KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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People in the Kansas City area who met and worked with President Jimmy Carter have fond memories of him. The 39th president died Sunday at age 100.
“He saw it (the presidency) as a vocation; it wasn’t just a job for him,” said Mary O’Halloran.
As president, Carter created the Department of Energy. He appointed O’Halloran as director of the Kansas City region.
She called the job a “great privilege” and remembered meeting Carter at the White House before leaving the Iowa Legislature to take the job.
“He actually listened to those of us who were legislators. There were several governors in the room,” O’Halloran described. “It was amazing having a president sit down and say, ‘What do you think?’ I’m going, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m next. I think he’s going to ask me what I think.’ And he did! It was a great experience to see how completely, intellectually in command he was of the energy situation.”
O’Halloran introduced her mother to President Carter and the first lady at a campaign event in Kansas City in 1980. She said Carter made everyone feel like they were important.
“Individual people would line up to shake hands with him," she said. "He would give them one question, he’d look right at them and answer it. He had that very gracious way about him.”
Shortly after launching his presidential campaign, Carter visited Democratic leaders in Kansas. John Carlin was the House minority leader at the time.
He remembers meeting Carter at the Holiday Inn in Topeka.
“He just sat there on the floor — shoes off, sleeves rolled up — and spent two or three hours with us, talking about his interest, his background and asking questions,” Carlin recalled.
When Carter won the 1976 election, Democrats took control of the Kansas House of Representatives. Carlin said that momentum helped him win the state’s gubernatorial election in 1978. He served two terms.
“From the very beginning, Carter set an excellent example for public service and a commitment to actually helping people,” Carlin said.
Carlin served as the U.S. Archivist beginning in 1995. In his role, he interacted often with the Carter Presidential Library but rarely spoke to Carter himself because Carter was prioritizing public service and humanitarian efforts following his presidency.
“He wanted to do public service and what I was dealing with was the past,” Carlin said of Carter. “He had no interest, no interest.”
Both Carlin and O’Halloran described a humble man who was more committed to the cause than the title of president.
