Imagine

The latest from Hollywood on the Potomac.

Written by by Guest Contributor Kandie Stroud

“A few weeks ago, on December 29, 2024 at 100 years of age, Jimmy went home to join Rosalynn. They never did like being apart.

It was a blessing to have been given the opportunity to write a book about Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign which allowed me to spend a lot of time in Plains getting to know and interview Jimmy and Rosalynn and the Carter family and to travel with them on the campaign trail. While at first I did not see him as a towering political figure who would become the 39 th president of the United States and later be revered as a world class humanitarian in his post-presidency. But I came to know Carter as an extraordinarily kind, gentle and generous human being, a man of authenticity, integrity, brilliance, wisdom and above all, faith.

It was a process getting to that point. In the early 70’s when Carter was considering a run for the White House, a family friend and Carter advisor, Dr Peter Bourne, was trying to burnish Carter’s image and to convince me to write about him. He maintained that Carter was a new breed of Southern Governor, a progressive who could return the South to the Democrat column and he painted a bright future with Carter as Commander in Chief. He insisted I meet him. At Bourne’s constant pestering and my editor’s acquiescence, I flew to Atlanta for an afternoon reception at the Governor’s mansion where I met Jimmy and Rosalynn as they were greeting guests in a receiving line. Very warm, delightful people. Lots of Southern hospitality. But nothing suggested superstar. There was no pizzaz, no sizzle, no Jack Kennedy and Jackie O aura. Bourne was unrelenting, certain I had missed Carter’s superstar quality. Let’s try again. Two weeks later Carter was going to be in Washington at the Democratic Governors Association meeting. He would arrange for an interview. I met Carter in the lobby of the Washington Hilton, spent close to an hour with him and wrote an article. He was interesting. Sort of. But Carter did not electrify the space he occupied.

On December 12, 1974 Carter announced he was running for president. He was given zero percent chance. “Jimmy Who?,” was the mantra. At the National Press Club where he held his press conference most reporters wrote off the prospect of this unknown candidate from the deep south making it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As the presidential campaign loomed, over a dozen candidates including, President Ford, Alabama Governor George Wallace, and Rep. Mo Udall (D-AZ) were declaring. I received a call from a literary agent in New York named Bill Adler who had been following my work. Adler came to Washington to see me and over lunch at the Willard Hotel across the street from the White House, asked if I would consider doing a book on the campaign. The publishing house William Morrow wanted the book. I accepted the challenge and shortly thereafter was off on the campaign trail, assigned to cover all of the candidates.

I had known and liked Gerald Ford as an approachable politician when he was the Representative from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Midwesterners are known for their warm and welcoming nature. They smile easily and go out of their way to help someone in need. The Michigander was no exception. At the Republican National Convention in Miami for instance. I had a broken leg from a ski accident and was encased in a hip- to- toe plaster cast hobbling around on crutches. Ford and his wife Betty saw me waiting for a taxi outside of my hotel and insisted on driving me in their limousine to an event that they were also attending. Ford had been in the House for nearly 25 years, nine of them as Minority Leader. He was selected as Nixon’s Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace, and then stepped in as president when Nixon himself resigned. With his experience and likeability, I expected Ford, the incumbent, would probably win. Wrong. The campaign was conducted in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and the Watergate scandal. The public was demoralized and the scent of corruption was in the air. Lies, lies and more lies was the perception on which Carter capitalized. ‘I’ll never lie to you,’ was his slogan and his humble outsider image was just what the public craved. I attended Ford’s events and rallies as well as all the others. They were all good on the stump and were experienced politicians but none of them exuded that movie star leading man glow.