Jimmy (James Earl) Carter Jr. became 100 years old Tuesday, Oct. 1. He was the 39th President of the United States and served from 1977 to 1981.
A report of his demise a few years ago turned out to be greatly exaggerated. Although in poor health, he still lives in Georgia. His wife, Rosalyn, died last November at age 96.
I never met Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. But I came very close to them two or three times when I attended his inauguration in January 1977 in Washington, D.C. I had been sent there by the Lufkin Daily News.
While there, I attended three inaugural balls. Jimmy and Rosalyn danced one dance at each of them.
At one of the balls, they had erected a stand about two feet above the floor for the press so they could take better pictures. At one point, someone said, “There’s Dennis Weaver!” I yelled,
“Hey, Dennis, wave at me!” He did, and it was one of the photographs on the picture page later in the Lufkin Daily News.
Jan. 20, 1977 was one of the coldest days ever in Washington, D.C. I later heard others on TV commenting about how cold it was. People were walking across the frozen Potomic River like it was a street. I wore multiple shirts, pants and socks that day and still almost froze.
The inaugural parade was beautiful. The Capitol and White House are on one end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The parade came from there for a mile or so and then turned right where bleachers had been set up for the press. Those in the parade had been told to pause briefly for the press and then turn right.
A few blocks before getting near the bleachers, Jimmy Carter got out of the limousine. He put his daughter Amy on his shoulders and walked beside the limousine, both smiling and waving.
Joe Murray, my editor at the Lufkin Daily News, had gotten all the credentials I would need to attend the events. I wore them on a ribbon around my neck.
Carter was to be sworn in from a balcony at the back of the White House. As I approached, a huge crowd had gathered and an orchestra was playing patriotic music at the front. I weaved in and out among the crowd and wound up standing beside the orchestra, only a few yards from the White House.
A Marine stepped up to me and said, “Sir, let me see your identification.” He saw I was with the press. He turned and pointed to a stand about 50 or 60 yards back and told me I was supposed to be on that stand. I looked and saw a large number of photographers with long lens cameras on the stand. I only had a Yashica Mat camera that had no long lens.
The program suddenly started and the throng was too thick to attempt to wade back through. The Marine said, “Oh, forget it.”
As a result, I was able to take closeup photographs of Jimmy Carter taking the oath of office to run later in the Lufkin Daily News.
On the flight from Washington back to Dallas, I found myself sitting by Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade. He had become famous a few years earlier with the Roe vs. Wade case.
I asked Mr. Wade about something.
“Jimmy Carter’s real name is James Earl Carter Jr. Will he have to sign his real name to all bills and documents, or can he just sign Jimmy Carter?”
Wade replied, “He can sign as Jimmy Carter. A man can call himself anything he wants to be called as long as there is no attempt to defraud anyone.”
In the past, I have written about other well-known people I have had experiences with. Hope you don’t think of me as a name dropper but thought you might enjoy reading about my experience that January 1977. It was one of the most exciting times of my life.
Dan Eakin formerly served as a News-Record staff writer and minister at Collinsville Bible Baptist Church. He is currently the editor of the Silsbee (Texas) Bee.