future fundraising.
Once the Carter Center was built the two presidents traveled back and forth between their libraries and gave symposiums on each other's presidency. In time Ford would help Carter on several Goodwill trips for The Carter center from conferences with congressional leaders on peace in the middle east to Nuclear arms control talks at Emory University. There were moments during the Clinton Administration were the friendship waned a bit. Mainly due to Ford feeling that Carter was getting too involved with the North Korean Peace Talks and felt he was undermining Clinton's foreign policy. But such claims about Carter's Diplomatic efforts on behalf of the Carter Center have been made by other presidents as well, not just Ford. The Bushes in particular never got along with the Georgian Democrat, and Carter spoke more openly against the Bush 43 presidency then any other political figure.

But around 2000 a funny thing started to take shape in Gerald Ford. He had for years grown ever uncomfortable about the more of his party towards the extreme right. He hated attending the National Convention in 1992 when Pat Buchanan made comments like "lets take back our country" as if in Ford's mind they were making the claim that it was un-american to be a Democrat. He still deeply regretted giving into the demands of the party's right in 1975 and dropping Rockafeller from the ticket. And he still felt that Ronald Reagan's Primary Challenge had damaged 1976 campaign severely maybe even fatally. And he broke with conservative members of the Republican party in October 2001, by stating that gay and lesbian couples "ought to be treated equally. Period.". This comment made him still the highest ranking Member of the GOP to embrace equal rights for Homosexuals and lesbians. He also would also become a member of the Republican Unity Coalition and group of well known Republicans who's sole mission was to broaden the party's tent and make Gay rights a non issue

He would even state in several interviews released after his death that he was both pro choice and disagreed strongly with the Bush Administration's policy in Iraq. Calling the war a big mistake and claiming that it was never justified. Saying that his former chief of staff now turned Vice president Dick Cheney and then Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served also as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief had along with Bush 43 made a big mistake in putting the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction and never publicly saying they were wrong. He even claimed that both Bush 41 and Barabara Bush had been like Ford and his wife Pro choice for years. Something that he said they had privately told him and that Bush would later disclaim in the Newsweek issue realized after Ford's passing.

So both former presidents could be outspoken critics, each in there own ways and in there own time, and they were far from always at an agreement with one another.
But at the end of the day they were close friends bound together by love of country and their service to it. Betty and Rosylann were very close to one another and the families got along great as well. Carter was always a hard man for some people to befriend, but Ford wasn't and his easy nature won over in the long run.  In many ways their differences in personality counter balanced one another. Ford was a drinker, smoker, deal maker, Midwestern, all american main street, clumsy athlete. Carter was a one drink at dinner parties, beer after church, hard working, non smoking, nuclear scientist, baptist, southern born know it all.  Together they made up a marvelous kaleidoscope of Americana.

The two former presidents co-authored a 1983 Reader's Digest article criticizing Israel, a 1988 governing blueprint for President George H.W. Bush and a 1998 New York Times op-ed piece urging Congress to censure former President Bill Clinton. They lobbied for the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and against initiatives in 1996 to legalize drugs in Arizona and California.

They had both also come along way in how the public persevered them. Ford went from a historical footnote and SNL punching bag to an elder statesmen and recipient of  the medal of freedom. It was during the award's reception in the east room in 1999, that President Clinton said what many in the democratic party had being saying for years, that Ford was "right about pardoning Nixon and that he (Clinton then a candidate for congress in 1974)was wrong". History had by that time been very good to our 38th president and had come to see his pardoning Nixon as a selfless act of political courage and foresight.

Carter had gonna from the image of a weak failure, to the most powerful and positive force for peace in the world.  His post presidency poll numbers  had risen sharply over the years and he had been rewarded more then any other former president for his humanitarian and peace keeping efforts.  Every kind of honor and accolade you can imagion he had received, from the medal of freedom to the Albert Schweitzer Prize. From the Liberty medal to nearly twenty honorary scholarships. Then in 2003 Jimmy Carter became the first former us president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The following year he would give a keynote speech against both the Iraq War and the re-election of George W. Bush. This was a striking contrast to how he was treated for years within the Democratic party,even ignored by some. In 1992 when comparisons were made between Clinton and Carter, Clinton went out of his way to distance himself from the political weak former president. Now like Ford, everyone was clamoring for face time with the Nobel laureate.

The two would continue to make speeches and public appearances, mainly at one another's libraries or at the state funeral of Ronald Reagan. But in 2005, at 91 doctor's orders had began to limit ford's travel. Carter was forced to attend the opening of the Clinton library without his usual limo partner. Ford was also invited too, but did not attend the second inaugural of Bush 43. And when both Carter and Ford did not attend the funeral of John Paul II in the summer of 2005, it seemed to only compound the image that Carter had a distant relationship with the two other former presidents and the current president(all three of whom did go) and the notion that Ford was in fact ailing.

By the early 2006 Ford's health was on the decline. In early January he was hospitalized at Eisenhower Medical Center near his home in Rancho Mirage for pneumonia and was released till the following week. In mid-December of the following year, Ford underwent routine tests at Eisenhower and was hospitalized overnight because of a chest cold.
President Bush payed Ford and Betty a visit to there California home on the 23rd of April. Holding a cain and visibly weak and pale, but with a smile on his face, he made his last known public appearance along side the president. Wearing a socked in yellow shirt and holding onto Bush 43's hand, he addressed questions to the press and posed for pictures out in front of his house on his driveway. In July Ford was admitted at Vail Valley Medical Center for shortness of breath. Ford had celebrated his birthday (his 93rd) there in Vail on July 14 and Betty was hoping that they would spend the summer there. Once he was realized the ford family enjoyed the former president's final summer together till he was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for testing and evaluation on the 15th of August. It was then reported on August 21st that he had been fitted with a pacemaker. Four days later President Ford underwent  an angioplasty procedure at the Mayo Clinic.

On November 12, 2006, upon surpassing Ronald Reagan's lifespan, Ford released his last public statement:
The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends. I thank God for the gift of every sunrise and, even more, for all the years He has blessed me with Betty and the children; with our extended family and the friends of a lifetime. That includes countless Americans who, in recent months, have remembered me in their prayers. Your kindness touches me deeply. May God bless you all and may God bless America.

