Plains, Georgia — Before President Jimmy Carter When he left the White House in 1981, few could have guessed that his humble hometown of Plains, Georgia (pop. 557) would become his springboard for the world, including his time in the U.S. Secret Service.
“We would get on a plane in the middle of Africa and fly all the way to nearby Americus, Georgia,” recalled Alex Parker, a longtime special agent on Carter’s detail who traveled to more than 140 countries with the 39th president.
Carter, a peanut farmer turned Navy submariner, went from governor to president, earning another title as a humanitarian. he turned 100 October 1st. The United States Secret Service’s longest protective mission.
Provided by Alex Parker
dangerous mission
Special Agent Bill Bush, along with Jimmy, became one of the first Americans to go to North Korea after the end of the Korean War. Rosalynn Carter To the DMZ.
“We’ve been told by the State Department and many other agencies, ‘You can’t bring weapons into North Korea. You can’t do this, you can’t do that,'” President Bush said. Breaking down the red tape. “The question I always ask them is, ‘Tell me how many times you’ve been to North Korea and what it’s like.’ Of course, no one had ever been there.”
President Bush laughed as he described the U.S. Secret Service’s surprisingly cheerful cooperation with North Korean security forces. President Bush, who traveled to 127 countries with the Carters, added, “We have never been treated better in any country.”
The chief secret agent also secured Carter’s risky 1994 mission to Haiti, commissioned by President Bill Clinton and aimed at averting a full-scale U.S. invasion.
“President Carter called my house and said, ‘You need to pack your bags. We’re going to Haiti tomorrow morning,’” Bush said. Just before takeoff from Andrews Air Force Base, he learned that he would also be tasked with protecting two other high-profile envoys: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and Senator Sam Nunn.
peace in the middle east
In his duties as peacemaker, Carter routinely ignored the warnings of intelligence officials and instead pushed his protective bubble into war zones and humanitarian crises.
“Sometimes when we have bad information, I take it to him and have him read it,” Parker said. “He sat there, read it, and then finally engraved his initials on it and signed it.”
In 2008, Carter planned an ambitious trip to the Middle East, including meetings with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip. The US Secret Service has been warned to cancel trips after threatening intelligence emerged in the area.
“He handed me (the information) and said, ‘Alex, we’re still going.’”
On the flight home from Egypt, Parker said the former president’s words resonated with him. “‘Alex, I will devote the rest of my life to bringing peace to Israel and Palestine,’” he said.
precious details
The dangerous mission around the world with Carter was not without its advantages.
The night Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, he called Parker, his chief deputy at the time, and made an unusual request.
“I said, ‘Alex, let’s have a quick meeting so I can take a picture,’” Parker said, recalling former President Alex’s request. Carter wanted him to recall all Secret Service agents.
“We all held it up and took a picture surrounding him and Mr. Carter on the stairs. He told me this: ‘You are part of this too. “I’d like you to share (the prize money) with us, so let’s take some pictures.”
Provided by Alex Parker
protect rosalyn carter
Another reward for agents assigned to Carter’s unit was protecting former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
“She was such a gentle person. There was nothing about her that made her feel comfortable or unwelcome,” said Nick Steen, who headed Carter’s detail from 2017 to 2019.
The former president’s obsession with punctuality meant he rarely waited for details, but current and former agents described Rosalynn Carter as patient and understanding.
Agents said they occasionally argued, but a more lasting impression was the couple’s enduring affection. Agents may be found holding hands in the backseat.
Even in the late ’90s, the Carters occasionally took part in fun rides. During their final appearance in the Plains’ annual Peanut Festival parade, the pair took a whirlwind ride in a red 1946 convertible. Special Agent in Charge Don Witham drove a four-wheeled gift from country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood commemorating the year Carters was married, with Carter beaming in the backseat.
“It was the light in his eyes that reminded me of the times we used to take him to peanut butter ice cream,” Witham said.
