Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

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by

Steve Haner
in

AP Photo

By Steve Haner

I love this photo, for some reason.  The lieutenant in the background is President Carter, 95 today.  Our last WWII vet president, but I very much hope not our last military veteran president. There are veterans in the Democratic field.  This is an AP photo now appearing on the Richmond Times-Dispatch webpage,  where you can read the story behind it.  It was 1952, and the boat was the USS Barracuda.    Now, Barracuda was not a Newport News ship, sadly, nor was Carter’s last assignment, the nuclear USS Seawolf. It is always a mark in someone’s favor that Admiral Rickover personally selected them for the nuke Navy.  That took the right stuff, too. 

The death of his father ended his Navy career soon after.  That other company in New England we shall not mention also built this one.  There is no higher honor than a ship of the line in the world’s finest navy named for a living person.  We now return you to your regular programming.  (Note:  If you read this when I first posted it, I had the wrong “Seawolf” linked…and it wasn’t built by NNS…fixed that.)

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10 responses to “Happy Birthday, Mr. President”

  1. djrippert Avatar
    djrippert

    I never agreed with any political decision Jimmy Carter ever made. But I always knew he was one hell of a good human being. He restored dignity to the presidency. Happy birthday, Mr President.

    As an aside, I always think of Creigh Deeds when I think of Jimmy Carter. I don’t agree with him on much but he seems like a very decent man who would do the right thing (in his mind) in all circumstances.

    1. Peter Galuszka Avatar
      Peter Galuszka

      Carter was tough on sanctions when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Neither Carter nor Ford really captivated voters… Ford was probably built of sterner stuff and Carter was an example of a bright and intelligent man who was viewed by many as weak and indecisive although he did manage to get Israel and Egypt together – one of his very few major accomplishments.

  3. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    I had many issues with Carter. The peace deal was a high point, the embassy takeover a horrible low. I covered the funeral for a Roanoke Marine who died in the botched rescue. But that photo says to me, Great American. When he first came to Roanoke in that campaign, it was so disorganized our reporter Ben Beagle had to drive him from the airport to the venue. A year later…!

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      When you look at ALL the many ways our government can be changed these days – you wonder about prior POTUS and how much they wanted to mess with changes to how the govt worked.

      I guess, depending on one’s views, that could be a good thing or a bad thing!

      but we are forever changed now… it’ll be interesting to see how we evolve from here.

  4. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    This too shall pass.

  5. TBill Avatar
    TBill

    Cramped quarters on those subs. My father was sub nuke reactor design engr, and his worse nightmare business trip was having to actually go out for a week on a test.

    1. Steve Haner Avatar
      Steve Haner

      I saw some of “Red October” the other day and laughed at the spacious compartments. All the Hollywood subs are hilarious. I haven’t been on a boomer, but have walked through Los Angeles Class and Virginia Class ships, and it is like trying to walk through all the machinery under your car hood – about that tight. My bathroom is larger than the bridge. It takes a special breed to go months underwater in those.

  6. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    Making it to 94 is wonderful. Having voted for Carter in my youth, I’ve become quite disillusioned with him both his presidency and his later meddling in foreign affairs. But he is certainly a decent man and has my best wishes to be the first U.S. president to make it to 100.

  7. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Thanks for the picture and the reminder, Steve. No matter what one thinks of Carter’s term as President, one has to admire his post-presidential conduct. No cashing in on the big bucks for him. And he is still teaching Sunday School classes.

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