Jimmy Carter - 39th President of the United Sates of America

Atlanta is a beautiful city. I was reminded of this on my recent trip there for business. While there I took and extra day to visit the Carter Presidential Center.

June was the perfect time to visit these grounds. It is in a part of the city that is residential with the lush greens and boulevards lined with bright orange colored blossoms. The center has a groomed landscape that frames the building highlighting features of the area.

The Carter Center is my first visit to a Presidential Museum of a living President but not the first to one that served in office during my life.

A moment in time that I have always found amazingly interesting (and I think would make for a great play) includes Carter. Following the assassination of Anwar Sadat, third President of Egypt, Air Force One carried US diplomates to the funeral. As I recall, current President Reagan, Vice President Bush and Former Presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon all flew together. Ford and Carter, who had become friends once out of office, discussed building Presidential Centers. Mostly the conversation was about strategies to raise money and use them for causes.

Here I was. Visiting the results of that conversation.

Jimmy Cater was born to a family of peanut farmers. Point of interest - the first President to be born in a hospital. I had always heard his story portrayed as one of rising from the poverty of the Great Depression. However I do not believe that to be accurate. He was born during that time period, and I have no doubt things were tight, but his father owned the farm and a store along with a few other businesses. During that time to operate and own a business put you well above large segments of the population.

Later Carter went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He married Roslyn. He serviced on a diesel hunter killer submarine. There are some nice pictures of him in Hawaii at the center along with the uniform he wore.

After the navy he returned to Georgia to run the family business. He ran for small local governing positions over municipal bodies. This lead to a run in the State Senate where he served from 1961 to 1966.

He ran for governor in 1966 and lost. He went back to the agricultural business he been growing from the simple family farm and store. In 1970 he ran for governor again and won.

In 1976 he entered the Democratic National Party primary with a 2% name recognition. Over that year he built a base and won the important Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

The race between Carter and Ford that year showed that Carter was considerably ahead early on. But the race tightened dramatically putting the two in a tight election. Something not mentioned at the Carter Center was an interview with Playboy magazine where Carter admitted to “lust in his heart.” He also suggested questionable measures if put into office. The press also circulated that he had registered a UFO sighting a few years earlier.

In the first presidential debate since 1960 Carter did not do well. In the second debate, focused on international affairs, President Ford claimed that there was no Soviet dominance in eastern Europe. This one slip by Ford spoiled the debate for Ford and set his campaign into recovery mode. The Carter Center will tell you that Jimmy won the close election - nearly everyone else will tell you that Ford lost that election.

The main area of the Carter Center focuses on three things. The first is “a day in the life of the President.” This is a really interesting multimedia presentation on multiple screens that show one busy day and all the players involved. The second is the Camp David Accord where Carter used “Cabin Diplomacy” between the cottages at Camp David to bring together Egypt and Israel. This event is covered in great detail. Finally there is the Iranian Hostage negotiations. A phrase that remains with me about this section “There were two White Houses, one focused on the hostages and the other running daily affairs.”


Something I recall very well - the solar cells put on top of the White House.

There is considerable attention at the Carter Center placed on post presidential activities. All of the work and time spent on fair elections in third world countries and Habitat for Humanity.

I was surprised on how empty the Carter Canter was. How chatty the staff was with one another having open conversations speaking loudly across the floor.

Nothing was more surprising to me about my visit than the asian family who walked through the center with me. One of the members of the family was a woman in her late teens early 20’s who had a cough that sounded like tuberculosis. As I watched a video about the debates and commercials I kept an eye on her watching another video 10 feet away.

When she coughed there was not polite hand cover or the more PC cough into the bend of your arm. It was free and open carpet bombing coughing that covered everything in her way.

At one point during the video her cough resulted in her gum shooting out of her mouth, bouncing off the flat screen monitor and hitting the carpeted floor at her feet. After a good minuted passed before she stooped down, picked up the gum, and put it back in her mouth for continued chewing.

