The news world is heating up for another hotly contested presidential race. However, few elections for the U.S. presidency were more unique than the one involving a peanut farmer from Plains who beat the incumbent officeholder.
DA's key player in that race was Dorothy “Dot” Padgett, who organized the “Peanut Brigade,” a strategy that placed hundreds of volunteers going door to door for Carter. Padgett will present her book, Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts, at the Georgia Writers Museum’s Meet the Author event on April 2 at The Plaza Arts Center, with doors open at 11:30 a.m. for a noon start.
Padgett recently sat down with GWM for a brief interview about her book and life experiences.
GWM: You were a busy housewife and mother of four when Jimmy Carter asked you to help with his campaign. What led you to say “Yes?”
Padgett: I knew the people that supported Jimmy Carter were people of substance, that had the same values and vision for Georgia as did I. I was a projects person and we only had three or four months to get from Point A to Point B; besides, there was a big need for volunteers since the campaign had no money.
GWM: You later became the assistant chief of protocol in the State Department of the Carter Administration. Tell us about that role and what it involved.
Padgett: I had experience organizing people, both social and business, and no problem speaking to groups. Protocol did not involve the political side; our job was to see that visitors were treated with dignity that would reflect well to their own country.
We had not had a president from the Deep South in our lifetime. Like the president, visitors would be meeting a person with the same Southern accent.
GWM: What made you decide to write a book about your experiences leading the Peanut Brigade?
Padgett: I wanted to tell my story about an extraordinary man. I wanted the American people to read again and again about his accomplishments as president.
Most of all, I wanted Jimmy to rise through the ranks of history as one of our best presidents.
GWM: Who is your favorite writer?
Padgett: Kai Bird, the author of Oppenheimer, as well as the Jimmy Carter biography The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter.
Kai used my material in her Carter biography and credited me.
GWM: What, for you, is the most difficult part of the writing process?
Padgett: Since it is a memoir, it was a challenge at times to be completely accurate. It was important to give proper credit, and that required having lots of notes and doing a lot of research. Fortunately, I had many taped interviews recorded from Plains to Paris.
Sometimes, the most difficult part was to find the best words to describe events that almost defied portrayal.
GWM: What do you enjoy most about being a published author?
Padgett: This book has kept me connected to Carter people all over the world. It has enabled me to meet some incredible people.
Tickets to hear Padgett speak at The Plaza about her book and of her time with President Carter are $40 each. Visit Georgia Writers Museum online at georgiawritersmuseum.org for reservations or call 706-991-5119 for information.