This short and humble statement would be the last one the former president would ever release to the press.

It was around that time in November 2006 that Jimmy Carter was getting ready for the release of his new book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" and the title alone was creating a firestorm of controversy. Carter had always had a very difficult relationship with the american Jewish community and now the new book was being preconceived as something of an admission of his lifelong antisemitism That he was speaking in favor of Palestine and terrorist movements within the holy land. This was in fact not true, and even though Carter has always been supportive of a Palestine state and friendly towards Arab leaders. He has always been a friend of Israel and desired peace in the holy land.  Yet his book frankly spokes out against Israel's policies toward Palestine as being in his eyes a system of apartheid.  All throughout the winter of 2006 and fall of 2007 carter would be on his national book tour promoting the book. At every city Jewish leaders would confront Carter, in Arizona a protest of several hundred lined the book store while Carter was inside signing copies. At another book signing a woman told he needed to be tried for treason.  Brandeis University invited Carter to debate Alan Dershowitz on the merits of the book. There were claims from other authors that Carter had plagiarized material and maps from their books and used them as un-cited support material in his own. Other critics simply just called Carter a liar and one Carter center fellow even resigned.

Filmmaker Jonathan Demme followed Carter during his national book tour promoting the book, and it would eventually be the 2007 documentary "Man from Plains".  But during the middle of the film there is a gap between filming from December 2006 and early January 2007. This was unfortunately due to the death and then state funeral of Gerald R. Ford.

Ford died at the age of 93 on Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage. He had been sinking fast and his finally Christmas had been spent bedridden except when the family priest arrived a day or so earlier for Christmas mass. The former president was then removed from his bed, dressed and taken to the living room in a wheelchair for the private service. He had been failing for some time and it was to no one's surprise when he passed on, but everyone was saddened by it. Former first lady Betty Ford and the ford family released a statement following his death,


"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

Moments later CNN confirmed his passing and President Bush released a statement from the White House speaking like every other statement released by the former presidents, u.s. senator, governors, congressmen, and news outlets in the days following his death. Speaking about a nation's loss and a man's service.

The body of former was flown to Washington D.C. and In keeping with Mr. Ford's wishes to keep his funeral simple, there was no horse-drawn caisson, no riderless horse, no procession but a motorcade. His Service was nearly half the length of Ronald Reagan's from two years earlier.

The state funeral began with a service at Washington National Cathedral, then moved to Grand Rapids for Ford's final homecoming. The marching band from the University of Michigan, the school where he played football, greeted the White House jet carrying his casket, members of his family and others in the funeral party. The service in Washington unfolded in the spirit of one of its musical selections — "Fanfare for the Common Man". The song was followed by a eulogy from Bush 41 who, called Ford a "Norman Rockwell painting come to life" and then made jokes about Ford and his sometimes very erratic golfing. President Bush escorted his widow, Betty Ford, down the aisle of the great stone cathedral, past nearly 3, 000 mourners. Tom Brokaw was the next to eulogize Ford. Followed by Henry Kissinger and then finally Jimmy Carter.

Following the funeral Carter engaged Secretary of State Rice in an animated conversation while waiting for the funeral party. Rice also chatted with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and at one point the three ex-presidents shook hands.

The body of former President Gerald R. Ford has spent the past two days before lying in state in the capital rotunda, while thousands of visitors came by to pay there last respects and given funeral cards by capital staffers. At one Point a chair was placed in the middle of the giant room and from a corridor soon emerged Betty ford. She sat down on the chair with her family behind her and just stared at the flag draped coffin.

After the funeral service in Washington the body was taken to the grounds of the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids where it was finally laid to rest. While the body was in transit between Washington and Michigan, two figures gathered with the ford family in the cabin of Air force one, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. It was the last leg of a brilliant american political story and the final destination of a touching and sincere friendship between two former opponents that began 30 years prior. When
a nation celebrated it's bicentenary and a one term governor challenged an accidental  incumbent president.

solving social security

There are many ways to fix this program so that many will benefit from the positive aspects of it's overall coverage. These solutions, like the problems that have forced them to slowly be required tend to be very easy. It is merely the political will or lack there of that forces this issue to become the third rail of American politics. Will actually it's the third rail of Democratic Politics, it's fifty pounds of red meat to say "First thing I'll do it cut social security and give you your money back" in Republican primaries.  One possible solution is a revenue increase rather than a reduction of benefits.  Also an increase in the age of retirees receiving social security would not be totally outside of the realm of possibilities in the near future. BabyBoomers after all live longer than their parents and the life expectancy of both generation X and the echo generation is projected to be even longer.
According to the fix social security game, an increase of taxs on the top earners and the removal of the salary cap, would actually solve many of the program's current problems.  But, the game also warns the viewer that even then the program will need to be fine tuned. This can prove to be fighting words to generation of policy makers hows only ways of dealings with a problem in a entitlement program is to either either hid under the covers or look towards destruction of  that program as the only possible solution.
At this moment for example the congress is fighting over the long term assisted care insurance act. All day long they have argued over the class Act and have come up with one of two solutions.
1. leave it alone because, it can not be currently fixed given the current political climate, and because it is still financially secure (it will be till 2032).
 2. try and repeal it because it is a part of  "ObamaCare" and will be a moral victory to a congressional majority with an approval rating of minus 47.
The facts are these, a gradual increase of the retirement age for those born after 2024, would improve social security. Progressive indexing of taxs to reduce benefits of those that make over two million dollars a year or above would improve the system.  These will not be introduced to the floor of the U.S. house of representatives till rome burns to the ground.
There have ofcourse been those that wished to solve this completely solvable issue of our time.  President Bush 43 wanted to put benefits in PRA's back in 2005. It was based on the believe that by 2017 social security would start paying out more than it was taking in. (Social security reform center).  President Bush's idea would have been a wonderful way to fix social security, just as long as there would never be a recession and the housing market remained strong.
Even with the weak economy as it is, those that face issues such as long term care, and home healthcare aid, have managed to remain above water due to entitlement programs. (Kurtzeleben, 2011). The Census Bureau has reported that nearly 14 million seniors would be bankrupt if it were not for entitlements like social security,medicare, and medicaid. (Kurtzelben,2011). This seems pretty understandable when you the average retirement house cost about 17 thousand dollars a year.
The constitution calls for provisions to be made to protect the common welfare. It is not a ponzi scheme, but a support system for unforseen costs of living concerns. The solutions mentioned above can close the social security gaps. By closing the Payroll cap, it would mean a few paying more some the same benefits as all of us, but it would mean that one indidvual who makes 200,000 dollars a year for twenty years could pay a bit more. So that 200,000 people that make 37 thousand dollars a year can benefit from social security.
Even the Heritage Foundation's flat social security plan has cuts in benefits for those that are in the top 9 percent. (Savingthedream.org). It also calls for a 401k style of supplement plan, which does nothing to stop people currently retired from cashing it out as of the close of business yesterday. But, it seems like a good idea for future retirees. It it goes along with a reformed version of Social security and doesn't slowly substitute the program as a whole(Savingthedream.org).
According to NPR.org all solutions of fixing social security come down to three options. 1. more tax revenue, 2. Less benefits, 3. a mix of both. Sociological ideals back up taxes on the top earners. That social security now serving as a life blood to so many retired Americans, it seems only natural for the program to be saved due to the efforts of those that don't really need it.  It alone takes political will to actively solve this tragically solvable issue.