That was the highlight. That is what I remember most. Like the Carter Administration it was short, some things happened, and those things that stood out were kind of sad.

Benjamin Harrison - 23rd President of the United States of America

It was a typical Presidents’ Day in Michigan, cold with slight flurries. During my 5 Hour drive to Indianapolis the flurries became a deep winter storm. Arriving at the Harrison home in time for the 12 O'clock tour I was one of the few brave souls who had walked through the large wooden doors that day. Presidents’ Day is one of six occasions when re-enactors representing the Harrison family and staff warm the hearts and hearths of guests to bring life back to the historic home.

I had planned to stay for only two hours at best, but with the slow pace of the day and my interest in presidential homes and museums each of the actors “broke character” with me to talk about their passion for history.


Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States of America. He was son to John Scott Harrison a congressman from Ohio, grandson to William Henry Harrison the ninth president president of the United States of America, and great-grandson to Benjamin Harrison the fifth person to sign the declaration of independence in his role representing Virginia.

Benjamin Harrison was a one term president bookended by Grover Cleveland, the only president to win two non-consecutive terms. The Harrison story always begins with Cleveland’s wife telling White House staff that they will be returning, then ends as Cleveland, his wife and the famous baby Ruth triumphantly return. Harrison is lightly sprinkled in between.

The story that I learned about Harrison was his great love for his first wife Caroline. They met as teenagers, introduced by his professor which happened to be her father. From this time on they were great companions who loved each other very much. Like most couples they filled each others gaps. He was shy and “glacial” in making decisions, she was bright and engaging in many social circles.

The First Lady graduated from college studying art and music. He went to Miami of Ohio and passed the bar without formally going to law school, instead studying under great legal minds of his time.

Their home is filled with lovely art she created. Watercolors primarily and carefully crafted plates. Caroline created China Room for the White House to display all of the patterns from past Presidents. She was the first leader of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

He took great pride as a general during the Civil War raising troops and training them to become one of the most disciplined divisions that fought. Harrison was a supporter of President Lincoln and continuously spoke of giving former slaves the right to vote. He also served as a senator from Indiana.

In October of 1892 Caroline Harrison died of tuberculosis. During the months building up to this Benjamin Harrison was by her side filled with grief and despair as she wasted away. He had accepted the Republican Party nomination to run for a second term but did not have the heart to run the campaign, it was broken at Caroline’s bedside.

During the years of mourning President Harrison returned to Indianapolis. He kept in touch with Caroline’s personal assistance and nice Mary Scott Lord. Mary lived in New York and would have dinner with the President when he was in town. She was a few month younger than the Presidents daughter.

Mary and Benjamin had a great much in common and eventually married. This caused a divid in the family between. Benjamin and Caroline’s children were not happy with the speed in which the two married. They were not pleased with the great gap in age.

Harrison and his second wife had a daughter. His remaining years were in Indianapolis home. The family never reconciled before his death.

One of the most interesting artifacts on display at the Harrison home is a handwritten note to the president in regards to his ill wife from Helen Keller. It has been authenticated that Helen wrote it herself.

My drive home was delayed due to all the time spent at the Harrison home. I made it to my second destination, The Dan Quayle Vice Presidential Museum just in time for the 4:30 pm closing.
It was either there at the corner or the rough Indiana back roads where my rear tire picked up a bit of metal. My tire pressure dropped. At a garage in the middle of nothing I attempted to change my flat only to find that the key to the tire lock is no longer in my car. The trip was much longer as I had to stop every 30 minutes to fill the tire at a gas station only to race on for the next 30 minutes before the sensor light came back on.

The extended evening allowed my mind to drift through the lives of the First Family of the 23rd President. You don’t plan to be married multiple times or push your children away with your choices - but you are grateful to find someone to share life with. You may have the best intentions to adopt the McKinley Act - raising tariffs and switching to a gold/silver standard for the US economy. It seems like a good idea at the time, but you’re setting yourself up for failure.