Thursday, February 27, 2014

Best of AM - The Peanut President

I have visited several United States Presidential birthplaces or childhood homes.  The varied backgrounds of our Presidents are always a source of amazement for me.

Sunday, I blogged about the Andersonville National Historic Site, where one of the most notorious Civil War POW camps existed. On February 27, 1864, 150 years ago today, the first prisoners were transported there.

In 1924, a man was born, and grew up, just a few miles from the Andersonville site.  He is still alive, and still quite active - in fact, he is planning a trip to Venezuela later this year, at the ripe young age of 89.  And, oh yes, he was our 39th President.

Here is a post I wrote on Jimmy Carter in 2010.

The Peanut President

Jimmy Carter has always fascinated me.  He came seemingly out of nowhere, seemed to have what it took to be President, but once he got into office he never succeeded.  Yet, in private life, he has succeeded beyond what may have been his wildest dreams.

What in his upbringing, what in his childhood values, what in his education made this man?

And why has this area of Georgia grown organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and others?  What here was so special?

We are visiting the Americus/Plains area to find out. In this blog entry I am concentrating on Jimmy Carter the man.

This is the house that Jimmy Carter grew up in.


Jimmy Carter grew up outside of Plains, GA in a solidly middle class family.  The actual town, which no longer exists, was called Archery.  The realities of rural life in those days created a childhood of lots of hard physical labor.  His father, loving as he was, did not believe in keeping anything on the farm that did not "pay its own way".   And this was hard farming, although the Carters were rich enough to have tenant farmers.  Still, Jimmy worked side by side with area black farmers, performing distasteful chores such as "mopping cotton".

"Miss Lillian", Jimmy's mother, was a nurse who did not turn anyone away, black or white.

Jimmy's father encouraged Jimmy to work and play alongside of the local black farmers.


The Carters grew cotton, peanuts, and sugar cane.  Student farmers still raise these crops at the homestead today.  They kept goats for meat, and mules to plow the fields.

And, in this windmill, is the germ of using "alternate energy".  There is nothing new about windpower.

The Plains High School the Carters attended has been closed (as part of consolidating various school districts).  This is a classroom set up the way it would have looked for Jimmy Carter in the 7th grade. Like so many famous people, Jimmy Carter credits a high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, as another great influence on his life.  In 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to the White House to honor her.  I highly recommend reading about her life.


 This is the outside of the high school.


Plains was the "Big City" for Jimmy Carter.  This is what it looks like today:

Jimmy Carter lives just outside of Plains today, and when he is in town, teaches Sunday School at his church.  This is Jimmy Carter's "Church Home".

When we had first planned our trip, Mr. Carter was not supposed to be in town but this has since changed. We won't be able to change our plans but it certainly would have been interesting.

The Carters also raise a lot of money by auctioning various belongings, momentos, and even paintings.

So, what about this childhood made Jimmy Carter so special?  Didn't many other Georgians had a similar rural childhood?  Not exactly.  There were Jimmy's parents, the hard work ethic instilled in him, his travel in Navy service.  But what else?  The Americus area has something very special, and you can find out more about Americus by reading some of my other posts from 2010.

7 comments:

  1. Not a fan of Mr C... Proof that some engineers never make decisions until all the data is in- and all the data is never in...And, his early roots still flavor his biases..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alana, I'm visiting from the UBC again. What a charming piece about the Peanut President. His personal substance is certainly evident today. I love your photos, too. Thanks for the visit to old Georgia!

    ReplyDelete
  3. When you see how someone was raised, you can understand why they turned out the way they did. His humble beginnings and consideration for those in need proved itself when in the last days of his administration. Everyone may not agree with what he did, but that's ok. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting post! Certainly his parents were remarkable people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the idea of a child raised with a work ethic. That seems to be lacking in the children of today. My own children each contributed to the jobs around the home and grew to be quite capable. None of them reached Carter's position though. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I actually haven't heard of him! (Oops)
    I do like the idea of having 'work ethic' though!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting! Your comments mean a lot to me, and I appreciate each one. These comments are moderated, so they may not post for several hours. If you are spam, you will find your comments in my compost heap, where they will finally serve a good purpose.