A Short Walk to the White House: My Tribute to Former US President Jimmy Carter

Former President and Mrs Carter

Walking Up Pennsylvania Avenue

to The White House

Professor Joe Goldblatt

During the summer of 1976 I was freshly graduated from St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas and was starting to slowly make my way in the world in Washington, DC. I had in the previous past few years been though a bitter divorce, witnessed the unprecedented resignation of President Nixon, and experienced many other struggles to complete my undergraduate degree as soon as possible in order to start earning a living to repay my student loans.

In November of 1976, President Jimmy Carter had surprised the nation by winning the race for the US Presidency. The country seemed both ebullient at the prospects of this plain spoken peanut farmer bringing a breath of much eneded fresh air to the oval office as well as curious about what this might mean for the future of the country following the economic challenges of the previous administration.

In December, the plans for the inauguration of the President were announced and I applied for two tickets for one of the inaugural balls. My friend Ann agreed to join me. At that time the tickets for the ball were very affordable and in keeping with our new low key president, the dress was informal.

On the morning of 20 January 2024 Ann and I made our way through huge crowds to a street corner upon Pennsylvania Avenue which is known as the Avenue of the Presidents as it directly links the US Capitol with The White House. Typically, the President and First Lady ride in a heavily armoured limousine for this short journey.

However, upon this freezing cold day, the new President and First Lady surprised hundreds of thousands of their fellow citizens by exiting the limousine directly in front of where I was standing and joining hands, they walked for the remainderof the journey to the White House.

Later I learned that this was the first time in the history of the U.S. Presidency that a President and First Lady had walked in their inaugural parade and you could feel the excitement from the roar of the delighted crowd. The message their gesture sent to the crowd that day was loud and clear. Following the imperial and disgraced presidency of Richard Nixon, this new President was indeed a man of and for the people. I was immediately reminded of President Abraham Lincoln’s famed Gettysburg Address when he announced ” … that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

A few years later I had the privilege of serving as a Master Teacher for the George Washington University After School Programme and one of our students was President and Mrs Carter’s only daughter. Amy Carter was accompanied each week by two secret service agents, but other than their conspicuous presence in our small school, her attendance had little effect on the operations of our programme.

Amy was the first child of a US President to attend a local state (public school) which was only one block from the White House. Many of her fellow pupils were African American children from poor neighbourhoods. Subsequently, all school age children of US presidents attended expensive private schools.

As I join millions all over the world in remembering the noble life of Jimmy Carter, my greatest memory is how this simple peanut farmer reminded us that the office of president is a privilege held by few and designed to represent many through their every day actions. From a simple act of walking amongst the people to the enrolling of his child in a local public school, he continually echoed the words recited by President Lincoln in his first inaugural address that immediately followed the bloody U.S. Civil War.

Similar to Jimmy Carter, this simple man, who was born into poverty and later was known as the great emancipator, reminded his fellow citizens that day “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

The man whom I witnessed during his historic walk was, although I did not realise it at the momen, exemplifying the better angels of our nature. May all future inhabitants of the oval office and indeed all citizens aspire to emulate his sterling example.

Professor Joe Goldblatt is Emeritus Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh Scotland. His views are his own. For more information about his views visit www.joegoldblatt.scot