December 10, 2002
Albany- "Jimmy Carter always have a moral message as well as a political message," says Jimmy Carter Peanut Brigade member Ruth Fountain.
She was a member of President Jimmy Carter's Peanut Brigade a group of Georgians that helped his 1976 presidential campaign.
"He talked about morality and he talked about truthfulness and he talked about goodness, and these were things that caught people's attention," remembers Fountain.
Other Peanut Brigade members agree that could captivate any audience.
"When you meet the man he's a very engaging person. You look into his eyes and their just sort of crystal looking eyes, and he engages you. It's not like he distracted and looking for where else he can have a conversation. He's talking directly with you," says Spencer Lee.
"An individual is not swept along on a tide of inevitability, but can influence even the greatest human events," says Carter during his acceptance speech.
And Brigade members say Carter's greatness has definitely influenced them. "It sort of makes me feel that one person can do something good you don't have to be a president, you don't have to be a Nobel peace prize winner," adds Fountain.
"Jimmy Carter's the kind of person by doing what he does and setting the example that he sets, that makes you want to be a better person by going out and helping people. Quite frankly it makes you want to be more rather than having more," says Lee.
Spencer Lee says he's happy President Carter won the Nobel Prize this year, but he believes he should have won the award years ago.
Posted at 9:50 PM by elaine.armstrong@walb.com
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