PLAINS – The longtime mayor of Jimmy Carter’s hometown, a self-described conservative, doesn’t talk politics with the Democratic former president.
The two men from Plains, Georgia, have always had other matters to discuss. Together, they’ve helped plan the town’s Fourth of July fireworks, its annual Peanut Festival and Christmas events. For years, they socialized over barbecue or a low-country boil when the mayor hosted Carter’s birthday parties.
They’re on separate sides of the political aisle, but partisan topics didn’t come up.
“I respected his opinion. I guess he respected mine,” said Mayor L.E. “Boze” Godwin III. “He didn’t fuss at me about it.”
Their common ground is this tiny town that they’ve both faithfully served.
The mayor, a quiet-spoken man first elected to the nonpartisan office more than three decades ago, prefers to stay behind the scenes. He’s seen Plains fill with visitors and reporters since last Saturday’s announcement that Carter has entered home hospice care.
Godwin got to know Carter 70-odd years ago when Carter led his Boy Scout troop. As a delivery boy for his family’s drug store, he would ride his bicycle to Carter’s home to drop off medicine.
Years later, when Carter left the White House and returned to Plains, the two worked side-by-side on the board of the Better Hometown Program. The civic group played a key role in the Main Street opening of the Plains Historic Inn and sponsored events. Carter raised money for the efforts through auctions and by signing autographs.
Godwin thinks Carter’s dedication to his hometown has kept Plains going, even as other small southern towns faded away. The president’s Sunday school lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Godwin is a deacon, brought up to 700 visitors here weekly. And Carter’s boyhood farm and old high school now operate as National Park Service museum sites.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
“Even in death he’s looking after the town because he’s going to be buried right across from his house,” said Godwin.
That was a deliberate decision, which Godwin expects will lead to travelers continuing to visit the town.
During all the town projects and events, Carter offered smart input and kept a close eye on costs. He wanted to do things properly but also be efficient.
“He’s like me; he’s a tightwad,” Godwin said.
That’s probably why Carter chuckled when Godwin initially turned down an invitation to join the Nobel Peace Prize winner on a trip to Norway to pick up the award.
”I first told him I can’t afford to do that, and my wife kind of set me straight, just putting it mildly,” said Godwin, laughing at the memory. “I called him right back and said, ‘Hey, we want to go.’ He thought it was funny too.”
Godwin, a reluctant public speaker, said Carter also got a kick out of how short his mayoral speeches were.
“They last maybe two minutes,” Godwin said. “President Carter would time me.”
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
Though their political views differ, Godwin said he not only voted for Carter but also helped with the presidential campaign. When Godwin paid a bill, he would slip a Carter pamphlet into the envelope along with his check.
Nowadays, Plains is split almost evenly politically. In December’s U.S. Senate runoff, Republican Herschel Walker received 295 votes from the Plains precinct while statewide winner Democrat Raphael Warnock had 291, according to Sumter County elections results. The Plains vote tally for the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was also close.
But the political rancor that sharply divides many Americans rarely came up when Godwin shared a dinner table with Carter. Godwin recalled one time when another guest tried to grill Carter about politics and Carter wasn’t having it: “He got up and left.”
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