LYNN — With former President Jimmy Carter now buried next to his wife Rosalynn in Plains, Georgia, two attorneys and brothers, Rick and Sam Vitali, reflected on their time working with Carter on the advance team for his 1976 and 1980 campaigns.
While working at the State House as chief secretary to Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O’Neill, Sam Vitali met the former Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter in the spring of 1975 for the first time.
“He was nowhere on the radar as far as being considered as a formidable or viable candidate for the Democratic nomination for president at the time,” said Sam Vitali. “All the staff were taken by him, they found him to be very polite, courteous, friendly. So, I sort of made a mental note of that.”
When Carter won the nomination at the Democratic Convention the next year, Sam Vitali was asked to join the team to help this small-town Georgian win the general election.
His job was to do what’s called advance work, which involves going to each location the presidential nominee is scheduled to visit a few days before to plan with local officials and try to get the word out about the event.
“It was a little bit different in 1976,” said Sam Vitali. “The key thing is you didn’t have a multitude of cable channels, you had to force coverage by television. Your real goal was having your event on the front page of the New York Times.”
With a string of successful events including the garment center rally in New York City and the Democratic dinner in St. Louis Sam Vitali got to know Carter well on the 1976 campaign trail, eventually becoming a consultant for the White House’s Office of Scheduling and Advance to help plan his trips as president.
“I got to see the Jimmy Carter that ultimately the world came to know, who is a very decent and God-fearing human being,” said Sam Vitali. “Also, I saw the other side, which was that he was a nuclear submarine commander. He was a very disciplined individual.”
Four years later, when Carter began his campaign for re-election, Sam Vitali’s brother Rick Vitali joined the team to help fight what looked to be an uphill battle for the Democratic nomination going up against political royalty.
“Ted Kennedy ran against him, so I was one of the few people in Massachusetts who went to Iowa for Carter,” said Rick Vitali. “And I was in charge of Polk County. Everybody thought Kennedy was gonna take out Carter.”
He remembered how Carter’s close-knit group of Georgians, affectionately termed the “Peanut Brigade,” initiated Rick Vitali as an honorary member and still keep in contact with him, including leader of the brigade Dot Padgett.
“Carter was a gentleman all the way and he was very down to earth and easy to get along with,” he said. “It’s great to see his presidency is being recognized more for what he did.”
The Vitali brothers both recalled the impenetrable love Carter had for his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, with anecdotes that demonstrated how strong their connection was, even on the campaign trail.
Sam Vitali remembered a moment when Carter told him, “I need to talk to Rosalynn,” while waiting to speak in St. Louis. When he asked where Rosalynn is, Carter replied, “I think she’s home in Plains.”
When Sam Vitali eventually got the Plains home number and connected husband and wife, Carter insisted he stay in the room while chatting with Rosalynn.
“I would think if you asked people to attribute characteristics of Jimmy Carter, they would say he was genuine, he was sincere and genuine,” said Sam Vitali. “What you see is what you got.”
It’s this character and genuine morality that was echoed by Rick Vitali in memories of the former president, especially when remembering the altruistic work Carter undertook in post-presidency.
Few politicians have gained the reputation of potentially having more impact on the world after his life in Washington than during and certainly there are even less that have done so in their 90s.
Rick Vitali touted the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia which he visited during its construction. Ever since then he has been reminded of the former president’s generosity every time he’s received the library’s newsletter listing out Carter’s most recent humanitarian efforts.
“His objectives were not to enhance his own wealth, it was to help people, and I think he succeeded,” said Sam Vitali. “I was privileged to be one of the people to get close to him.”
