December 22, 1976
James Earl Carter
The 39th President
THE HIGH LIFE
Page 3
By David W. Bulla
Mr. James Earl Carter,
President-elect of the United
States of America, is as all
Presidents of this country, he is a
man of timely ambition. Born
October One, 1924, he attended
Georgia Southwestern College
and Georgia Institute of Techno
logy before studying Physics at
the U.S. Naval Academy,
Annapolis, Maryland, after which
he spent seven years in the Navy
up until 1953. Then he taught
Physics and Math at Union
College, Schenectady, New York,
for members of the Seawolf, the
second atomic powered submar
ine. Mr. Carter owns 91% of
Carter Farms Inc. of Plains, a
thriving peanut business. In 1962
and 1964 he won a seat in the
state senate. Then in 1966 he ran
unsuccessfully against Lester
Maddox for the governorship of
Georgia. But in 1970 he won
because law forbade Maddox to
seek another term, and Carter
was able to win without getting
Georgia’s Black vote - the vote of
the same national minority that
put him in the White House. 1 n
1974 he was the national
coordinator of the midterm
campaigns for the Democratic
National Committee. And shall be
elected President on Jan. 6, 1977
in the House.
They say that Mr. Carter’s
personality trait is “active-posi
tive”, and 1 suspect one would
find this among most politicians,
for one must be an activist and
think in terms of the populace in
order to gather votes, which is the
•politician’s main objective. I
admit that sixty percent or so of
you believe the country, the
world, to be in substantial,
“suitable” condition, but the rest
know this to be quixotic. Mr.
Carter has won the presidency of
a restive nation or, rather a
caustic country. I can unhappily
report that Mr. Carter has no
philosophy that has anything to
do with extricating our nation
from dying the attrition Sister
England is succombing to. He has
no an counmt personal philoso
phies other than what Daniel
Patrick Moynihan calls “Nirvana
Now I cannot imagine Jimmy
Carter as Daniel Patrick’s copula
to the gods. The President-elect is
cautious, confident, and conser
vative; he has an intuitive
certainty as to the direction of this
country - he is along the right
course, approximately.
For most of his policies, he is a)
aplomb, b) studying ardently, and
c) expiating them to. realistic,
apolitical objectives, or that is
what he says he is doing, but he is
a politician and most assuredly
will run in four years for
re-election. He delves to reduce
unemployment, and he will do to
the best of his active abilities to
cut taxes by rebation. He will also
deal with crime and pollution -- it
is not every four years you have a
democrat in office to deal with
basic problems.
In foreign affairs he promises
to be circumspective, and his
nominated secretary of state
plans to be an experimentalist; he
is going to sit much just to prove
he is not Henry Kissinger or even
like Hank - and he sure is not
much like him.
Carter is nationalistic, but not
blind and chauvinistic. Concisely,
he plans to let the military stay at
attention and will make a rather
usual Chief, don’t thump until
you have been thumped.
His most prudent ambition is the
desire to abate the size of the
Federal Government. That is
something will have to do to
keep from going to statist^ as
Great Britain has, for her
eventual dilapidation is around
the corner. Mr. Carter decries
that democracy is achieved
through the vote, not the spoils.
We are all a little uncertain of
the qualifications of the man to be
our President, yet we remember
Lincoln who had very little, if any,
vouchers - what if old Abe had
been defeated in that war, he
would of been remembered as
this country’s worst instead of
best President. The question of
the next four years is have
politicians looked at themselves
and said, “If we’re this bad, how
is the de facto country?” If Mr.
Carter can just supply a little
pride for this nation - well, it
would be nice. We need men who
look to Honor and Respect!
My F avorite
Time Of Year
By Cindy Caveness
Christmas, my favorite time of year.
The crowded malls bring little if any cheer!
Walking down the sidewalk you hear the children say,
“Mommy why are there so many Santas out today?”
“Oh they’re Santa’s helpers,” is the quick reply.
TTie mother starts yelling,
“If you don’t be nice, Santa want bring you those little white mice!
Ah, the picture with Santa, Boy oh boy,
but to the crying child it isn’t much joy!