Resources
1. Social Security Reform Center.
Retrieved from : http://socialsecurityreform.org/fastfacts/index.cfm
2. Kurtzelben, Danielle. ( September 15, 2011). "5 Ways to Reform Social Security"
Retrieved from : http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/09/15/5-ways-to-reform-social-security
3. Heritage Foundation "Saving the Dream"
Retrieved from : http://savingthedream.org/what-it-covers/social-security/
4. Horsley, Scott. (June 5, 2009). " Fixing Social Security: A Solvable Problem"
Retrieved from : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104958835
5. Hart-Landsberg, Martin. ( August 11, 2011). "SOCIAL SECURITY IS IN DANGER"
Retrieved from : http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/08/11/social-security-is-in-danger/

Jimmy Carter Historic Site

The following post is a shared re-post of the Jimmy Carter Historic Site's two very interesting notifications from their facebook page hope you like it

 In 1928, Earl Carter moved his family from their home in downtown Plains to this farm in Archery, GA. Here, on these 360 acres, a young Jimmy Carter learned the value of honesty, hard work, patience, diligence, and so much more. He developed an appreciation for the natural world, being fascinated by the science and beauty of his surroundings. He developed lasting relationships with the community as well as the land, and developed a strong sense of self. It was on this property that he learned the peanut business, engaged in his favorite hobby of reading, came face-to-face with the difficulties of segregation, developed his dreams and future goals, and so much more. The importance of this rural farm to the development of America’s 39th President is unprecedented and evident by his frequent visits to the site.

I have always loved the former president's bedroom and how he must of dreamed of a life in the navy.

 This commemorative T-shirt, owned by Plains resident and Peanut Brigader Ida English. This shirt and other souvenirs were proudly displayed by Jimmy Carter’s supporters to celebrate his victory in the 1976 presidential election. This style of shirt was worn by Peanut Brigaders on the night of Jimmy Carter's Presidential election. It was the idea of Maxime Reese to have these t shirts made and it wasn't until Jimmy Carter won late in the early morning that those on the platform reveled the t shirts.

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.

My interview with Vice President Walter Mondale

Question one Do you believe there is a generational decline instead of a national decline that has resulted from the political dominance of the baby boomer generation.            

 I do not.  I think there is, and  has been, an ascending scale of harsh politicalIdeology leading to  destructive  obstructionism.   In the remarkable work of Ted Mann and Norman Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks,  they conclude that the republican party has become an outlier party denying science, the public process, and compromise leading the public paralysis.

 Question two What can a person do to combat reactionary politics Good people can do a lot to promote reform.  Get involved in politics or in one of many other ways that can influence  us toward a more positive outcome, including in discussion with your family and friends.

 Question three Do you think there is a national need for a moral rather then political ideology .            
 I think they go together:  good politics is in large measure also a reflection of the ethical and moral

Question four Why is there such a lack of willingness in public officials to deal with the dominating issues of the day.   Many good people are trying but some are paralyzing our public process, By obstruction and delay .  Thus a minority has been able to block progress across the board.  I’ve never seen it like this.  This is not politics as usual.

Question five What can a typical person do to help restore faith in government.

I’ve tried to answer this above. Jump in, for the right reasons, and make a difference.Cynicism is a great cop-out.  You can congratulate yourself by talking about how bad it is  and hopeless it is and then go home a stay uninvolved.  You can feel self-satisfied and superior, but the bottom line is that this only encourages obstructionists to believe that their strategy is working.

Plains Georgia Tribute

President Jimmy Carter tribute video

A short tribute video i made about Plains Georgia and their favorite son Jimmy Carter. Made in honor of the new book coming out from Arcadia Publishing "Jimmy Carter In Plains The Presidential Hometown." Written by Robert Buccellato with photos from Eddie Hunter and Charles Plant.

Jimmy Carter in plains - Boyhood home

James Earl Carter made history from the very beginning by becoming the first American President born in a hospital, the local Wise Sanatorium. His mother, Lillian, worked there as a registered nurse.  It was obvious to everyone in the small boom town of Plains that this young man was different. The Carter family was always prosperous. Their farm produced cotton, corn, watermelons, and of course, peanuts.

The Carter boyhood home, two miles west of Plains was, for years, maintained as a working farm. It was still privately owned during Carter’s Presidency. Not opened to the public, it was visible from the road and was frequently a highlight for sightseers.
The Jimmy Carter National Historic site and preservation district was established by an Act of Congress in 1987. The historic site consists of the railroad depot, shown here in the early 1980s, that had fallen into disrepair, the boyhood home, that needed to be purchased, and the Carter compound. The preservation district consists of the historic district and 650 acres of agricultural lands.

