Jimmy Carter with Ben Cagle in the 70s
President Jimmy Carter had ties to Chattanooga and visited the city several times. The 39th President of the United States died Sunday at his home in Plains, Ga. at the age of 100. Many area residents, who met the President, said they’d never forget him (especially his smile) and his humility.
President Carter served as Georgia governor from 1971-1975. In 1972, he began talks about property his state owned in the heart of downtown Chattanooga. Governor Carter flew to Lovell Field for a news conference in 1974 to discuss what was going on with a possible land deal. This writer was at that press briefing in the pilot's lounge as the governor outlined, in detail, where the case stood. Georgia eventually sold all their Chattanooga property.
In 1991, WRCB TV’s David Carroll caught up with the Carter family while they were dining at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. The former President told Mr. Carroll, “When I became governor, the state of Georgia owned a great portion of downtown Chattanooga because of railroad rights. I’m probably more familiar with downtown Chattanooga than downtown Atlanta.” Jokingly, the former President told Mr. Carroll, “I’m not here to reclaim the property.”
Mr. Carter released his intentions to run for president at the end of 1974 and became the Democratic nominee in July, 1976. A few weeks later, his campaign announced he was coming to the First Baptist Church in Calhoun, Ga. and the governor would teach a Sunday school class. This writer was among the journalists from Chattanooga and Atlanta selected to attend. The candidate chose 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, the love passage, as his scripture text. After a closing prayer, Mr. Carter shook hands with those of us on the front row, thanked us for attending, and left the church for his car. He was accompanied by his friend, Bert Lance.
Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles said in 1975 he was asked to escort Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter thru the court house. Mr. Knowles said he took the Carters from office to office, meeting with various officials and their employees. Mr. Knowles said a few days later he received a handwritten letter from Governor Carter thanking him for his hospitality. The letter read, “To Bill Knowles, I enjoyed being with you and appreciate your fine help at the courthouse. Your being with me was a great political advantage. Your continuing advice and active support will be very valuable to me in the coming months.” Mr. Knowles said he had the letter framed and it hangs on his office wall.
President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian General Omar Torrijos signed two Panama Canal Treaties in 1977. Republican Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, from Tennessee, is credited with helping President Carter get the necessary Senate votes. Senator Baker was guest speaker at a Professional Society of Journalists meeting in Chattanooga, Feb. 25, 1983. Senator Baker said, “Jimmy Carter was badly underrated. He did a lot of things that will live on for a long time. I disagreed with him a lot of the time, but I get offended when I see him constantly downgraded. He was not that bad, he was a pretty good man.”
Retired Broadcaster Ben Cagle said, “I was fortunate enough to meet Jimmy Carter on three separate occasions. We won station of the year and one afternoon he dropped in to say congratulations. I’ve always had a lot of respect for President Carter and the way he treated people.”
Retired National Transportation and Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall from Signal Mountain said, “Jimmy Carter was a great President who served our nation in the military, his state, his home town and persons in need across America and the world; a wonderful human being, who was always giving back to the nation he served. His life was a Sunday School.”
Chattanoogan Joel W. Solomon was good friends with Mr. Carter. President Carter named Mr. Solomon General Services Administrator and he served from 1977-1979. In 1981, the General Services Administration acquired the Chattanooga Federal Courthouse and renamed it the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building.
Town and Country Restaurant owner Bill Hall Jr. recalled a Saturday night when Democratic leader Ward Crutchfield brought Rosalyn Carter in for dinner. Mr. Hall said Mrs. Carter asked his father if he’d support her husband for president. Mr. Hall said his dad didn’t know much about Jimmy Carter, but found out quickly.
The late Ben Haden, who served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga for 31 years, said he met with President Carter several times. Mr. Haden said, “President Carter was a man of strong faith and had a genuine interest in people.”
Television newsman Mort Lloyd won the Democratic 3rd District Congressional nomination in the summer of 1975. A short time later, Mort was killed in a plane crash on the way to see his parents in middle Tennessee. Governor Carter attended his funeral at the Brainerd Church of Christ.
The late Congresswoman Marilyn Lloyd was chosen to succeed her husband, and she won in November. Mrs. Lloyd served in the House of Representatives from 1975-1995 and worked with five Presidents. The Chattanooga Democrat sat down with this writer for a wide ranging radio interview on May 30, 2002 and described working with those Presidents, including Mr. Carter. Mrs. Lloyd said when she was elected, the thought never crossed her mind that she’d be working with Governor Carter in the White House.
As for President Carter, in her words, “Jimmy Carter wasn’t a friend of nuclear power and killed the Clinch Rover Breeder Project, my big project in Oak Ridge. I fought the White House all the way. Think of where we might be today with our energy shortage if we’d been able to continue with the breeder reactor. One time I got him to take Air Force One to Oak Ridge and I rode with him. The President told me his mind was made up on Clinch River and don’t you think this trip is going to change it. He was very specific about it.”
In the radio interview, Mrs. Lloyd credited President Carter with supporting federal funding for downtown development (U-DAG Grant) of the TVA complex, Trade Center and adjoining hotel.
Mrs. Lloyd said she was proud of the Camp David Accords, the peace agreement between Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, signed by President Carter in March, 1979.
Despite their difference, Mrs. Lloyd told this writer, “Jimmy Carter is my friend, and I’ve been to Plains to visit with him several times. He told me, he was proud I was the first woman from Tennessee elected to congress for a full term. President Carter is seeing his best days right now, he’s doing good work, He’s a true man of God and I’m very grateful for him.”
President Carter will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol before his Jan. 9 funeral at the Washington D.C. National Cathedral. Observances will also be held in Plains and Atlanta, Ga.
Heyearl1971@epbfi.com