Slobbering all over a lumpy ol’ man,
who’s been sitting three hours on his can!
Like I said, Christmas my favorite time of year
full of religion and tons of good cheer!
The CSA
By David Bulla
A Bicentennial Story of
Greensboro: The Last Days of the
Confederacy,
The Diary of Matthew Wesley
Cox, Sargent, Army, C,S,A,
Sunday, April 9, 1865. General
Lee has had the most unpleasant
experience to have to surrender to
the Yankees at Appomattox
Courthouse, Virginia. We have
been beaten, but the boys gave
their darn best and are still
awaiting orders from Gen.
Johnston, President Davis should
arrive in town tomorrow, but I am
skeptical as to that. Weather is
clear and very springlike. Our
position is the Railroad tracks on
Asheboro Street in near the
middle of the town of Greensboro,
North Carolina. The subordinates
are calm but melancholy.
Monday, April 10, 1865. I was
right. President Davis does come,
but former prisoners of war are
piling in gross amounts. They are
the most disgraceful bunch of
heathens a Southern Gentleman
could ever see. The weather is
good. Clear and warm. Position
the same as yesterday, though I
did visit J.M. Morehead and his
house, Blandwood, which is a
conventional mansion.
Tuesday, April 11, 1865. This
town is restive. The streets are no
trampled by the incoming troops
and prisoners. Our boys are
destitute but are hanging in
there. They say Davis will come
tomorrow for sure. Weather: Rain
and colder. To be clear tomorrow.
Position will be in tents near
Railroad tracks, indefinitely. The
aroma of beans and pork is
secented throughout the camp.
We sleep easier now.
Wednesday April 12, 1865. The
Cabinet arrives at about 10:00
a.m. The President of the
Confederate States of America.
Jefferson Davis appears, later.
They are offered the Morehead
home but decline. They go to a
greasy old Railroad car and set up
shop. They meet for a few hours.
Nothing is known by the rankers.
We wait. It is sunny today.
Thursday, April 13, 1865. We
get up and go to the Presbyterian
Church. They seem to care little
for us, but they allow us to
worship our God. It is a sunny
spring day. Jefferson, Trenholm,
Breckenridge, Benjamin and
Davis are at it early. Davis still
wants to fight despite the
Appomattox surrender. He de
signs to the majority who want to
send Johnston to Sherman with
their terms of armistice.
Beauegard and Johnston meet
with the President and his
Cabinet in the old boxcar.
Johnston is to meet Sherman on
the 17th. Night comes and the
men settle down after a day of
nothing. They still have faith in
the Lord and the South.
Saturday, April 15, 1865. The
President of the United States
from which we seceded is dead.
LContlniied on pg. 5j
Between The Lines
‘David W. Bulla"
ADAMS, An American Dynas
ty. By Francis Russel. American
Heritage. S15.00. 374 pages.
The Adams Family, “Four
Generations of Greatness”, says
Jack Shephard, are a people so
close to America that one is
inundated by their accomplish
ments which are enmeshed with
our history, e.g., John Adams,
second President, was the man
most responsible for the
recognition of the United States
by European Countries; John
Quincy Adams, sixth President,
was the man behind what we call
the “Monroe Doctrine”; Charles
Francis Adams, who ran for
President several times, though
he did not openly seek his
nomination ever or did he
campaign, was the main who
pressed the Ei.glish at a critical
point in our Civil War, i.e. he kept
the Laird rams from being
shipped to the Confederate
States, which would have meant
open recognition of those states
by Great Britain, then perhaps
war; Henry Adams, scholar,
wrote and promulgated a
cognizance of the new factors that
determined man’s destiny; or
Brooks Adams’ latent endeavor
and workings in Teddy Roose
velt’s Square Deal. Franci
Russell, New England Historian,
has canvassed the picture of a
family who were at most
agnostics, but who were resolved
to substantiate the Great
Experiment through personal
dedication and perserverence.
In the limited space I have, I
shall try to exhibit the eminence
of this family which has been so
explicitly embellished in Russell’s
book. The yarns, the diaries, the
lives, the histories, the portraits,
the ideals, all in 374 pages of
continuous human history.