As a child, Jimmy (here kicking a football) was free to play with the African American children raised in Archery and Plains. His father, James Earl, was a successful farmer, local public official, and staunch conservative Democrat. His wife Lillian did not share his views on race and was much more liberal on Civil Rights. Many times he would leave the house when she would welcome black guests. Plains remained unchanged throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Jimmy Carter graduated from Annapolis Naval Academy and married Rosalynn Smith. Soon the young couple left Georgia to begin a promising life in the Navy. But, following the untimely death of Jimmy’s father, James Earl Carter Sr. (Pictured below with his wife Lillian), the future President surprisingly gave up his naval commission and returned home to Plains.

Like so many other areas in the country, Plains was ravaged financially by the Great Depression.  Black families were particularly affected. Some journalists in 1976 were shocked to witness the level of poverty some African American families were living under and how close their dwellings were to the potential democratic nominee’s residency. There is a mysterious pull to this tiny Hamlet in South Georgia which is hard to explain. It can only be experienced and it continues to be each year by nearly a hundred thousand tourists. They all come for different reasons and purposes. Many come with their children to hear President Carter’s Sunday school lessons, so that they can one day tell their children that they saw an American President.  Still many come with a silent longing for simpler times and to experience the rural lifestyle of Carter’s boyhood. So for these reasons and many more, Plains remains America’s hometown.

Whether you are a Carter enthusiast, a researcher, or just curious how a small town influenced a young boy who would become the president of the most powerful nation in the world, odds are you will find a visit to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site interesting. The history and culture of this rural community can provide a look into why the Carters' ties to Plains, Georgia, have endured the stresses of public life, yet remain as strong as they were decades ago. A visit to the site provides an opportunity to explore the historic resources and rural southern culture that had an influence in molding the character and political policies of Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter in Plains book - the train depot of plains

There is a historical pull to this place and it’s become manifested in the tiny green and white painted train depot at the center of town. For myself, this humble structure has always held such romantic attachment. This was where Jimmy Carter pulled it off.  Where he, along with his neighbors and family staged the most improvable and captivating Presidential campaign in history, forever changing the political landscape of the nation and how we pick our presidential nominees.

Once you enter the depot, long devoid of frequent activity, a single video can be heard echoing throughout the building. It is a video that Charles Plant put together on the 1976 election. The images are old and the voices heard are those that use to fill the television screens in countless homes decades earlier. The nightly news anchors of the past; Cronkite, Harry Reasoner, and John Chancellor, can be heard.  The desired effect is easily achieved, transporting visitors back to a time when this depot was packed with locals and campaign workers and primary nights would turn into local vigils and tailgate festivals, as several TVs were installed to witness the results of so many past contests, when their favorite son was trying to achieve the impossible. 

. Two rocking chairs, used frequently by America’s First Mother, Lillian Carter, can still be seen.  Today, a sign proudly and humorously recounts the fact that “Behind this closed door” is the reason why the depot was selected as the campaign headquarters. It was the location of the only available public bathroom in town. Today the bathroom is closed and visitors are prevented from entering this historic lavatory. 

As the election of Jimmy Carter became a real possibility, both the candidate and his hometown started becoming big business. Carter’s wide smile began showing up everywhere in town and souvenir makers had a field day turning the town into a household name nationwide. Some, like the N.G. Slater campaign buttons were of high quality, while others were simply made by an endless series of small entrepreneurs looking for an easy buck. Eventually, the massive level of outside guests began to die down. After the Carter Presidency entered the history books, the town and its famous son both shared in parallel struggles to acclimate themselves to life outside the national spotlight. Plains and Carter both took it upon themselves to help preserve the best elements of the 1976 election and its aftermath for posterity. It was not an easy task for them both. But, President Carter threw himself into the task of turning key structures of his hometown into a national park. With the aid of the residents and outside support, the former president succeeded beyond his wildest hopes. 

The town’s train depot was constructed in 1888 and was, for a time, the only building with a public bathroom. This was the primary reason for its selection as the hometown headquarters for the Carter Presidential campaign. It was the site of numerous hometown primary parties and was where candidate Carter would hold interviews whenever in town.  As the 1970s dawned, Plains remained largely unchanged. But, following his announcement for president, the entire landscape of the community began to change. The primary night parties would begin at the depot and quickly took on a church potluck atmosphere. There were said to have been rows of flatbed trucks everywhere and tiny campers. 

This commemorative T-shirt, owned by Plains resident and Peanut Brigader Ida English. This shirt and other souvenirs were proudly displayed by Jimmy Carter’s supporters to celebrate his victory in the 1976 presidential election. This style of shirt was worn by Peanut Brigaders on the night of Jimmy Carter's Presidential election. It was the idea of Maxime Reese to have these t shirts made and it wasn't until Jimmy Carter won late in the early morning that those on the platform reveled the t shirts. Miss Lillian raised her tired self from her rocking chair on the Platform to reveal her shirt and suddenly fell down. Laughing she soon recovered and the crowd went wild.

The Town in a short period of time had gone from a sleepy community of 600 people into the capital of American political life. While the nation's major cities were spending millions each year to attract new residences to their communities. The town of Plains was getting up to 10 thousand tourists a day and hadn't spend a dime. But, of-course all of that was soon to change.

The inside of the train depot museum during the 1980s. Following 1979 the crowds in Plains began to die down and once Carter lost re-election the community began to turn sleepy once again. There was till tourists, but never like the glory days. Before the National Park Service became actively involved in preserving the town, the depot served as the town’s visitor center. Today it has interactive exhibits and detailed accounts of the 1976 election. But, when this picture was taken, the citizens of Plains relied almost solely on their own personal memorabilia to fill the museum. 

The Jimmy Carter National Historic site and preservation district was established by an Act of Congress in 1987. The historic site consists of the railroad depot, shown here in the early 1980s, that had fallen into disrepair, the boyhood home, that needed to be purchased, and the Carter compound. The preservation district consists of the historic district and 650 acres of agricultural lands.  

The Depot Museum was designed to retain all the humble charms of its 1970's structure and to also host a grouping of anecdotes from the 1976 election.  In the beginning the town could only depend on the relics they themselves still had in their homes and in shops on Main Street. But, then Carter Presidential Collectors began to make very generous donations to the site and the place became one of the most appealing parts of the historic district. 

