Gerald R. Ford helped too.
Posted on 05/20/2008 8:42:58 PM PDT by John W
ATLANTA -Hamilton Jordan, a political strategist from south Georgia who helped propel Jimmy Carter to the White House and served as his chief of staff, died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
Jordan, 63, died at his home in Atlanta about 7:30 p.m., said Gerald Rafshoon, who was Carter's chief of communications.
"He was a great strategist. He just couldn't strategize his way out of this," Rafshoon said from his home in Washington.
Jordan's battle with cancer began 22 years ago, when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, followed by bouts with melanoma and prostate cancer.
Rafshoon said a memorial service was planned Friday at The Carter Center in Atlanta and Carter would attend.
Carter said in a statement that he and his wife, Rosalynn, "are deeply saddened."
"Hamilton was my closest political adviser, a trusted confidant and my friend. His judgment, insight and wisdom were excelled only by his compassion and love of our country."
Jordan was born in Charlotte, N.C., in 1944 and raised in Albany, Ga. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a political science degree in 1967 and became a key adviser to Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign.
After Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Jordan ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 1986. He lost to Wyche Fowler, who won the general election.
Jordan worked for H. Ross Perot's presidential bid in 1992.
Later he worked with Unity08, an independent political group founded by independent Angus King, the former governor of Maine, along with Rafshoon and Doug Bailey, a former staffer on President Ford's 1976 campaign.
In a recent public appearance, Jordan told the Atlanta Press Club that he was a fan of Barack Obama in his race for the Democratic nomination.
Jordan visited the press club with the Georgia Cancer Coalition and discussed his fight with cancer.
"I've been to the edge of life and had to face my own mortality," he said. "I'm here to tell you, I'm not through yet. We've been blessed with great medicine and great friends."
Jordan recalled that after "the American people sent us back to Atlanta in 1980" by unseating Carter, he helped his wife, Dorothy, begin a summer camp for children with cancer called Camp Sunshine.
Rafshoon said Jordan had fought his bouts with cancer successfully but recently "had a series of things that shut down his systems." He said Jordan's doctor would describe the medical complications on Wednesday.
"I talked to him many times during the past few weeks," he said. "He was enjoying watching the latest presidential campaign."
Rafshoon said that although Jordan's spirits seemed good, he was obviously getting weaker.
"He was a fighter to the very end," he said.
He pronounced his surname, "Jerdon." Then-House Speaker, Tip O'Neill famously referred to him as "Hannibal Jerkin."
no, I didn't vote for Reagan first time...wish I had....he is and always will be my favorite prez, right up there next to Teddy R.
God Peace to this southern gentleman and his family...
Never have so many Freepers been forced to bite their tongues so much in a single day.
That Rafshoon. Always with the ha ha.
sounds like he was a true believer in ideas and followed those dreams....
I have no quarrel with honest, true believers...
again, God speed to this youngish man.
We will long remember this as The Day of Bleeding Tongues.
Never have so many Freepers been forced to bite their tongues so much in a single day, to keep from saying the first thing that comes to mind.
Jordan was famous for his drinking, in contrast to his boss.
You are sick.
Gerald R. Ford helped too.
Wait until Ross Perot dies some day.
No, it's not too young. Look at this guy. Got cancer at 41. I'm just saying that once you reach 40, there's more demons lurking than there used to be. I'm not slowing down at all. I just feel the presence more than I used to. I don't feel old at all. People think I'm 30. I'm just saying it's good to be on the look at for trouble once you reach a certain age. I'm hoping for another 20 yrs.
Is he the guy who “saw the pyramids”?
I have actually met him and he was really a nice guy. May he rest in peace.
You'd definitely say that if you really knew how many tears I'll be shedding for either of these two useful idiots. A lot of innocent people would still be alive today if neither man had ever been born.
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