Jimmy Carter's 1976 El Paso visit goes ‘super smooth’: Trish Long

It was announced last weekend that former President Jimmy Carter, 98, was placed in hospice care. The Carter Center said in a statement that he has "decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention."

Following is a look back at then-Democratic presidential nominee Carter’s Oct. 8, 1976, campaign visit to El Paso.

Traffic, security operations at Carter rally go ‘super smooth’

Traffic and security operations for El Paso police and county sheriff’s deputies went “super smooth” at the Carter rally, according to Police Chief Bob Minnie.

More than 100 city and county law officers were on hand at the Transient Terminal area to keep traffic flowing and help protect the Democratic presidential nominee.

The largely uneventful afternoon was marred by the arrest of one person who was found carrying a loaded blank pistol.

Charged with disorderly conduct was John Perry McDonald, 29. Bond was set at $200, police said. McDonald, a newspaper carrier, was being detained in city jail for the Secret Service.

Police said a suspicious-looking man was arrested near the transient terminal around 2 p.m. Police said a search revealed the man was carrying a loaded .22 caliber blank piston, a knife and three canisters of commercial Mace – a spray chemical similar to tear gas.

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Good-natured and cooperative

Other than that one incident, “There were no hitches whatsoever,” Minnie said. He termed the estimated 4,000 to 5,000 persons attending the rally as good-natured and cooperative, an said the transient terminal was “an easy area to control.”

About 90 police personnel – 46 of them unarmed recruits from the police academy – directed traffic, watched the crowds from ground level and with binoculars from atop the terminal and flanked the speaker’s platform .…

Secret Service personnel guarding Carter were clumped at the wide entry to the rally area and around the speaker’s platform. The clean-cut men in suits and ties, conspicuous by the radio devices in their ears, constantly eyed the crowd from behind their dark glasses and occasionally checked bags for any concealed weapons.

On the whole, El Paso crowd wasn’t loud

One of the most enthusiastic responses given by the “peanutiest” crowd in town at the rally was when El Paso Mayor Don Henderson was introduced.

The first-term mayor was booed.

The 4,000 plus, who waited patiently under Friday’s mid-day sun for the arrival of Peanut One, proved on the whole to be an orderly, though somewhat under-enthusiastic, lot.

El Paso County Judge T. Udell Moore time after time drew scant response as he pleaded and at times begged the crowd to give that extra whistle or shout.

“The crowd is really giving me back,” Moore was overheard saying.

The one politico who caught the most “heck” was Henderson. To the contrary, Adrian Baca, controversial mayor of Anthony, was received healthily.

Asked about the booing, Henderson said it was from an obvious partisan crowd.

“I guess people know I’ve been a Republican in the past, but I can’t be all things to all people … I’m not that hard-skinned, and I don’t think anyone likes to be booed.”

He noted also that Carter had been booed at the American Legion convention.

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‘Good presentation’

Henderson said Carter made a “good presentation” and that he is a “seasoned politician.” But he criticized Carter for not addressing defense or border problems. “We have a $498 million defense installation in this town,” he added.

He said Carter’s attack on (President Gerald) Ford is a break from his “high talk” about morality, “As the election gets closer, the knock-out punches start flying,” he said.

Most persons in the crowd expressed confidence in Carter and said that he is their man in November.

Almost festive

Overall, the mood of the crowd was almost festive. Lively music from country-western and bluegrass groups blasted out across the crowd. Tigua Indian children performed their ever-popular dances. Men and women stood around in groups talking mostly about Jimmy Carter, and children stared wide-eyed at all the goings-on.

Dozens of hand-painted posters supporting Carter were hoisted aloft on poles and held there throughout the afternoon. Some of the signs read:

· The Grin is in

· Porque No Lo Mejor Carter

· Senior Citizens For Carter

· Honestidad Con Jimmy Carter

· America Can’t Afford Jerry

· Carter: A Revolutionary Idea in a Revolutionary Year

· Clothing Workers of El Paso Support Carter

· We Are Willing to Eat Peanuts to Get You Elected

· Welcome Back Carter

Poster jerked away, only incident

The only known incident came when a young El Paso woman who supports President Ford had a poster jerked from her hands and torn up by an angry Carter backer.

Jane Powell, who is a native of southern Alabama “about 150 miles southwest of Plains, Ga.,” said the actions of the man came as a surprise.

“He just jerked my Ford poster away and tore it up,” she said. “The man was going around trying to sell Carter buttons.”

Margaret Jackson, also a Ford supporter, was standing nearby when the event occurred.

“It was a surprise because he was an older man, a distinguished looking man. He didn’t look like the type who does things like that,” she said.

The women said they reported the incident to the police.

‘We want change’

Asked about Carter’s political stand, the women agreed that he “has not shown himself” and that the Republican platform is better.

On the other hand, A.L. Rodriguez, 67, said he sees Jimmy Carter as the best candidate.

“We’re tired of the Republicans,” he said. “We want change, and we want the change to be for the better. Jimmy Carter is about the only man who can give us that.”

Student journalists and photographers from the University of Texas at El Paso and from numerous area high schools covered the rally along with the national and local press.

Two UTEP students, Margot Libby, 19, and her sister-in-law Rita Libby, 21, said they were not cutting classes to attend the rally. “But if I had one, I wouldn’t go,” said Margot.

Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or 915-546-6179.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Jimmy Carter's 1976 El Paso visit goes ‘super smooth’: Trish Long