Jimmy Carter in In the President`s Secret Service, by Ronald Kessler
On Drugs:
Declared White House to be officially "dry"
Early in his presidency, Carter proclaimed that the White House would be "dry." Each time a state dinner was held, the White House made a point of telling reporters that no liquor--only wine--would be served. "The Carters were the biggest liars in the
world," the director of the White House Military Office said. "The word was passed to get rid of all the booze. There can't be any on Air Force One, in Camp David, or in the White House."[When the alcohol was removed, the staffer continued], "I
get a call from the mess saying, 'They want Bloody Marys before going to church. What should I do?' I said, 'Find some booze and take it up to them.' "
[Another staffer confirms], "Occasionally Carter had a martini." Rosalynn would have a screwdriver.
Lillian Carter, Carter's own mother, contradicted her son's claim. In a 1977 interview with The New York Times, she said that, even though the White House was officially "dry," she managed to have a nip of bourbon every afternoon when she stayed there.
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ron Kessler, p. 74-75
Jun 29, 2009
On Energy & Oil:
Installed solar panels on White House roof
Carter claimed to the press that he was saving energy by having solar panels installed on the roof of the White House to heat hot water. "It would not generate enough hot water to run the dishwasher in the staff mess," a White
House staffperson says. "It was a fiasco. The staff mess had to go out and buy new equipment to keep the water hot enough. That blew any savings."
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ron Kessler, p. 75-76
Jun 29, 2009
On Homeland Security:
Declined to keep "nuclear football" at home in Georgia
Carter refused to carry out the biggest responsibility a president has--to be available to take action in case of nuclear attack. When he went on vacation, "Carter did not want the nuclear football at Plains," a Secret Service agent says. "There was no
place to stay in Plains. The military wanted a trailer there. He didn't want that. So the military aide who carries the football had to stay in Americus," a 1minute drive from Carter's home.
Because of the agreed-upon protocols, in the event of a nuclear attack, Carter could not have launched a counterattack by calling the aide in Americus. By the time the military aide drove to Carter's home, the United
States would have been within five minutes of being wiped out by nuclear-tipped missiles. "He would have had to drive ten miles," an agent says. "Carter didn't want anyone bothering him on his property. He wanted his privacy. He was really different."
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ronald Kessler, p. 72
Jun 29, 2009
On Principles & Values:
Discourteous & dismissive of White House staff
Jimmy Carter was known to the Secret Service as the least likeable president. If the true measure of a man is how he treats the little people, Carter flunked the test. Inside the White House, Carter treated with contempt the little people who helped and
protected him. "Carter didn't want agents looking at him or speaking to him when he went to the office," says an assistant White House usher. "We never spoke unless spoken to," says the White House chief of the Secret Service Uniformed Division.At the
same time, Carter tried to project an image of himself as man of the people by carrying his own luggage when traveling. But that was often for show. As a candidate in 1976, Carter would carry his own bags when the press was around but ask the Secret
Service to carry them the rest of the time. As president, says a Secret Service agent: "When he was traveling, he would roll up his sleeves and carry his bag over his shoulder, but it was empty. He wanted people to think he was carrying his own bag."
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ron Kessler, p. 70-71
Jun 29, 2009
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