Jimmy Carter In Plains Book Cover

Here it is the cover to the new book on plains Georgia and its favorite son
Out this Christmas.
For many, the physical connections to our presidents have become unreachable; deeply rooted in the past and foreign to us. We can no longer see Washington’s birthplace or William Henry Harrison’s log cabin. Plains, Georgia is different, and the attachment Americans have for it remains truly unique. The book Jimmy Carter in Plains: A Presidential Hometown tells the inspirational story of how one man and his community transformed a nation.
When Jimmy Carter, a one term Governor of Georgia announced his candidacy for President, no one took him seriously. He was publicly nicknamed “Jimmy Who.” Yet, in just two years, he managed to pull off the most spectacular and unprecedented victory in American Political history, winning primary after primary thanks to his effective personal form of politicking and the support of his hometown. Many of his own neighbors campaigned for him in several states, and became the “Peanut Brigade.”
As Carter’s fame grew so did the crowds that started to flock into the tiny sleepy hamlet of Plains, Georgia, making celebrities out of the candidate’s mother, younger brother, and daughter. The exceptional photos of Charles W. Plant guide the reader along the historic moments of the 1976 bicentennial election that made Plains, Georgia America’s Hometown.

It was often proclaimed throughout the 1976 election that “The strength of one man can be measured by the path he takes to travel there.” In the life of our nation’s 39th president, all roads, no matter how elevated, seem connected to one small hamlet in Southern Georgia. No town has ever been so rooted in the life and success of a president. 

Election night 1976 part 2

Mondale victory. Still despite the air of confidence the group of Carter aids keep running down the list of states that made up the democrat's base, doing and redoing the electoral math over and over again. They had all agreed on a solid base of 214 votes of the 270 needed to put their guy in the oval. They made up a column of states in the north,midwest, and west that they placed in the president's column and then made a group of 170 electoral votes in the toss up grouping.

As the polls closed across the nation Carter began to work the phones. He called every democratic congressional candidate that lost their race that night. Jody Powell would later say it was to show that "someone had to remember the losers, even when everyone else was looking at the winners". He also called supporters to thank them for their service to his campaign. Mayor Daley of Chicago was called, the forecasts coming out of Illinois were mixed at best and Carter wanted a detailed reading on the state's progress. Daley was holding several vote tallies from several democratic strongholds around Chicago, as a backup in case Carter needed a late surge as the night wore on.  In the end Daley's efforts were either noble or helpful, and Carter lost the state.

A shift was slowly taking place inside both the White house and the Omni Capital suite, the ford group began to seem like children growing tired of playing a game they kept losing, while the Carter group started to carry a kind of natural and systematic mental shift from cautious optimism to middle uncertainty. They were slowly running out of southern states and Ford's western Second wind was just moments away.  Earlier in the evening the Carter aides were letting out cries of joy as the results were called over the television, but now both parties were now prepared for the predicted turn in the candidate's electoral fortunes.

For the first time ever in the history of Televised presidential elections, the results of both the national totals and the state by state count was not placed on giant hand drawn  boards. They would instead be projected up on the screen complete with an image of the state and photos of the two major party candidates. The box that would rest beside the anchor would also be complete with the vote total currently in and the projected winner of the state at that given moment.

Each network had their own format and each had it's own system of election analysis hard at work behind the scenes looking over all raw statistical data and projections as it was being handed to them. They all followed roughly the same method of deciding a projected winner. NBC followed two tracking polls, one that was from major precincts from every state that showed a rough but summed up total of a statewide vote, the other covered trends in the voting and was complete with on the ground updates provided by each state.

CBS had three different teams of Statisticians going over the raw election returns from across the country and promptly broke the information into voter categories like age group and race. Turning the data into simple talking points for the on camera talent.
ABC had three decision desks with private computers that gave direct relays to the anchor team at the studio. All sample precinct data was provided to all the networks by the National Election Serivce. Every single member of all three teams had to be in total agreement before any kind of announcement or decision was brought to the anchor's desk.

28 percent of Americans were tuned into John Chancellor and David Brinkley, while ABC and it's team of election night headed by a young Barbara Walters garnered 18 percent of the public attention, while 26 percent choose to tune into either public broadcasting or local news channels for their coverage. But the person who received the biggest share of the audience that night was the most trusted journalist of his day and a man who would become sanomies with some of modern history's most important moments, Walter Cronkite captured 30 percent.

After the opening of election night coverage on all networks and the early calling of Kentucky for Carter and Indiana for Ford. The only other early states called for the President was Nebraska, Connecticut, and Dole's homestate of Kansas.  After that a large rundown of states were called for Carter, from the east to nearly all of the south. From Massachusetts, and rhode island, to west virginia and tennessee. North Carolina was called for Carter as was his homestead of Georgia and it's electoral rich neighbor Florida. After that Georgia's left and right neighbors Alabama and South Carolina were also given to Governor Carter. Carter had a clear majority of the African American vote and his massive regional appeal in the south gave him a lock on every single state in the south safe for two that were still too close to call, the states of Virginia and Mississippi.

NBC created for the first time a giant electronic map of the United States that would as it turned out provide a odd imagery contrast from the election of 1976 to current elections was the color each party received when they won a certain state, In future elections the Republican won state would be drawn on the electrol map grid as Red and the Democrat won state would be a royal blue. In 1976 a state would little up as red if it was for Carter and Blue if it was for Ford. Thoughout the evening the president could be heard yelling "go Blue, Go Blue!", maybe the only and last time a Republican presidential candidate would pray for a state to turn Blue.

After the first southern and eastern states that went to Carter, the networks started to dramatically suggest a comeback for the president, that less then an hour later was turned into a political reality on it's electronic map. Every single state in the west turned blue for Ford. All of the Rocky Mountain states from Montana to Colorado and New Mexico.  Most of what was leftover from Carter's early victories in the interior lowlands also want to Ford as did every state in the great plains region. Before long the only states now left on the table were the battleground states, the three states that makeup the west coast, and the northern industrial states that both candidates would have to earn a majority of to be named the night's winner.

