It’s pretty rare to see the guest of honor working the room, shaking hands and talking to just about everyone, especially if that guest was recently hospitalized. (They’re usually hidden away).
But there he was, former President Carter, at the VIP reception before Monday night’s Habitat for Humanity gala. Just days after falling ill in Ohio, Carter spent Monday working on houses in Washington’s dreary weather and then speaking at the nighttime event. He and wife Rosalynn were getting recognized as Habitat’s “most famous volunteers” as assessment that Carter found “embarrassing.”
Carter discussed his 27 years of service and life after the presidency.
“Some people have asked me what is life like after the White House, well, you’ve just seen part of it,” Carter said, acknowledging his Habitat work. “But I think the best thing that describes it to me is my favorite cartoon from the ‘New Yorker’ magazine: this little boy looking up at his father and he’s saying, ‘Daddy, when I grow up I want to be a former president,’ ” Carter explained to laughs.
“I think sometimes President Obama thinks about that cartoon,” he added.
While Carter made it to the event perfectly fine, the evening’s biggest disappointment was that “gala co-chairs” Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood only appeared via video. Brooks said he would see Carter in Birmingham, Ala., later this week, while Yearwood is expected to attend Thursday’s USO gala in D.C.