John Adams, 1735-1926, son of
proud Deacon John Adams,
began his life in agrarian
Braintree; he believed his destiny
rest in agriculture, and he would
always desire his farm life in later
years. A buoyant young man who
abhorred school, he enjoyed both
books and girls. His puritan
destiny though turned him from
levity, but he would marry
Abigail Smith, his dearest friend,
a person who was a century and
one-half ahead of herself, for she
was a liberator of the weaker sex.
Two events shaped Adams’
life. He pursued the courts of
Europe for American recognition.
His life in Europe would provide
an excellent education for his son
John Quincy, 1767-1848, that
would propel that young man to
ascendency, also. His greatest
diplomatic triumph came when he
met with George III in 1784. After
the introduction the King said, “1
will be very frank with you. I was
last to consent to the Separation;
but the Separation having been
made, and having become
inevitable, I have always said, as I
say now, that I would be the first
to meet the friendship of the
United States as an independent
power.” After this meeting, he
and the King were very good
friends. And Adams most
implicit goal in life was to provide
his children with education. “1
must study Politicks and War,
that my sons may have liberty to
study Mathematicks and Philos-
phy. My sons ought to study
Mathematics and Philosophy,
Geography, natural History and
naval Architecture, navigation.
Commerce and Agriculture, in
order to give their children a right
to study Painting, Poetry,
Musick, Architecture, Statuary,
Tapestry, and Porcelain.”
His worst and best friend was
Thomas Jefferson. They would
live together, sign the Declaration
together, and die together 50
years to the day after the signing,
together. His son would always
think that day some symbol of
divine Providence.
The son of John Adams would
turn out to equal his father in his
exploits. He was a man of
principle. He, like all Adamses,
except Charles Francis Jr., he
would fight his wars with orations
and diplomacy. His education was
his early life in Europe, and the
college years at Harvard would be
a condescension. Overseer at
Harvard, Congressman, secretary
to Francis Dana at age fourteen in
Russia, an American who saw
Mapoleon in his last triumphant
days before Waterloo, a man who
was so against slavery that he
gave Congress a petition for the
dissolution of the Union, sixth
President of the United States,
and a stoic who believed honor
was the result of duty. He said his
country’s will was his life’s task.
Adams, an insomniac, would
spend his nights reading,
preparing, never to make a
mistake, always looking for the
right word, the right datum.
John Quincy’s personal great
est achievement was the Treaty of
Trent, the fulfillment of his
manifest destiny, and the
composition of the Monroe
Doctrine. But he was a skeptical;
he said, “I disbelieve its (the
Union’s) duration for twenty
years; and doubt its continuance
for five.”
Adams was posed to the last;
he told his friend Henry Clay:
“This is the end of earth, but I am
composed.” January 21, 1848,
and the grand, old, and
“eloquent” man, died.
The next generations of
Adamses would be traversed by
Charles Francis Adams, 1807-
1886, and his son Henry Adams,
1838-1918.
As his father, Charles Francis
was bilingual; his first language
was French. His greatest
ambition was to be a man of
letters, but after Harvard it was
Daniel Webster’s office and law.
After some dormant years, but
for an attempt at the Vice
Presidency, William Seward
cajoled Lincoln into appointing
Charles Francis as Minister to
England. He accepted the
plenipotentiary. With his son
Henry, he went to Great Britain,
where he acclimated to that
country, Adams’ eight years were
very profitable and he made
friends with his counterpart. Lord
John Russell.
Now Henry Adams was
something of a prodigy. He was
educated in Europe as his
grandfather and father. His life
was tumultuous, but he always
envisioned the quintessential
philosophy, but he would not find
it, and he determined that life and
the United States’ course was
perpetual nothingness. Among
his best books are The Edacation
of Henry Adams, Mont-Salnt-
Mlchael and Charles, and Esther.
Today the Adamses still
persist, and they are still among
the affluent -- Overseer of
Harvard, poet, president of
Massachusetts Historic Society,
sociologist, and Raytheon board
chairman. These are positions the
Adamses hold.