Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Cater, America’s thirty-ninth president, was born on October first 1924. He was born to James Earl and Lillian Carter in southwest Georgia. Surprisingly, he was the first president to be born in a hospital. He was the oldest of four children. He had a younger brother, Billy and two sisters: Gloria and Ruth. The Carters grew up on a farm in Plains Georgia where they farmed for peanuts. His dad was a successful farmer and Jimmy didn’t seem to mind helping out. Once he said, "As a child my greatest ambition was to be valuable around the farm and to please my father." He loved his father very much and had always wanted to please him. In his later years he even wrote a book “An Hour Before Daylight.” The book was a big seller and was mainly about his growing up and how he felt for his father. The farming had been a profitable business, helping them get through the great depression. Jimmy seemed to be living a simple life with only one problem, in the early to mid 1900’s segregation and racism was very prevalent. His father was a sworn segregationalist, however his mother was a caring person who did not believe in the practice. She always tried to set a good example and would be caring towards the black neighbors whenever possible.

Jimmy Carter attended classes at both the Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia institute of technology. Carter was a good student and finished 59th in his class of 820. He was affectionate towards many of his teachers and was very caring. He even mentioned one of his high school teachers in his inaugural address. With his father’s help and a lot of hard work Jimmy was appointed to the Naval academy in 1943. At the time America was in the Second World War. Jimmy was very busy training and was a good student at the naval academy. He was known to be a very disciplined and serious officer. Some of his shipmates described him as helpful and friendly but knew him to be very serious and not one to play around. All throughout his life Jimmy was know to be very serious and a hard worker. After a few years serving in a submarine program for the Navy, Carter was placed in a groundbreaking Nuclear Submarine program with Admiral Hyman Rickover.

While he was busy training he was also very busy with the lady in his life. He met a girl named Rosalynn Smith, who happened to be his younger sister’s best friend. Jimmy did not know Rosalynn for too long but they ended up getting engaged soon after they met. The two were married in 1946.

Not too long into Jimmy’s naval career some bad news came. His father had been diagnosed with cancer. Jimmy went to go see him and was met with a huge crowd of concerned neighbors and friends. He was amazed by the reaction and knew that he needed to do his part to help. Jimmy decided to leave his promising naval career to go back to the farm where he started. His wife was very angry with him about leaving the Navy life and the two had many big arguments about the subject.

In 1953 the Carters went back to the old peanut farm. Now Jimmy had Rosalyyn’s help. She ended up contributing a lot to the business by modernizing and expanding the already profitable business into a huge peanut farm and warehouse facility. The family was making plenty of money and could enjoy a nice house and being able to take vacations when they pleased.

When Jimmy was 38 he started his career in politics. He surprised his wife with the idea of running for Senate, and this time she seemed to support him. His father was a senator for a short while before being diagnosed with cancer and his death. Jimmy had a great campaign and was very confident about the election. Sadly the election did not turn out in his favor. His opponent had a very strong political stance and much professional help to back him up. Carter knew this man to be a fraud and not a good man. So he contested the results of the election and eventually became the senator himself. Jimmy was a quiet senator and did not seem to stand out very much. Although he was quiet he was a very effective senator and spent a lot of time going over bills and trying to make the best pure-hearted decisions and remove corruption if he could. He had high ambitions and eventually wanted to become lieutenant governor.

In 1966 Jimmy Carter ran to be a governor. He had a good campaign going but sadly lost to Carl Sanders. Four years later he decided to run in the 1970 election. The odds looked bad against him because the former governor Carl Sanders was running again. Jimmy was still very determined and did what he always did when the situation looked down-he worked hard. Many of his friends and family members did their best to help Jimmy with his growing campaign. This time with a lot of hard work Jimmy had actually made it into office.