Provided by Don Witham
President’s leisure time
Fly fishing wasn’t the only hobby Carter supervised. When Carter, then in his late 50s, began skiing, Secret Service agents were dispatched to a ski school in Colorado.
“The president had never snow skied before,” Bill Bush explained. “So he and Mr. Carter took a class in Colorado. I chose a group of agents and went to school in Colorado. It was a tough school… but we became pretty good skiers.”
Alex Parker ran with the former president for 21 years, often traversing the back roads of the farmland surrounding the plains of Carter’s home state of Georgia or jogging in foreign cities.
Provided by Alex Parker
“He was competitive and tried to wear me down,” Parker said. “I was much younger, but he kept going.”
The special agent occasionally ran back during the exercise to have a face-to-face conversation with the president. “And that would make President Carter angry,” he laughed.
After a particularly grueling nine-mile run in Hawaii, Parker was warned not to push the president, a message delivered by the first lady.
An efficient traveler, Carter gained a reputation for napping in his car while agents drove him from point A to point B.
“He had a special pillow for our drives, you better have one too,” joked Nick Steen, a former special agent from 2017 to 2019.
“It’s 10 miles from Plains to Americus,” Parker said of the commute to the nearest airport. “He’ll be snoring by the time we get there.”
“One day I said, ‘Sir. Mr. President, why can’t I fall asleep so quickly?’” Parker continued. “He looked at me and said, ‘Alex, my conscience is clear.’”
aging mission
As Carter aged, so did the mission, with agents continuing to plan for the worst-case scenario: a medical evacuation. “‘We’ve always had a doctor with us,’” Steen said. “That’s not always the case with former presidents.”
The EMT team traveled to a remote location with the former president’s unit. Even in the ’90s, Steen recalled Carter’s very active life. “I took him to two Habitat for Humanity builds. We went fishing in Mexico. “It was so hard for me that I think he was exhausted, but he did it.”
Don Witham recalled that even at the age of 98, Carter often asked to drive the car, but the former president was not allowed to operate the vehicle on public roads.
“He definitely knew what he wanted and he would make it clear to you,” Witham said. “I tried to rationally explain that he didn’t have a driver’s license. Then he said, ‘Where is the nearest driver’s license office?’”
On the Fourth of July, agents took the former president briefly to nearby Americas to watch the fireworks. I am a former Navy veteran. Hospice care starting February 2023I sat in a hidden spot for 45 minutes and admired the exhibits with a few agents.
“When I turned 99 years and 9 months old, I wanted to go see fireworks. That just shows how patriotic he is,” Witham said.
Sunday school and life lessons
Given the code name “Deacon” by his agents because of his love of the Bible and his devotion to his faith, Carter rarely missed an opportunity to teach Sunday school at his local church. The former president appeared almost weekly at Maranatha Baptist Church. The church is a modest, single-story place of worship filled with wooden pews and surrounded by mint green walls and olive carpets.
“No matter where we were or what we were doing, we were going to be home on Saturday night and ready for class on Sunday morning,” Nick Steen said.
Even after he could no longer teach, Carter regularly attended services, his wheelchair positioned next to the pew in front while the chief deputy sat on a folding chair behind him.
“One Sunday sermon in particular talked about making the world a better place,” Don Witham recalled. “And (the former president) very quietly lowered his head and spoke to himself. And I put both my hands forward and placed them on his shoulders and said, ‘Sir, you have succeeded.’”
“That moment was special to me because, at 98 years old, he still questions whether he had done enough,” Witham continued. “He went to Africa and eradicated the disease. He built houses for homeless people. He fed those who needed food. He did all of this. But even at age 98, he still wonders if he did enough.”
“He was so convicted,” Steen said. “For his faith and his desire to make the world a better place.”
Together, Bush, Parker, Steen and Witham served former President Jimmy Carter for 46 years, but only a fraction of that time has been spent around-the-clock protecting the 39th president since 1976.
“He will be remembered as a humanitarian who tried to help the world,” President Bush said with a smile.
“Mission accomplished,” Parker added of his former boss.
