I am over having things to do this week, and I'm over electronics. For real, you guys, they just refuse to work when I'm around, and weird stuff happens. I ruined my laptop in Ohio, and I've been working off one with zero battery (literally the second it gets unplugged, it shuts down), and it constantly overheats. Yesterday afternoon I couldn't even get it to start up. Asa came to my rescue, but this thing is on it's last legs. The good news, my mom ordered a new one, and I get her handme down one. But that's still two weeks away. So until then, I'm dealing with this one. Which means a speed blog, which only our 39th president would appreciate. (He is a speed reader, and can read over 2,000 wpm with 95% accuracy!)
Honestly, I didn't know a whole lot about Jimmy Carter, until we went to visit the Carter Center last month. I did read his book he wrote last year reflecting on his life, which made it hard for me to narrow down what to share with the boys. (I find they're getting longer and less edited as I go on).So, here we go, your crash course in Jimmy Carter's presidency.
Meet James Earl Carter Sr. (everyone called him Earl), and Lillian Carter. They lived in Southern Georgia.
Lillian worked as a nurse, and Earl was both a peanut farmer, and a pro-segregationist. On October 1, 1924 they had a son they named James Earl Carter, Jr. But you can call him, Jimmy. Everyone does. 
Jimmy grew up helping out on his father's peanut farm.
But it was rural Georgia, in the 1920's, so despite the fact they weren't a poor family, their house lacked electricity and running water.
Even though Jimmy's dad was all for segregation, Jimmy's friends were mostly African-American.,and his dad was ok with that. With his mom gone working long hours, Jimmy spent most of the time with his three younger siblings, and his dad on the farm and in the family general store. (Fun fact: the kids all had to wear surplus merchandise that didn't sell, and Jimmy's first pair of school shoes were girls shoes as a result!)
His dad was his best friend, and they would listen to baseball games on the radio together at night after a long day on the farm. Little Jimmy was good at school, and generally did what he told. There was an incident where he stole a penny out of a church collection plate (the Carter's were pretty involved Baptists, Jimmy even went door to door at one point spreading God's word), and one where he shot his sister in the butt with a BB gun.
Jimmy went off to high school where he joined the basketball team...
...and woodworking (and painting and writing poetry)....
...And the future farmers of America.
He was the first person on his dad's side of the family to earn a high school diploma. (He would have been Valedictorian too if he hadn't cut class to go to the movies, opsies.)
(UGH! For some reason stuff I'm typing keeps disappearing, so we're just going to go copy-paste style out of his story. I'm not typing it for a third time.... Come ON new computer!)
Jimmy didn’t get into the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland right out of high school though. At only 5’9”, he barely met the minimum physical requirements for entry, and though he was a good student, he was seen as too reserved and quiet for the Academy. Jimmy settled for Junior College at Georgia Southwestern and then the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Two years after his
high school graduation, Jimmy was finally admitted to the Naval Academy. 
Despite
his small size and reserved nature, Jimmy did well at the Naval Academy, studying
nuclear physics. NUCLEAR PHYSICS, you guys. It's my favorite presidential major since Geology! 
Fun Fact:
Jimmy is one of three presidents to graduate from a military academy. (Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated from West Point).
While on leave during the summers, Jimmy started hanging out with Ruth’s friend, Rosalynn. Jimmy and Rosalynn hit it off and Jimmy soon asked her to marry him. Rosalynn, however, had promised her father before his death that she would finish college before she got married, and told Jimmy she wanted to wait, but eventually decided to go ahead with the wedding anyway.
After Jimmy’s graduation,
the couple was married, cancelling Rosalynn’s plans for college. In the early
years of their marriage, the Carters – like many a military family – moved
frequently. After a training program in Norfolk, Virginia, they moved out to
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before spending time in Connecticut; California and
Washington, D.C. 
Jimmy worked on submarines and with nuclear reactors, and planned to work in the Navy his whole life.
