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csziggy

(34,189 posts)
1. He also gave up his career as engineer on a nuclear submarine to run that peanut farm
Sun Apr 22, 2018, 03:13 PM
Apr 2018
In 1952, Carter began an association with the US Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program, then-led by Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover was the greatest influence on his life.[10] He was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. for three month temporary duty, while Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York. On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown resulting in millions of liters of radioactive water flooding the reactor building's basement and leaving the reactor's core ruined.[11] Carter was ordered to Chalk River to lead a U.S. maintenance crew that joined other American and Canadian service personnel to assist in the shutdown of the reactor.[12] The painstaking process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for a few minutes at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. During and after his presidency, Carter said that his experience at Chalk River had shaped his views on atomic energy and led him to cease development of a neutron bomb.[13]

In March 1953 he began nuclear power school, a six-month non-credit course covering nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady,[8] with the intent to eventually work aboard USS Seawolf, which was planned to be one of the first two U.S. nuclear submarines. However, Carter's father died two months before construction of Seawolf began, and Carter sought and obtained a release from active duty to enable him to take over the family peanut business. Deciding to leave Schenectady proved difficult. Settling after moving so much Rosalynn had grown comfortable with their life. Returning to small-town life in Plains seemed "a monumental step backward," she said later. On the other hand, Carter felt restricted by the rigidity of the military and yearned to assume a path more like his father's. Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953.[14][15] He served in the inactive Navy Reserve until 1961, and left the service with the rank of lieutenant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Naval_career

Farming

Earl Carter died a relatively wealthy man, having also recently been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. However, between his forgiveness of debts and the division of his wealth among heirs, his son Jimmy inherited comparatively little. For a year, Jimmy, Rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in Plains; Carter is the only U.S. president to have lived in subsidized housing before he took office. Carter was knowledgeable in scientific and technological subjects, and he set out to expand the family's peanut-growing business. The transition from Navy to agribusinessman was difficult because his first-year harvest failed due to drought; Carter was compelled to open several bank lines of credit to keep the farm afloat. Meanwhile, he also took classes and read up on agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage the business's books. Though they barely broke even the first year, the Carters grew the business and became quite successful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Farming

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

He also gave up his career as engineer on a nuclear submarine to run that peanut farm csziggy Apr 2018 #1
Awesome post. Thanks. nt Blue_true Apr 2018 #7
Agree - great post about a great president. The lesser people try to besmirch anyone erronis Apr 2018 #17
+1 GeorgeGist Apr 2018 #14
K&R Auggie Apr 2018 #2
Terrible president. Mr.Bill Apr 2018 #3
Even the estimable BHO is in JEC's shadow, as a human being. BobTheSubgenius Apr 2018 #4
President Obama will have very large post-presidency shoes to fill. Blue_true Apr 2018 #8
This sounds like a "horse race" for goodness. The repuglicans are working on the other end. nt erronis Apr 2018 #18
You clearly missed the point. Blue_true Apr 2018 #22
John Quincy Adams . . . Journeyman Apr 2018 #23
Kicking for this post, too. calimary Apr 2018 #27
Wow. nt. Blue_true Apr 2018 #30
He was a terrible President, based on the records of the day FakeNoose Apr 2018 #39
Totally agree gopiscrap Apr 2018 #5
Very likely the most undervalued President in history. Blue_true Apr 2018 #6
He had great policies, didn't he? Unfortunately he suffered from what I call PatrickforO Apr 2018 #11
True courage and conviction is hard to recognize. Blue_true Apr 2018 #12
Yeah. Never tell the people the actual truth with facts. erronis Apr 2018 #19
Ain't that the truth? Dave Starsky Apr 2018 #43
Jimmy Carter made the same mistake Clinton and Obama made. Boomerproud Apr 2018 #28
I agree with PatrickforO's comment but... Timer Apr 2018 #36
There is no doubt about it; Jimmy Carter is a great man. PatrickforO Apr 2018 #9
Jimmy Carter had, and still has Scarsdale Apr 2018 #42
This is a case of a man being ahead of his time. The country was not willing to make sacrifices. dameatball Apr 2018 #10
Some of us were. llmart Apr 2018 #21
You are correct. I meant the % of the country who went via Reagan and bought the lies. dameatball Apr 2018 #25
A very large percentage, too... llmart Apr 2018 #34
All Reagan had to do was tell the privileged how great they were and their lives could be perfect Boomerproud Apr 2018 #29
This country had a choice with Carter lunatica Apr 2018 #33
KICK Angry Dragon Apr 2018 #13
He is the best of us pecosbob Apr 2018 #15
You and me both ailsagirl Apr 2018 #16
He was and is a great man...but he was not a great President. First Speaker Apr 2018 #20
In an alternate universe, he might have been an incredible SecState Algernon Moncrieff Apr 2018 #31
I think we place too many credits and expectations on all the US presidents nolabels Apr 2018 #41
Peace between Israel and Egypt is HUGE. Ellen Forradalom Apr 2018 #48
I tend to think of a bit from the movie Fortinbras Armstrong Apr 2018 #44
Total opposite of trump JI7 Apr 2018 #24
I hope someday that colorado_ufo Apr 2018 #26
One of America's finest persons, period. nt oasis Apr 2018 #32
I love and greatly admire President Jimmy Carter. lark Apr 2018 #35
A good decent man ... under rated President Raine Apr 2018 #37
Actually, he's 93 and a true force of nature jg10003 Apr 2018 #38
And he almost lost that farm after his four years as president Rhiannon12866 Apr 2018 #40
How unlike the kleptocrat-in-chief n/t Fortinbras Armstrong Apr 2018 #45
K&R.. disillusioned73 Apr 2018 #46
History is going to be much kinder to Carter than his contemporaries. Ellen Forradalom Apr 2018 #47
I was very politically active in the late 1970s and early 1980s... LisaM Apr 2018 #49
A truly great and wonderful person. lucca18 Apr 2018 #50
Not such a great president, but one of the very best of all human beings! democratisphere Apr 2018 #51
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