Jimmy Carter

39th President of the United States (1977–1981). President Jimmy Carter was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office.

“From the deep south” - 11/15/2011

Transcript

I really didn't realize when I decided to run for President what a stigma my part of the country had, because of the race issue. I think I was the first one since 1840 who was elected President from the Deep South. Lyndon Johnson was from the west and he didn't even campaign in the Deep South when he was running for election, as you know, in '64.

But I came to Boston, I remember, and I went to one of the historic sites out here. Later I wrote about it in a novel called The Hornet's Nest, still on sale. [Laughter] And I had a TV cameraman; he came out where I was. I called a press conference, only one TV camera came, and they said,

 "How do you think a Georgian is going to get any votes in Massachusetts?" And I said, "Well, when John Kennedy ran for President, he got a higher percentage of votes in Georgia than he did in Massachusetts. And I'm expecting the Massachusetts folks to pay me back." And they did, by the way. [Laughter] And they did.