Former President Jimmy Carter, who died this past Sunday at age 100, won Washington Parish in both of his campaigns for the presidency.
In 1976, Carter defeated President Gerald Ford to win the presidency. Carter, the Democratic candidate, carried both Louisiana and Washington Parish that year.
He won Washington Parish with a very strong margin over Ford, with 62% of parish voters choosing Carter and 32% choosing Ford.
After winning the presidency in November of 1976, Carter was sworn into office in January of 1977. Many local residents of a certain age probably can still recall the then-surprising image of Carter and his family rejecting a limousine and instead walking down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. during his inaugural parade.
But Carter faced many challenges during his single term in office, including runaway inflation, an energy crisis, and the taking of 52 American hostages by Iranian revolutionaries in Tehran. The hostages were held for the last 444 days of Carter’s presidency, and they were finally released only minutes after he officially left office.
His popularity dropped considerably during his presidency as many Americans felt he was overwhelmed by the many challenges, and in 1980 Ronald Reagan won the presidency, defeating Carter in a nationwide landslide.
Reagan carried Louisiana in the 1980 election but Carter still managed to hold Washington Parish, winning it with 53.5% of the vote, compared to Reagan’s 44.5%.
When Carter died Sunday at age 100, he had lived longer than any previous U.S. president.
