TAMPA, Fla. — American flags fly at half-staff as a national nod to our 39th president, Jimmy Carter. He died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29, 2024.
If you drive along Bayshore Boulevard, you’ll see an American flag every few blocks. Now, picture this: a few decades ago, a cousin showed his support to his family by waving a campaign flag.
“You would see him on Bayshore and he would be waving his flag, he did it all,” said Pat Carter. She was married to Calvin Carter, the second cousin to Jimmy Carter. “He went door-to-door in Philadelphia, all over Pennsylvania for the first go-round.”
Pat can recall so many memories and she shared some with me ahead of her flight to D.C for the funeral.
“He was just a very outstanding person,” she said.
Her husband Calvin and Jimmy became very close during his first Presidential campaign. She and Calvin lived in Florida, and the primary during that race was crucial.
“We couldn’t get over the fact that one, he was running, and two, he got it!” She said with a big smile.
Sworn into office in 1977, Pat showed me a framed picture snapped that same year outside the west wing. Written in Sharpie were the words, “to my good friends and cousins Calvin and Pat Carter —Jimmy Carter.”
“He felt it was his time, and he was very confident through the whole thing,” she said.
Just like many of us, Pat remembers all of the humanitarian things he did during his time in the White House. And his work with the Department of Energy and the Department of Education.
“I think he looked at his own life and realized, what if he hadn’t been able to get the education he got,” she said.
Pat also remembers movie night with the Carters. How could she forget?
“I don’t remember much of that movie,” she laughed. “I kept thinking what antique did he break?”
“By he, you mean who?” I asked.
“My son and daughter were upstairs with Amy, and Amy and Callie are the same age and they were excluding him because he was younger, “ Pat said. “Then all of a sudden, one of the Secret Service men came in and said, 'Is this your son?' They had found him wandering the White House all by himself!”
There were some notable lunches at the White House, too. One lunch was when the Pope was there for a visit. Another guest and his wife were invited, and as they gathered around the family table, “Calvin said to this man, 'And what do you do?' And he said, 'I am the governor of Louisiana!' I know Jimmy could’ve killed Calvin. Well, there goes Louisiana!”
So many memories and ones that clearly bring a smile to Pat’s face.
Calvin passed away a few years ago. They were together for 57 years. Pat was also at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in 2023, and as she gets ready to say goodbye to Jimmy, she believes this.
“I think that he has made our family very proud of him, and I think the country is proud of his life and as time goes on, they will realize how much he did,” she said.
For us, the American People.
ABC Action News reporter Sean Daly sat down with a remarkable Strawberry Crest High student who achieved a "perfect triple" — the rare feat of getting perfect scores on the SAT, PSAT, and ACT.