The six northern states New York,New Jersey,Pennsylvania, Michigan,Illinois,and Ohio had a total of 158 electoral votes between them and roughly half 270 needed to earn a four to eight year stay at pennsyvania ave. They also along with Texas and Calfornia made up the big eight that both camps had calculationed into their strategists for victory. It was universially agreed at this point that Ford would have to win the lion's share of the big eight to pull off a come from behind Truman style victory.

Ford was solid in Calfornia, and even though it gets called late in the evening, would be a huge victory for the president. Texas was the south and Carter had captured that entire region's imagination, so Texas was all but laminated under Carter's column with the other deep south states from the get go. So Ford was going to have to win four of the six northern states. Michigan was his home state and it was called early for their favorite son, and the president's advisors felt pretty confident about their strength and ad buying ability in the midwestern states, so Illinois was going to be tough but would end up being a Ford Victory also. The President wasn't concerned with Mayor Daley seating on democratic strongholds, he knew that the Republicans were powerhouses in the southern Illinois and could withstand any late night Cartwer surge in voting.

New Jersey was going to be close too, and hard to read because media ad buy in New York from both camps was seeping into Jersey. In the end the president was able to pull off a new jersey win and capture it's 17 electoral college votes by a close 2 percent margin of victory. The race was always going to come down to Ohio and both candidates would need it's 25 electoral votes to win. In Fact on election eve the president and the first lady held their campaign's final rally there in Ohio before going to Michigan for the night. As it would later turn out Ford campaigned in the wrong areas of ohio. He campaigned hard in Columbus, and made a brief stopover at Cininnati. But Columbus provided to be a place that was already safely won by the president, while Cininnati and Cleveland were leaning hard towards Jimmy Carter. Had Ford campaigned in Cleveland the outcome of the election might had been different.

By midnight the networks had slowed down their returns, too many states were close and no one wanted to call anything without total certainty that it was going to it's proper winner. Then at around 12:05 CBS called Oregon for Carter, and then nearly three hours later a very embarrassed Walter Cronkite had to inform the viewing public that the state was being pulled back under the uncertain column. It would eventually go to ford, who won it be a margin of 0.17 percent over Carter.

Hamilton Jordan who had been completely confident at the beginning of the night was now looking at the map of called states and started to panic. He would later claim"  When I saw the ten or twelve states that were out, it occurred to me that the thing could slip away from us." Ham Jordan wasn't just being a worried papa looking over the final uncertain moments of a national campaign, he did have good reason to get scared. The first results coming out of Hawaii were bad, and it was not out of the realm of possibility that all the states still undecided would go to the president.

The hotel room at the Omni was starting to get filled with guests. Martin Luther King Sr. was there as was Coretta King.  Jordan and Carter went into the master bedroom to work the phones and look over the returns. Caddell was getting reports on the ground from across the country and would brief Carter from time to time. It was Caddell that first informed Carter that he would lose New Jersey and that New York was still a jig zag puzzle of a situation. Carter then personally phoned New York City Mayor Abraham Beame and was reassured by Beame that his big win in Manhattan would be enough to carry the state. Caddell then called Mayor Rizzo of Philadelphia who reported that Carter was 260,000 votes ahead of Ford and would easily win the state.

When Carter heard the news about the margin of Victory in Philadelphia he replied with a smile "Well, he promised me three hundred thousand, but we'll take it". After Pennsylvania was called by the networks, all the major northern states were also finally given official winners. Michigan for Ford and New York for Carter. Illinois and Ohio were still yet to be called. Half an hour after Pennsylvania the networks called Iowa,Arizona,Oklahoma, and Virginia for the President. Virginia would prove to be the only southern state that Carter wouldn't win that evening. The president won it by a narrow margin and both Candidate's were glued to the T.V. sets as the state was being called. After losing Virginia Carter turned to Caddell and said they should certainly think about moving the Mason-Dixon line to North Carolina.

Became that his big win in Manhattan would be enough to carry the state. Caddell then called Mayor Rizzo of Philadelphia who reported that Carter was 260,000 votes ahead of Ford and would easily win the state.

When Carter heard the news about the margin of Victory in Philadelphia he replied with a smile "Well, he promised me three hundred thousand, but we'll take it". After Pennsylvania was called by the networks, all the major northern states were also finally given official winners. Michigan for Ford and New York for Carter. Illinois and Ohio were still yet to be called. Half an hour after Pennsylvania the networks called Iowa,Arizona,Oklahoma, and Virginia for the President. Virginia would prove to be the only southern state that Carter wouldn't win that evening. The president won it by a narrow margin and both Candidate's were glued to the T.V. sets as the state was being called. After losing Virginia Carter turned to Caddell and said they should certainly think about moving the Mason-dixon line to North Carolina.

By 2 a.m. Missouri and Louisiana, were called for Carter, who was feeling very good about all the time and energy the spent getting a late endorsement for Louisiana's governor Edwin Edwards and the campaign stop through New Orleans that had taken place just days earlier. Carter's total was now 261 according to NBC and CBS, and ABC having him at 257. He was in the lead and now only a few votes away from being declared the winner. The networks were divided on what states the democratic nominee would need to win the white house. CBS and NBC claimed that hawaii and Mississippi were unclaimed by any candidate and that Carter would need to win both (a total of 11 electoral votes) to be declared the winner. ABC had projected Carter the winner of Mississippi but noted that he was still going to need a win in Hawaii(4 votes) or Wisconsin(11 votes) to go over the top. Either way the democrats were going to have to win 11 points.

Democrats always win in Hawaii, but the first returns looked very bleak for Carter, even though it was considered a sure thing for the Georgian only hours earlier. CBS had reported that Ford was 99 percent ahead of Carter in the nation's 49th state, but it was actually a mistake in reporting. In reality what they meant to say was that 99 percent of the vote was in and it had been Carter's all along. NBC moved Hawaii into the Carter column at around 2:30 A.M. giving him a 265 electoral vote count. He was now just five short of election.

