Showing posts with label President Jimmy Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Jimmy Carter. Show all posts

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Old friends Willie Nelson and Jimmy Carter discuss the White House rooftop marijuana incident

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.


An article/interview with two of my favorite people, from Entertainment Weekly, almost ten years ago. At the end, they hilariously discuss an incident which at the time was pretty controversial. . .

The Prez sits in on harp

Old friends


On the porch




By Chris Willman | Dec 03, 2004


"That was one of the things that Willie 
and I never did discuss much. But I 
don't think there's  much doubt. . ." 

Willie Nelson has sung ''Georgia on My Mind'' for former president Jimmy Carter many times — first, on the campaign trail in 1976, and as recently as the 2002 ceremony in Oslo where Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He serenades his ''favorite president ever'' again on Dec. 4's CMT Homecoming: President Carter in Plains special, filmed in Carter's still-minuscule Georgia hometown, where EW caught up with the former farm boys and occasional jogging partners.

The Bush girls claim their dad is down with OutKast. But in '76, it was radical for a candidate to quote Dylan. Did you feel like you were doing something dangerous, aligning yourself with countercultural characters like him and Willie?

CARTER I think that was one of the reasons I won, because I did align myself with characters like these, who were admired by hundreds of millions around the world.... I think as much as any performer who has ever lived, Willie has had an intimate and natural relationship with working people.... When I was in trouble in the White House or needed to be alone, just to relax — I'm a fly fisherman, and I would tie flies in my study, where Truman used to work, while Willie Nelson's songs played on the hi-fi.... So all the good things I did or, of course, all the mistakes I've made, you could kind of blame half that on Willie.

Willie, you're political in some ways, stumping for Kucinich this year, but apolitical in others; you haven't sung the antiwar song you wrote for him in concert.

NELSON I think it's important we have a change in the direction our country is going, but I sing to Democrats and Republicans every night. I don't want to do or say anything that's going to make half my audience get up and leave the building.... I look at it like my job is to bring people together, singing ''Amazing Grace'' [at the end of a show].

Willie's book said he smoked pot on the White House roof. Mr. President, what did you know and when did you know it?

CARTER I would guess that Willie and my sons knew a lot more about that than I did. That was one of the things that Willie and I never did discuss much. But I don't think there's much doubt that there was—

NELSON Actually, short-term memory — I don't remember a lot that happened then.

CARTER [Both laughing] Yeah, my memory's kind of short on that subject, too.
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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

POTUS 39 - President James Earl Carter - Not As Bad A President As You Have Been Led To Believe, But Rather A Victim Of Circumstance


click to enlarge

I remember how proud I was of Jimmy Carter, that Tuesday in November, 1976, when he stomped President Gerald R. Ford. It was my second Presidential election, and my first election had been a disaster, for me, and for the country.

With Ford's departure, the White House would finally be swept clean of the detritus of Dick Nixon. President Carter was my kind of people. Even among hillbillies, there are a few who rise above their mean beginnings. Of course, his brother Billy Carter was more my kind of people with his constant beer infusions, improvident talk, and public urination.

It didn't take long before things didn't go so well for President Carter, even though he would eventually win the Nobel Peace Prize. The last year of his admininstration was scarred by the Iranians holding a large number of Americans hostage. They would not be freed until the moment Dutch Reagan took the oath of office. Runaway inflation didn't help his election either. Since his forced retirement, the former President has worked tirelessly for various causes, most notably Habitat For Humanity.

He is the only person to be sworn in as president using his nickname. President Carter was also the first president born in a hospital. Jimmy Carter caused quite a stir when he said he had lusted many times in his heart after seeing pictures of women such as those in Playboy magazine. He instituted the first live televised phone-in broadcast from the White House in March 1977. He also began regular Saturday morning radio addresses to the American public.
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