How does a peanut farmer become governor of Georgia and president of the United States? With the help of Dorothy “Dot” Padgett, who will be Georgia Writers Museum’s “Meet the Author” guest at noon on April 2, at The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton.
Padgett, who recently celebrated her 96th birthday, will be speaking on her book, Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts, and signing books in the lobby following her presentation.
A native of Douglasville, where she continues to live, Padgett spent her young adult days working in the P.T.A., Scouts, and Sunday School.
She probably is best known, however, for her part in helping Carter get elected as president. Padgett was instrumental in organizing a unique campaign effort known as the “Peanut Brigade,” which was a group of 600 or more volunteers, most paying their own expenses, who traveled in 18 states during the 1976 presidential primaries and general election.
It proved to be a very effective tactic to have personal friends of Carter knocking on doors and asking people to vote for their candidate. Southern accents were part of the Brigade’s appeal.
Padgett said she had heard of Carter – and heard good things – but admits donating her time wasn’t something she had planned as a young mother with a large family at the time.
“I thought to myself, ‘What will you tell your grandchildren one day that you did with your life?’ This was an opportunity to do something,” Padgett recalled. “He walked into my yard one morning and I thought, ‘I’m a busy woman with four children, but yes, I’ll help.’”
During the Carter Administration, Padgett was appointed assistant chief of protocol at the State Department. She is a former member of the Democratic National Committee, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and the Metropolitan Mental Health Association. She presently serves on The Carter Center Board of Councilors.
Tickets are $40 each and are available online by contacting Georgia Writers Museum at georgiawritersmuseum.org. Come learn about a unique part of American history from someone who was there helping to create it.