A Memorable Handshake with Jimmy Carter

October 4, 2026 is the 50th anniversary of a landmark event in my life: I shook hands with Jimmy Carter as he campaigned for the U.S. presidency. 

The 1976 Democratic primaries featured many candidates. My favorite candidate, Mo Udall from Arizona, crashed and burned early, but my second favorite, Jimmy Carter from Georgia, advanced to the nomination. I liked Carter, and thought he offered a fresh way to unite the North and the South after the bruising Civil Rights battles and Vietnam War divisions of the Sixties. I volunteered at the downtown Denver phone bank for the Carter campaign. 

On October 4, 1976, Jimmy Carter’s campaign came to Denver. Polling indicated that traditionally-Republican Colorado was evenly split between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. I went to attend Carter’s downtown rally, and help out if possible. 

The crowd at the downtown Denver rally was huge. National news media set up a long table for their cameras, selfishly blocking views. Half the audience couldn’t even see Carter. Several of us started yelling at the news media to get out of the way. On the evening national newscasts, you could hear our inarticulate shouts. 

I got back late to campaign headquarters. The phone bank supervisor was locking up, and asked if I wanted to go to the airport. Well, why not? En route, I asked him why we were going to the airport. “To see Carter off,” he replied. Sure enough, there on the tarmac was Jimmy Carter! Carter shook our hands, and posed for photos. He put his arm around a pretty woman for one photo, reminding me of the newly-released and controversial Playboy interview where he mentioned “lusting in his heart.”

So happy! A banner day! 

Later, news media described the crowd at the rally as consisting of only 4,000 people. Surely there were more people there than that! Carter did not win traditionally-Republican Colorado, but he did win enough votes to become President. 

I've never seen a sitting President, but have seen several before or after their term in office:

• Jimmy Carter, Stapleton International Airport, Denver, CO, October 4, 1976.
• Ronald Reagan, Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, AZ, March 20, 1989.
• I almost saw George W. Bush during his term, but I was standing on the wrong side of the road as the motorcade went past, in Bernalillo, NM, May 12, 2003.
• Bill Clinton, Pavilion at the ARC, UC Davis, Davis, CA, January 15, 2008.
• Barack Obama, Bonanza High School, Las Vegas, NV, October 25, 2008.

Here's a summary video of the campaign: