My mothers’s sister attended Jimmy’s Sunday School class about 20 years ago at the church where Jimmy grew up in. She said Jimmy was an excellent teacher, and that the Carter’s were very gracious and down to earth folks.
At the conclusion of the lesson, there was a meet and greet fellowship time with refreshments. Apparently, Jimmy had been doing that ever since his Presidency ended.
Living in Floyd county, Georgia, many years ago, my neighbor was President of the Floyd County Democrat Executive Committee (Floyd County is mostly Republican now). When Carter was campaigning for Govenor, my neighbor went to the local airport to greet the candidate (ie Jimmy Carter). That was the only time they had ever spoken to each other. A few years later, when Carter was campaigning for President, on a campaign swing back through Floyd County, my neighbor was in the crowd to greet Carter, and when Jimmy saw my neighbor he called him out in the crowd by name (”hey Joe”) even though they had only briefly met one time in the past. Joe asked me how many people do you reckon Carter had met/talked to all the across the country?
My next door neighbor is from Arkansas. She met Bill Clinton in the 80’s. Then she saw him again after he left the Presidency.
He remembered her name.
It must be part of what makes a successful politician.