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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 8, 2020 at 5:28pm

That's him. My favorite post-president president. My least favorite president as president until recently.

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Permalink Reply by hbw60 on October 8, 2020 at 5:56pm

Thanks so much, Steve! I appreciate your help with this!

And I agree with your view of Carter as the best "post-president president" in modern history. The older I get, the more I judge US Presidents based on what they did after they left office. To me, it's the best indicator of their true intentions as President. When a President spends his political career performing favors for lobbyists and wealthy sectors, and then leaves office and immediately starts making millions of dollars from those same groups, it's impossible to see them as anything but con-men, who never cared about anything but fame and fortune.

But Jimmy Carter has proven himself to be sincere and authentic. He made a point to avoid that kind of profiteering entirely. And despite his shortcomings as President, I think that makes it clear that he's one of the only politicians in recent history who wasn't doing it for personal gain. That's such a rare thing, and such an important thing. So I've got a lot of admiration for him. He's got decency, in a way that's entirely lacking from the political system today.

Anyway, thanks again, Steve! I'm really happy to know I got an authentic signature (or 5)!

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Permalink Reply by David Din on October 8, 2020 at 9:11pm

I've been to two book signings of his (he signs at Barnes and Noble on 5th Avenue in NY whenever he does one), but yes, that's his signature when he's signing a whole bunch of book plates (or actual books).

When he signs quickly (time limit at the book signing), he tends to connect his "J" with the "C"!  

I decided to stick around and slip him a letter my older brother wrote as a kid, and even though he's not supposed to sign (by the advice from his staff), he was impressed that I kept a nearly 40 year old letter from all these years, and then he signed it slowly (but still "J Carter" instead of writing out his full name)! 

I was happy as can be!  Definitely not selling it, but I framed it and handed it back to my older brother! He was proud he had a letter back from the White House (on official paper with the watermark) back in 1979, but was really impressed that I met Jimmy Carter and got him to sign it (although nearly 40 years later)!

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Permalink Reply by hbw60 on October 8, 2020 at 11:32pm

What a great experience that must have been! I would love the chance to meet President Carter, so I'm glad you were able to meet him twice. Thank you for sharing the story and photos! That's a really special item, so I'm glad you're not selling it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 9, 2020 at 2:15am

+1

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on October 9, 2020 at 5:30am

I'm not sure about it now but for years both Jimmy and Rosalyn would take photo ops with fans at their church after the mass. It's like an official photo op session for them. That's one of the coolest things I've ever read and if I had known about this in the early 2000s I would have definitely taken the trip to GA.

David that letter is so awesome. It's so great you were able to get it signed for your brother. I also liked how Jimmy would randomly pop up on cartoons (a Simpsons and a King of the Hill) though it looks like he didn't do the voicing.

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