After the death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100, many people remembered the “killer rabbit” incident in which Carter had to fight off a ferocious swamp creature while fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. There is.
The bizarre incident occurred in April 1979, but according to testimony from then-White House press secretary Jody Powell, it didn’t become public knowledge until several months after a member of the press shared the story with reporter Brooks Jackson. That never happened. After the story was reported, it captured the American imagination and came to be seen as emblematic of the Carter presidency, which many perceived as incompetent and unstable.
Sensational headlines ran across the country, including the Washington Post’s “Rabbit Goes to Bug. Rabbit Attacks President” and the New York Times’ “The Story of Carter and the Killer Rabbit.”
Following Jimmy Carter’s death, members of Congress pay tribute: ‘A great humanitarian’
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks about his cancer diagnosis during a press conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 20, 2015. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
The story, backed up by a photo taken by a White House official, says that Carter was fishing near the Plains when he suddenly noticed a large swamp rabbit quickly swimming towards him. . “This large, wet animal was making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, intent on climbing onto the president’s boat,” Powell said. Carter used a paddle to spray water on the creature, which then changed course and swam away.
The New York Times reported in August 1979 that a rabbit “breached Secret Service security and attacked President Carter,” forcing him to “fend the animal off with a canoe paddle.” The newspaper quoted one White House staffer as saying, “The president was shaking for his life.”
The photo, which was not released by the White House until after Carter lost his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan in 1980, shows the late president splashing in the water and a large rabbit with its ears sticking out of the water. The photo shows it swimming away.
Former US President Jimmy Carter leaves his mark on the sports world even after his death
U.S. President Jimmy Carter chases away swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) on a boat in Plains, Georgia. This led to the “Jimmy Carter Rabbit Incident.” Photo source: Jerry Cullen. President Jimmy Carter and “Killer Rabbit.” Nasir.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library. (Public domain photo courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library)
Carter’s account of the incident is less dramatic. The late president said: “A hare was being chased by hounds, so he jumped into the water and swam towards my boat. When he was almost there, I splashed the water with my paddle and the hare turned around. I went on and crawled out on top of the ship” on the other side. ”
But that didn’t stop national and local media from running widespread stories about the “killer rabbit.”
In 1979, Carter was in the midst of his first term as president. He faced several challenges at home and abroad, including the energy crisis, economic problems, and the Iran hostage crisis. Amid these problems, President Carter’s approval ratings declined dramatically, and his disapproval ratings reached the highest levels of his entire presidential term.
Biden uses former President Jimmy Carter’s death to criticize Trump over arguments, etc.
On April 7, 1980, at the White House in Washington, U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for the American hostages. Library of Congress/Marion S. Tricosco/Handout via Reuters.
Although newspaper articles about the “Banzai Rabbit” and caricatures of giant buck-toothed rabbits were clearly fanciful, many came to see the entire story as some kind of metaphor for President Carter’s plight.
Powell initially thought the incident was innocent and funny, but later released it to the press because it was used to portray the president as very weak and incompetent. He said he had come to regret it. I’m scared of rabbits.
Mr. Powell described the event as a “nightmare” in his 1985 memoir, “The Other Side of the Story.”
“I still get chills thinking how stupid I could have been. I thought it was funny,” he wrote. “If I had been doing my job, I would have stopped the president in that moment and pointed out the danger to him and his administration if such a story had come out. …Sadly, I I didn’t do anything like that.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
March 24, 1979 – Elk City, Oklahoma: President Jimmy Carter speaks at a town meeting.
Carter, a Democrat, served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history and died at 3:45 p.m. on December 29 at his home in the Plains at the age of 100. Christian Carter is known for his extensive humanitarian work after becoming president, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Peter Pinedo is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
Source link
