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SEPTEMBER 1978 : (THE LIBYA CONTROVERSY : PRESIDENT CARTER'S BROTHER, BILLY CARTER, VISITS LIBYA TO MAKE DEALS; LATER BILLY HOSTS LIBYAN OFFICIALS SEEKING TO ESTABLISH A TRADE MISSION IN THE US; BILLY MAKES STUPID, BUT REVEALING COMMENTS) In September 1978 Billy made a highly publicized trip to Libya with a group of Georgia legislators and businessmen eager to make deals. Several months later, he hosted a delegation of Libyans in Atlanta, as they looked for a place to locate a permanent trade mission. When asked why he was involved, Billy said, "The only thing I can say is there is a hell of a lot more Arabians than there is Jews." He also argued that the "Jewish media [tore] up the Arab countries full-time," and defended Libya against charges of state-sponsored terrorism by saying that a "heap of governments support terrorists and [Libya] at least admitted it." President Carter tried to disassociate himself from the controversy that ensued, telling NBC News that he hoped people would "realize that I don't have any control over what my brother says [and] he has no control over me." Billy also apologized and explained he wasn't anti-Semitic, but the damage was done. The Atlanta Constitution remarked, "If [Billy's] not working for the Republican Party, he should be." Some time after this, Billy spent seven weeks at an alcohol addiction treatment facility in California. - "People & Events : Billy Carter (1937 - 1988) ", American Experience, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/peopleevents/p_bcarter.html

JULY 1980 : (BILLYGATE : PRESIDENT CARTER'S BROTHER, BILLY CARTER, REGISTERS AS A FOREIGN AGENT OF THE LIBYAN GOVERNMENT, AND ACCEPTS CASH FROM THE LIBYANS FOR 'OIL SALES' HE WAS SUPPOSED TO FACILITATE) Once sober, Billy was no longer in demand on the talk-show circuit, so he turned again to his Libyan friends for financial help. In July 1980 he belatedly registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and admitted to receiving a $220,000 "loan" for oil sales he was supposed to facilitate. The press rushed to find out whether the president's brother had hawked his influence with the White House, and a new presidential scandal, "Billygate," was born. As Jimmy himself later admitted, "He was the president's brother, and therefore fair game." - "People & Events : Billy Carter (1937 - 1988) ", American Experience, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/peopleevents/p_bcarter.html

[* My note: As history would unfold, by 2002 it was pretty clear that Jimmy's accomodating philosophy on terrorism is not unlike his brother's ]

JULY 22, 1980 : (BILLYGATE : PRESIDENT CARTER DISTANCES HIMSELF- AN ELECTION IS COMING UP) On July 22, the White House issued a statement disclosing what it knew and denying that it had interfered in the Justice Department's investigation of the matter. The president also released a personal statement saying that he did not think it "appropriate for a close relative of the president to undertake any assignment on behalf of a foreign government." While all this was basically true, a number of inaccuracies and omissions would surface in the coming days which kept the scandal alive and fueled the perception that something dirty had happened.
"In truth, the White House had concealed nothing," concludes historian Burton Kaufman. "But as [it] had to keep amending its July 22 account, there was doubt cast on Carter's forthrightness with the American people." While relatively few people doubted Carter's basic integrity, the whole thing did cast further doubts on his judgment, and what Kaufman calls his "presidential timber" in the midst of the president's uphill battle for re-election. "The damn Billy Carter stuff is killing us," complained Hamilton Jordan. It was the last thing the Carter campaign needed going into the Democratic convention in August. - "People & Events : Billy Carter (1937 - 1988) ", American Experience, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/peopleevents/p_bcarter.html