Election Night 1976

It was always going to be coming down to this

Tuesday Morning November 2, 1976

In east Grand Rapids Michigan the President and the first lady were casting their ballots, near the other end of the east coast in a once sleepy little town , his challenger Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyann were also voting in their home of plains Georgia.
This was and is a very common place scene on election day Tuesday for the two men of the up coming nights news coverage to after months of endless campaigning, live debates, campus q&a, and political rallies it all had now come to this. The two men of the hour both voted for themselves(one can only really assume as such) and now it was up to the fates or political gods of what have you as to which one of them would be the victor and who would be saluting the other as the next president elect of the united states.

Some Ford insiders had been worried for sometime about the so called "Nixon issue". The Nixon pardon was a major factor that election and the idea of the press questioning the shamed former president as he leaving his regular polling place in San Clemente. Asking him, yelling at him about who he had just voted for. Aides like Bob Teeter would walk the floors at night, being kept awake wondering how any answer from Nixon could be good for the Ford Camp. If he had said he voted for Carter it would be better, but it would still come across as a total lack of faith for the man that put simply destroyed his lock on re election the day he pardoned him. If he had voted for Ford which was the most likely case, it would of course just add to the belief already universally believed that Ford was simply an appointed president, a seat filler that was given the job in exchange for the unexpired Nixon term. That Nixon was the one who fated ford to be the 38th president of the united states and he was now wanting him to stay where he was. In the end both Richard and Mrs. Nixon voted by absentee ballot claiming that they were going to be on vacation on election night.

Major democratic candidates across the entire nation were using the pardon as the corner stone of their entire campaigns, particularly when they were against Republican incumbents in usually tough congressional districts for the democratic party.  In a nation were the voters forgot foreign policy victories and record public approvals in non election years, while on the following years they'll elect the person they didn't know three months ago over the guy they all said healed their wounds a year earlier.
The american people's political amnesia is widely well known and they will usually forget on thursday what had aggravated them on the previous sunday paper. The republic of amnesia has author Gore videl has always stated, and yet they can also remember whenever they feel betrayed by a public figure. The american people can be an unwitting accomplice when they are aggravated and the democratic party refused to let the public forget about that pardon. They refused to let the voters from coast to coast that the man who claimed the oval office was the state department, that brought the imperial presidency to
in prison was not held on trial for crimes, but was retired and slowly rebuilding his health and his legacy. And the democrats could and would never let the people know that their one chance to claim any real kind of revenge on that long hated figure of the left's was to vote the man who ribbed them of there desired satisfaction, who was still in their beloved white house.

The sad irony of american politics is that the man that would lose that night, would be  lauded years later and far into history for his selfless pardon on Nixon. Of course selfless sacrifices usually involve some sacrifice, but that was back during Ford's first month in office when he had no intention of running for a term of his own. what was marvelous of Ford was that he has said he would have pardon him even if he was running then and frankly you can't help but take him at his word. But even if Ford hadn't pardoned Nixon who could say it would have elected him president, such talk would be a great disservice to both Carter and those that voted that night.

It was always going to come down to this, it was always going to be close and who are we to say in this election or any other what made the undecideds vote for who they voted for and what gave which candidate the edge over the other. After the fall campaign begun and the playboy interview, it was always going to come down to a very close election. After the Poland response from Ford and the very poor Dole performance in the vp debate, it was always going to be a zing zang race to the final moment till these two men were finally driven to the symbolic finishline of their personal ballot boxs.  Polling had Ford even with Carter a few days before, times had him a point ahead the night before, and internal polling had Carter going to win the morning of election day. Who on earth can anyone predict what was ever going to happen that night, it was always going to come down to a close race and a new president elected without a mandate.

Voting had been going down hill ever since the 1960 election when only 63.1 percent had voted for either John F. Kennedy or Richard Nixon. A very far cry from the 80 percent turnout in the 1840 for election when Willliam h. harrison sent Martin Van Buren packing. It was even worse in 1964 when landslide Johnson managed to sqeeck out electrol victories in 11 former confederate states by only 51 percent of the vote which was due to many moderate republicans not going to the polls due to their party's conservative nominee and this is backed up with the national turnout being 61.9 nearly two points lower then four years ago.  Just four years later when Nixon won the presidency by a very close voter margin only 60 percent of the public turned out to vote. The number was only 40 percent two years later during the mid term elections of 1970, and when Nixon crushed Mcgovern in 1972 only 55 percent of the public bothered to show up. In the election of 1976 on the 200th birthday of this nation's founding only 53 percent of those eligable to vote did so for either Carter or Ford. Lowest voter turnout in modern day history, how could it not have come down to a close down to the wire election.

Had Carter not been from the south, the voter turnout could have been even lower. Because the southern states had finally a candidate that they could relate, there was record turnout in the deep south states. Voters in eleven southern states and all national average by far. It would also be one of the only times a democrat would pull off a massive victory in getting the Republican cross over voter who was disstasified with his party's nominee to support the other team. Plus it would also prove to be the final time the party of civil rights and big government would win a majority of the evangelical vote and that was in large part to it's nominee being a white southern moderate democrat who ran on a policy of morality and smaller more compassionate government. A platform that was faith based, not detail driven. it was a start and an exciting new element on the eve of the first presidential election of the nation's third century. Still it was gonna be close.

The democrats also did massive voter registration in the states of Texas and Ohio, both of which would eventually provide Carter with 51 of his 56 electoral college victory over Ford. Ford did see an opening and used it when Carter who ran as an outsider's outsider in the primaries, had to not only embrace but wear around his neck like a medal the liberal mantle of the democratic party.  Ford campaigned on fear and the unknown outcomes that usually undecided voters who are thinking of voting for change. Ford used this uncertainty and he got some great milage on it. But in the end a great negative campaign is never a match for an excellent campaign with themes of hope and possiblity. So the message was good for Carter, but the press was now killing him.

Another opening for Ford, he was the president. Why should those in the Ford campaign release new detailed views of foreign policy : with the soviet union, another Salt treaty, etc.  Why should we talk about how we're going to help the u's economy : Create jobs, WHIP inflation, or lower taxes. Why say anything for that matter when our guy can just fly around Air Force one and be filmed working in the oval.
Let the other poor guy run around grabbing every dollar and vote that doesn't have an GF on it and we'll stay silent while the press start running stories about Carter's weaknesses. The media was starting to create a bad confidence problem for Carter and slowly placing the former governor in a box. While ford was safely hiding under the comfortable covers of the white house and incumbency, the television coverage on Carter was turning ugly.

