HISTORY & CULTURE

See our never-before-published photos of Jimmy Carter’s ’76 win

In 1976, National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb took a detour into the town of Plains, Georgia—and found a town giddy with the success of its hometown son.

Jimmy Carter, not yet president, takes on the press in a baseball game during a break from the campaign trail in August 1976. The score is lost to history.

Story and photographs byJodi Cobb

December 29, 2024

7 min read

In the summer of 1976 I was reluctantly paddling the Suwanee River for a National Geographic story, one of my first—and one I was uniquely unqualified for. I was a journalist, not an adventurer, at heart.

In the nearby Georgia town of Plains, Jimmy Carter was running his improbable presidential campaign. I had to go have a look. I found a place both charming and complicated, much like Carter himself. This tiny town had shaped the peanut farmer-turned-politician, and Plains was his touchstone throughout his life. I found the things that defined him—faith, humility, compassion—the things he in turn offered to the world. The town was giddy with the success of their hometown son.

An aerial view of downtown Plains and its iconic storefronts at dawn, in 1976.

The international press crowds into Plains during the transition between Carter’s victory in the election and the inauguration.

I found a tight-knit press corps with all the big names: Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Walter Cronkite. It was a down-to-earth campaign that welcomed me in. Jimmy’s sister Gloria said her husband loved National Geographic so much he wanted to be buried with it in his hands. His outrageous brother Billy, who ran the local gas station and created his own beer brand, introduced me to Carter as a photographer from Hustler magazine. Jimmy’s mother, the irrepressible Miss Lillian, told me that I really needed to do something about my hair, although the men probably found it sexy. This was a campaign I definitely wanted to cover. I went back to Washington and proposed a story on Plains.

(Here are 3 ways Jimmy Carter changed the world for the better.)

Miss Lillian, Carter’s mother, at the Plains Depot where she would sit in her rocker and greet visitors and sign autographs. 10,000 visitors a day would pass through during the height of the transition.

Jody Powell, Carter’s press secretary, pictured with Today Show hosts Jane Pauley and Tom Brokaw on the porch of the Plains Depot. The building was opened in 1976 as Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign headquarters. It is the oldest building in Plains, built in 1888, and served as a freight and passenger depot until 1951 when passenger service was discontinued.

Billy Carter, Carter’s outrageous brother, in front of the gas station he ran and owned. Purchased in 1972, at its peak Billy sold 2,000 cases of beer a month and more than 40,000 gallons of gas. In 2009, the station became the Billy Carter Service Station Museum.

Plains residents at a community meeting.

The “Peanut II” mule wagon offered rides through Plains to residents and visitors who began to flood the town during the campaign.

Jubilant residents of Plains, and Carter’s friends and supporters—380 of them— ride the “Peanut Special”—a chartered Amtrak train taking them to the inauguration in Washington, D.C.

Serious things were happening behind closed doors, but all around him was joy and fun. Carter was surrounded by love. Jubilant friends and supporters—380 of them—boarded a chartered Amtrak train, dubbed the “Peanut Special,” and partied all the way to Carter’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. It was an unforgettable ride.

The list of President Carter’s consequential accomplishments is long, and despite the well-known failures, he will probably be remembered as one of the greats—and arguably the greatest ex-president this country has had. I’m grateful for the detour.