Billy Carter
| Billy Carter | |
|---|---|
 Billy Carter (right), greets his brother, President Jimmy Carter, at the commencement ceremonies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta February 20, 1979. |
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| Born | March 29, 1937 |
| Died | September 25, 1988 (aged 51) |
William Alton "Billy" Carter III (March 29, 1937 – September 25, 1988) was an American businessman who promoted Billy Beer, was a candidate for Mayor of Plains, Georgia, and was the younger brother of former Georgia Governor and United States President, Jimmy Carter.
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Early years [edit]
Born in Plains, Georgia, Carter attended Emory University in Atlanta but did not complete a degree. He served four years in the United States Marine Corps, then returned to Plains to work with his brother in the family business of growing peanuts. In 1955, he married Sybil Spires (born 1938), also of Plains, Georgia. They were the parents of six children: Kim, Jana, William "Buddy", Marle, Mandy and Earl, who was 12 years old when his father died.
Carter ran for mayor of Plains in 1976, but lost the election. It was his only attempt to win elective office.
In 1977, he endorsed Billy Beer, capitalizing upon his colorful image as a beer-drinking Southern good ol' boy that developed in the press when his brother ran for President. Carter's name was occasionally used as a gag answer for a Washington, D.C. trouble-maker on 1970s episodes of The Match Game. He was known for his outlandish public behavior; he once urinated on an airport runway in full view of the press and dignitaries.[1]
Libya [edit]
In late 1978 and early 1979, Billy Carter visited Libya three times with a contingent from Georgia. He eventually registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and received a $220,000 loan. (Edwin P. Wilson claimed he had seen a telegram showing that Libya paid Billy Carter $2 million.[2]) This led to a Senate hearing on alleged influence peddling which the press named Billygate.[3] A Senate sub-committee was called To Investigate Activities of Individuals Representing Interests of Foreign Governments (Billy Carter-Libya Investigation). On August 4, 1980, President Jimmy Carter wrote: "I am deeply concerned that Billy has received funds from Libya and that he may be under obligation to Libya. These facts will govern my relationship with Billy as long as I am president. Billy has had no influence on U.S. policy or actions concerning Libya in the past, and he will have no influence in the future."[4]
After the failure of Billy Beer, Carter was forced to sell his house to settle back taxes owed to the IRS. He later owned and operated a gas and service station in Plains. [5]
Death [edit]
A heavy drinker for many years,[6] Carter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the autumn of 1987, and received unsuccessful treatments for the disease. He died in Plains the following year at the age of 51.[6]
In 1999, Carter's son William "Buddy" Carter published a biography of his father titled Billy Carter: A Journey Through the Shadows (ISBN 1-56352-553-4).
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Billy Carter Curbs Tongue, Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 15, 1979
- ^ Joseph J. Trento, Prelude to Terror: Edwin P. Wilson and the Legacy of America's Private Intelligence Network (Carroll and Graf, 2005), 162.
- ^ Sabato, Larry (July 21, 1998). "Billygate – 1980". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ^ Trento, Prelude to Terror, 164. Trento asserts that Libya's involvement with Billy Carter was instigated by Israeli intelligence in order "to compromise the president," who had ended Israel's "special status inside the CIA." Ibid., 160, 157.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b HERSHEY Jr, ROBERT D. (September 26, 1988). "Billy Carter Dies of Cancer at 51. Troubled Brother of a President.". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-29. "Billy Carter, the irrepressible gas station proprietor and farmer who vaulted to national celebrity in his brother Jimmy's successful campaign for President in 1976, died of cancer of the pancreas yesterday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 51 years old."
External links [edit]
- PBS's American Experience - Billy Carter
- FBI file on Billy Carter
- Inquiry into the matter of Billy Carter and Libya: hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Activities of Individuals Representing the Interests of Foreign Governments of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, August 4, 6, 19, 20, 21, 22, September 4, 5, 9, 10, 16, 17, and October 2, 1980
- Billy Carter's "Redneck Power Pick-up" model
- "Billy Carter Has Surgery". The New York Times. September 12, 1987. p. 34 (section 1).
- "Billy Carter". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- Blanco, José F. (2010). "Becoming Billy Carter: Clothes Make the Man (and His Many Characters)". Southern Cultures 16 (2): 6–30. doi:10.1353/scu.0.0108.
