Memories of Jimmy Carter
A veteran journalist recalls how she first met Jimmy Carter at a dinner party while she was working for CBS in Los Angeles. The next day she told her colleagues: “Last night I met the next president” and ended up joining his campaign.
This week, many of us are going back to our feelings about—and perhaps memories of—Jimmy Carter. Personally, I was working at CBS News’ local station in Los Angeles in 1976, when I was invited to a small dinner to meet the former governor of Georgie. He was rumored to be a possible contender for president.
I walked down to my neighbor’s house, expecting little. There were about 12 of us for dinner. Carter was at one end and I on the other. The host asked the men to make one move after every course. By dessert, I still wasn’t across the table from Carter, but he made sure to include everyone in his conversation.
When dinner was over, he walked over to say goodnight: shaking my hand, he said–with no lust in his heart, but pure courtesy: ”I was hoping they’d move us one more time.” Suffice to say, I walked into the newsroom the next day and announced, “last night I met the next president.”’
“That peanut farmer!” came the riotous response. Next thing I knew, I was called by the campaign chairman, Terry O’Connell (former vet with a large eye patch) who asked me to be the California press secretary. I quit my job to take that post.
I realized early on that the national Carter campaign was writing off California. (I tried to explain that it is more like three states and that I would need more assistance. Also, Gov Jerry Brown was in the race.) Still, Carter did come to the city a few times: I recall joining him at Paramount Studios where he was thrilled to meet Henry Winkler, a rising star as “The Fonz” on “Happy Days.” Two nicer men were difficult to imagine.
I even managed to convince my father—a wealthy philanthropist and anti-nuclear force, to consider supporting Carter. He was reluctant unless he could get the candidate to commit—if elected—to sponsoring a United Nation Special Session on Disarmament. Carter promised, the session was held here in New York, and my father and Paul Newman were the delegates.
I interviewed historian Jonathan Alter several times over the years about his 2020 biography of Carter [”His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life]. Not surprisingly, Alter’s book has shot up on best seller list this week. I focused on how ahead of his time this religious man was on so many issues: including with the women in his life. Yes, his marriage to Rosalynn of 77 years; his dynamic beloved mother Lillian; the female schoolteacher who he mentioned—and thanked-- in an important address. This was a man who realized the importance of the female voice. Personally, I recall when he ‘seduced’ me across a dining table all those decades ago; not with flirtation, but with curiosity, empathy, and respect. And soon after, by handing a very young woman a rather important position.
Michele Willens, a frequent contributor to Straus News, is the author of From Mouseketeers to Menopause.