After reading JBtakenote’s Diary This Makes Me Want to Scream: Trump Attacks Jimmy Carter on His 100th Birthday Samsung News sent me the CBS interviews with President Carter's SSD . It amplified the respect I already held for him. I’ll only C&P a bit of it but please take note of the bottom line. Re the picture above;
The dangerous assignment of circumnavigating the globe with Carter was not without its perks.
On the night Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, he called Parker — his lead agent at the time — with an odd request.
"'Alex, let's have a little meeting so we can take a picture,'" Parker said, recalling the former president's request. Carter wanted him to summon all of his Secret Service agents.
"We took a picture of all of us holding it, surrounding him and Ms. Carter on the steps ... He said to me — he said, 'You guys are part of this, too. I want you to share [the prize] with us, so let's take a picture."
Protecting Rosalynn Carter
Another reward for agents assigned to the Carter detail was protecting the former first lady, Rosalynn Carter.
"She was just such a gentle person – there was nothing about her that did not make you feel comfortable or welcomed," said Nick Steen, who led Carter's detail from 2017 to 2019.
And while the former president's obsession with punctuality meant he rarely waited on his detail, current and former agents described Rosalynn Carter as patient and understanding.
While agents recounted the occasional bickering, the more lasting impression was of the couple's persistent affection. Agents might catch them holding hands in the backseat.
Even in their late 90s, the Carters participated in the occasional joy ride. During their final appearance at Plains' Annual Peanut Festival Parade, the two took a whirl in a 1946 red convertible. Special Agent in Charge Don Witham drove the four-wheeled gift from country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, which marked the year the Carters were married, while the Carters beamed in the backseat.
"It was a light in his eyes that reminded me of days that we'd take him for peanut butter ice cream," Witham said.
"One Sunday in particular, the sermon was talking about making the world a better place," Don Witham recalled. "And [the former president] very quietly, put down his head and said, 'I've tried,' to himself. And I reached forward with both my hands and put them on his shoulders, and I said, 'And sir, you've succeeded.'"
Amen.