The couple had three boys: Jeff, Chip, and Jack. Rosalynn became more outspoken and independent, being left to take care of the house and the kids while Jimmy was gone for months in the Navy.
But all that changed
in 1953 when Earl Carter died. Jimmy didn’t even consult Rosalynn when he
decided he would resign his post in the Navy and return to Georgia to take over
his father's peanut farm. 
But despite her reservations, she and the kids went back to Plains, Georgia with Jimmy.
When they first got
back to Plains, the Carters had little money and lived in public housing (making
Carter the only president in U.S. history to have done so). The farm had to be
divided among the heirs and after paying off debts and taxes, there was not
much left for Jimmy. 
They settled in, and despite a bad first year (thanks to a drought), the peanut farm eventually took off. Jimmy and Rosalynn got to move out of public housing (and into a haunted house!), and they spent time together for the first time, really, in their marriage. They joined a square dancing club...
...and got a TV which they used to watch Yankees games.
Then Jimmy began to
serve on the Sumter County Board of Education. Schools were still segregated,
but Jimmy wanted to equalize educational opportunities as much as possible. He
suggested the board members visit all the schools so they could better understand
the conditions in the classrooms. Their first visits were to “white” schools,
and they found everything was up to par, with up-to-date text books, adequate
desks, and good art and music facilities. The “black” schools
were plentiful, 26 in all. The reason was because all the buses were allocated
for the white students, and classes had to be within walking distance of the
black children’s homes. Jimmy found the students had to share text books (which
were tattered hand me downs from white schools), classes were conducted in
rooms or churches, or large houses, there was no music or art instruction, and
the kids hardly showed up because the kids often had to work in the fields to
help support their family. 
Jimmy hadn’t lived
in the South in over a decade, and he was startled to see how little race
relations had changed in his absence. A year after he returned to Plains, the
Supreme Court unanimously ordered the desegregation of public schools (Brown v. Board of Education), and in the
aftermath of that decision civil rights protesters demanded an end to all forms
of racial discrimination.ack had just finished high school and the Carters went on a vacation to Mexico to celebrate. When they returned, not a single customer came to their office. Some members of his agricultural society had obtained a list of Jimmy’s customers, and informed those customers Jimmy was away at a Communist training camo to learn how to best integrate the public schools. He explained to his customers that he had really just been on vacation, and most of their loyal customers returned. The Carter’s contemplated leaving Plains, like many others, but decided to stay.
but Jimmy had never had any interest in seeking public office. But in 1962, the Supreme Court ruled (Baker v. Carr) that all votes had to be weighed equally. Voting districts were redrawn in a way that stopped privileging rural white voters, and Jimmy saw an opportunity for a "new Southerner," such as he considered himself, to win political office. His main goal was to help save the public school system in Georgia, which had been threatened by closure if they were forced to integrate.
Jimmy didn’t consult Rosalynn, and hastily went to the court house to sign up as a Senatorial candidate. Luckily, this time she was pleased and excited by his plans. Jimmy placed ads in the newspaper stopped by radio stations in the area and spoke to any civic club that would have him, but the candidates were given only 10 days to campaign (the thought was all the “old system” Senators would be chosen anyway).
Then, there was crazy cheating, with a ballot box found under his opponents friend's bed. The votes were thrown out, and Jimmy was named the winner.
During his years as
a state Senator, he and Rosalynn had their fourth child, a daughter they named
Amy. Jimmy decided to run
for governor after his two terms in the state Senate. But in the Deep South the
Civil Rights movement was still experiencing a lot of white backlash, and Jimmy
and his agenda finished in a distance third. The eventual winner was Lester
Maddox, an ardent segregationist who had infamously barricaded the doors of his
restaurant and brandished an axe to ward off black customers. 