The media  was starting to create an image of Jimmy Carter as a deeply incompetent candidate on both foreign and domestic affairs. Whenever Carter was asked "what will you do with blah blah blah or how would you solve etc etc etc". He would look at that reporter with those cold steal gaze of his and say his campaign's main theme " that Americans want a president and a government that is  as good, and honest and decent and truthful and fair and competent and idealistic and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people". Positive messaging, underline the hope, bring up the change and courage for a brighter tomorrow and don't mention any real policy. He was coming after Ford from both the left and the right and he didn't have any time to get lost in the vast wilderness of policy.

But then the poor debate showings of both Dole and Ford, along side the solid performance of Mondale and the moderate first appearance from Carter and the eventually evolution of his third were he seemed more presidential then the president. Seemed to stop Carter's slide and put Ford's campaign in deep trouble for the final leg of the campaign in second gear. One point up, two down, it was all in the margin, it was still anyone's game. So what if Cartr's lead was now in the polls going into election night at one point ahead of Ford.  National polls are meaningless this late in the game and in elections where there are so many states at play. You only need 270 votes to win the white house and the soldiers in both camps knew this. The elction was going to be won in places like Chicago and Boston, and would depend on staes like ohio and pennsylvania. Ford was gaining in all of these areas. This was always going to be a barn burner and a very late night for both men at the eye of the storm.

Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Family will not be seen tonight so ABC News can bring the results of the Presidential Election. With that announcement the election night coverage of 1976 had began. The other two major networks, CBS and NBC made similiar openings pormising fans of their network's primetime shows that there favorite stars would return the following week and that it was time for the nation to pick their next president. At that time in the evening only about 2 percent of the returns had been in and they were favoring very heavly for the incumbant president. The returns had put ford at 53% to maybe 54%, and Carter at nearly 48% national. NBC Nightly news with John Chancellor and David Brinkley were showing silimiar returns.

Over at ABC the first state to be called that night was Kentucky and that with 46% of the vote in the state was going to be to Carter who would win the state with a comfortable margin of victory of about seven points. The polls in Indinania were now closed but the state was a toss up. It would be a major blow to the ford campaign if Carter was to win both Indanian and Ohio, and if they were called early in the evening. Carter was unlikely to win in Indiana but he campaigned heavily there and so he was in the margin of error which always makes the networks uncomfortable to place the state in either candidate's column.

By 3 o'clock in the morning after election night on the east coast, and roughly two hours after the last polls in Alaska and Hawaii closed, there was still no official winner. President Ford and the first lady had left Michigan after voting and had spend the entire evening in the second floor family quarters of the White House.  His running mate was present as was dole's wife Liddy the future US Senator. The ford children, daugther Susan and sons Jack,Mike and, Steve were also there glued to the t.v.

The central hallway that runs between the two massive sitting rooms on the east and west wings of the first families living area were filled with a large gathering of Grand Rapids friends,political advisors, campaign associates, and pollsters. In the middle of this sea of old guard republicans and eager young elephants was the liberal senator Jacob Javits of New York, a close friend of the president. Singer Pearl Bailey who was a celebrity surrogate was there as was the ex baseball star Joe Garagiola who spent a good chunk of the evening sitting on the couch in the west sitting hall with Ford. Both of them watching the resulting on tv as they came in, with Ford puffing on his pipe and Garagiola with his worthless pokerface trying not A buffet of shrimp creole surf and beef stroganoff was being served and the noise of four t.v. in three different rooms (living room, presidential study had two, and the main corridor) could be heard by all as they played musical chairs from location to location like a neighborhood superball party from hell. When a person would get up for just a split second to grab a drink or bathroom break would soon return to find their sit long. The only person how didn't have to jockey for sitting near the tv sets was the candidate himself, who during his breaks from Garagiola would casually walk from group to group. Saying hi, jokingly asking if he'd won yet, and then sit for a few moments silently before getting back up and moving to the next group. Betty Ford did the same as her husband, passing eachother nearly every other time and sticking out their hands as the kept on their way usually touching fingers for a second before making it to their distantion. As the evening wore on Mrs. Ford was seen hugging Pearl Bailey from some time as a victory for her husband began to look slim.

Future Vice President Richard Chency then his cheif of staff, James Baker, ford's campaign manager, Stuart Spender, chief Political strategist, and pollster Bob Teeter, were thereon the second floor, and had earlier in the evening brought the president the networks' polling samples. They had all known it was going to be a struggle for the president to keep his office, but they had all hoped for better results.  CBS had the president trailing narrowly to Carter, NBC had him trailing badly. Still they all were hopeful that after Cater's early buildup in the south and east coast, that Ford could get a breakout in the midwest and west coast. The rallying cry by all was " this was always going to be a long night, but we're still gonna win this thing".

In Atlanta the Carter camp was doing a simpler cheaper version of what the Ford family was doing, on the fifteenth floor of the Omni International Hotel. The mood was casual and tame with Carter seating near three t.v. sets moving his gaze between networks. His sons Chip,Jack,and Jeff were moving from room to room talking to one another, before each taking turns seating next their father. Rosalynn and Amy were next Ham Jordan, Jody Powell, Pat Caddell, and Jerry Rafshoon, were all there with their wives and children, waiting for the moment like everyone else in the room went they could finally power down and get some rest. The whole room seemed to be running on sure excitement and leftover two day old fuels.

The entire party including the secret service seemed to leave the candidate alone as the night wore on and the results stopped coming in, everyone was growing restless, save for Amy who was actually resting fast asleep, and started breezing back and forth from the main hotel corridor and it's surrounding rooms.  Whenever one of the group would move within Carter's view of the t.v.s  he would very politely ask them with a smile to move aside. Rosalyann and Jimmy would hold hands when she would sit down beside him and he would affectionately kiss her hand without losing his lock on the screens.

His advisors had shown the same exit polling to carter at the start of the evening, and even though they were looking towards a long night, they were confident that it would end in a Carter victory.

End of Part 1