President Jimmy Carter Gave Up His Peanut Farm And Richard Nixon Sold Most Assets To Avoid Conflicts Of Interest
President Jimmy Carter once owned a Georgia peanut farm that came to symbolize him during the presidential race where he defeated Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had taken over for the disgraced Richard Nixon. Even today, his former vocation is sometimes used to paint him in a negative light.
Yet, the peanut farm for which Jimmy was derisively mocked by Washington elites became a serious target for a potential presidential conflict of interest when he assumed office. After spending decades of his life building up the family business that was the backbone of his entry into politics, Carter had to let it go — passing off the business to his mother, Lillian, and brother, Billy.
“Well, it was a hard decision for me to make and this is something that I’ve had to face. I’ve literally given up my own method of making a living here in Plains… But I don’t want any decision that I make as president to have any effect on my own income. The trustee will try to do the best they can and take care of my remaining family here, my mother and Billy not to disrupt their lives too much.”
However, that gesture didn’t stop the peanut farm from coming back to haunt Jimmy. Two years later, a special investigation was carried out to see if Carter had used the business as a “political slush fund.” Rachel Maddow recently revisited the scandal on her MSNBC pundit program, where she noted that any supposed wrongdoing actually just turned out to be poor planning and greediness on the part of the president’s brother.
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President Jimmy Carter Gave Up His Peanut Farm And Richard Nixon Sold Most Assets To Avoid Conflicts Of Interest is an article from: The Inquisitr News