But under Georgia
law, Governors were limited to one term so Jimmy almost immediately began
positioning himself for the 1970 gubernatorial election. Jimmy figured the
only way to win was to target his campaign to the white rural voters. He
publicly opposed busing as a method of integrating public schools, limited
public appearances with black leaders and received endorsements of popular segregationists,
including Governor Maddox. He so completely
reversed his staunch commitment to civil rights that the liberal Atlanta
Constitution Journal called him an "ignorant, racist, backward,
ultra-conservative, red-necked South Georgia peanut farmer." The strategy
worked, and Jimmy became the Governor of Georgia in 1970. 
But once he was
elected governor, Jimmy largely returned to the progressive values he had
promoted earlier in his career. He publicly called for an end to segregation,
increased the number of black officials in state government by 25 percent and
promoted education and prison reform.By 1974, Jimmy’s
time as governor was complete (Georgia governors could still only serve on
term), and Jimmy turned his sights towards the presidency. Jimmy Carter was one
of ten candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976, and at
first he was probably the least well known. He had very little money, and would
stay in cheap hotel rooms and with strangers who were kind enough to open their
homes. He took advantage of any public
appearance offered to him, including cooking shows (where he shared a fish
recipe), and an appearance on the show “What’s my Line”, which was later
replayed over and over again. 
His entire family
became to campaign for him across the country, his siblings and cousins would
spread out over the country staying on couches of strangers, using the slogan
“not just peanuts”. Rosalynn drove all over to campaign for Jimmy, but never
appeared with him. She went to live stock sale pens, courthouses, and
newspapers to spread the word about her husband who was running for president.
She would drive around and look for radio antennas, and then convince them to
put her on the radio to talk about her husband.
Jimmy eventually gained
the nomination and ran against Gerald Ford (who had narrowly defeated Ronald
Reagan for the Republican nomination). He ran on centrist themes such as
reducing government waste, balancing the budget and increasing government
assistance to the poor. 
In the end, both
candidates held a deep respect for one other, but it was Carter who won by a
slim margin on election night. (297-240) On January 20, 1977,
James Earl Carter, 52, was sworn in as the 39th president of the
United States. The Inauguration Day
parade included a Macy's Parade-like balloon of a peanut to celebrate his past,
and Rosalyn, was also the only First Lady (in recent history, anyway) to wear
an old gown for the swearing-in ceremony. 
Jimmy’s presidency
was marked by escalating economic problems. He confronted persistent
"stagflation", a combination of high inflation, high unemployment and
slow growth. Making matters worse, the price of gas skyrocketed, and America
was facing an energy crisis. There was even a shortage of gas to the point
where people would line up for hours at the gas station just to try and get gas
for their cars. Jimmy encouraged energy conservation by all U.S. citizens and
installed solar water heating panels on the White House, and wore sweaters to
offset turning down up the heat in the White House. While being an
"outsider" helped to get Carter elected as president, it did not help
him on the job. His lack of Washington experience caused him to not get along
well with the Democratic leaders in congress. Making things worse for him was a
feud with Democratic Senator, Ted Kennedy. As a result, Congress blocked many
of Carter's bills, and he couldn’t cope with the energy crisis at hand. 
Jimmy’s presidency
was not without its accomplishments. On his second day in office, Carter pardoned
all evaders of the Vietnam War drafts. During his term as President, Carter
created two new cabinet-level departments, the Department of Energy and the
Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included
conservation, price control, and new technology.
He also deregulated
the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to
American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of
Prohibition in the United States. This deregulation led to an increase in home
brewing that has developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United
States. (His black sheep brother, Bill even marketed his own brand of beer
called “Billy Beer”) 
Perhaps Jimmy Carter's
greatest success as president was when he brought Israel and Egypt together at
Camp David. The two countries had been in a long-standing state of war, and
Jimmy convinced the both country’s leaders to come visit him at Camp David to
try and come to some sort of agreement.
With the help of Jimmy, they signed a peace treaty called the Camp David
Accords. 
He also negotiated a nuclear arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union, signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. But his hard work went down the drain when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. As a result, the Senate refused to ratify the agreement. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Jimmy called for a boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which raised a bitter controversy. It was the only time since the founding of the modern Olympics in 1896 that the United States had not participated in a Summer or Winter Olympics.
In March 1979, Jimmy was also faced with the Three Mile Island incident, when a series of mechanical and human errors at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, resulted in a partial meltdown of the reactor core and the release of radioactive gases into the atmosphere. Although the health effects were not serious, the accident heightened public fears and led to the immediate shutdown of several plants. Just a year later, Mount Saint Helens erupted in Washington State with the force of 500 atomic bombs. The eruption resulted in 57 deaths, $1.1 billion in property damage, a partial collapse of the volcano's flank, and deposited ash in 11 states and 5 Canadian provinces.
In November 1979,
radical Iranian students seized the United States Embassy in Tehran, taking 66
Americans hostage. 
Carter's failure to negotiate the hostages' release, followed by a badly botched rescue mission, made him look like an impotent leader who had been outmaneuvered by a group of radical students. The Iranian Hostage Crisis drug on for 14 months.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Carter was being challenged by Ronald Reagan, the former actor and governor of California. Reagan ran a smooth and effective campaign, simply asking voters, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Most were not, and Reagan crushed Carter in the 1980 election. As the New York Times put it, "On Election Day, Mr. Carter was the issue."
Jimmy Carter's term
in office ended on January 20 1981. Just minutes after, American captives that
were being held in Iran were set free, ending the 444-day Iran hostage crisis.
Jimmy and his family returned to Georgia. Carter was still a young man when he left office, and decide to teach classes at Emory University. He also enjoyed painting, writing poetry and woodworking. But, Jimmy wanted to remain involved in world diplomacy working for peace and human rights. Jimmy and Rosalyn set up a non-profit organization for the expansion of human rights and alleviation of human suffering; they opened The Carter Centre in Atlanta Georgia in 1982. The Carter Center does a whole lot of good, for a whole lot of people.
In retirement, Jimmy has written over 20 books, won the Nobel Peace Prize, a Grammy (for best spoken word album), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Jimmy Carter’s
presidency has drawn medium-low responses from historians. His presidency was
widely considered a failure. He had very poor relationships with Congress and
the media, stifling his ability to enact legislation or effectively communicate
his policies. Despite a largely
unsuccessful one-term presidency, Jimmy Carter has rehabilitated his reputation
through his humanitarian efforts after leaving the White House. He is now
widely considered one of the greatest ex-presidents in American history. (Also, fun fact in 2012 he passed Herbert Hoover as having the longest ex-presidency in history.)
Obviously for the timeline the boys had some peanuts to eat. (Thanks to Peyton too for taking the pictures for me--- boooooo office week!)
We watched our president in 60 seconds...
And made birthday cards (which we are sending off to the Carter Center!)
We added as many props as we could to our Jimmy Carter...
...the quote...
...biggest presidential issues....
...and fun facts....
For dinner I made sausage succotash from our president cookbook.
And paired it with cornbread (Jimmy Carter's favorite!), and peaches (because you know, Georgia-- also, Target had zero fresh peaches, crazy, right?)
Jimmy Carter also enjoys some Frozen Yogurt from time to time. (We went with peach for the Georgia connection).
We did our twitter hashtag. This is what I get for letting Asa make the hash tag.
As for an activity, we have the puzzle we bought when we visited the Carter Center at the end of August.
I'll leave you with a few of our pictures from that visit which really counted our activity, even if it was a bit early...
Ok, that's it from here. Holy geez, I can't even tell you how much I need a new laptop. That was painful to get through this blog. We'll be celebrating Hayes and Arthur's birthdays next week (Hayes will have to be a bit delayed since his birthday falls on a football Sunday).Next Up: James is coming to visit!
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