Jimmy Carter
As the former US president makes a historic visit to Cuba, here's a guide to what the best sites have to say about Jimmy and various other Carters.
1. Former US president Jimmy Carter broke an American political taboo this week by embarking on a six day visit to Cuba on a human rights mission.
2. Most US presidents retire into a life of wealth, golf and the occasional money-raising lecture tour, but the energy conscious moral crusader Carter was never destined for that. He left the White House after losing to Ronald Reagan and fought Republican policies by beginning a new career as a respected international human rights advocate.
3. The post-presidential Carter founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, supporting human rights, medical assistance and his home state of Georgia
4. An earnest southern man from a Georgia peanut farm, Carter was the antidote for a nation tired of sleaze after Nixon and Watergate. The man gave speeches in his cardie to emphasise the value of home energy conservation, taking simple measures like wearing a jumper rather than turning up the central heating.
5. However, the peanut farmer jokes were never far behind, and the sweater seemed twee, although the tactic has now been adopted by George Bush in an attempt to appear greener than his black oil roots would suggest.
6. And then, of course, he claimed to have seen a UFO
7. One of Carter's most memorable actions as president was a pardon for draft dodgers who had fled the country or gone into hiding rather than serve in the Vietman War. It still didn't beat the UFO.
8. Carter is also well known for his family members, notably first sibling Billy "nothing embarrasses me " Carter. Billy began his career in exploiting his brother's position innocently enough, by promoting his own brand of beer. Billy Beer was sold with the catchline, "It's the best beer I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot." By 1979, however, he had moved on to accepting more than $200,000 from Libya that resulted in a federal inquiry and forced his brother to make a presidential statement on the matter. Billy died of cancer in 1998.
9. As Chelsea Clinton's forerunner, first daughter Amy Carter grew up under the glare of secret service headlights and intense media interest. She was not the family's only child, but her three brothers - Jack, Jeff, and Chip - were grown up when they moved into the White House and did not generate the tree-house building, book-reading interest in the press that Amy did.
10. Amy, however, failed to live up to the media hype like Billy did. After attending college and being arrested in the obligatory left-wing protest (against on-campus recruitment by the CIA) she moved back to the south, married James Wentzel, had a son, Hugo, and kept herself out of the spotlight.
2. Most US presidents retire into a life of wealth, golf and the occasional money-raising lecture tour, but the energy conscious moral crusader Carter was never destined for that. He left the White House after losing to Ronald Reagan and fought Republican policies by beginning a new career as a respected international human rights advocate.
3. The post-presidential Carter founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, supporting human rights, medical assistance and his home state of Georgia
4. An earnest southern man from a Georgia peanut farm, Carter was the antidote for a nation tired of sleaze after Nixon and Watergate. The man gave speeches in his cardie to emphasise the value of home energy conservation, taking simple measures like wearing a jumper rather than turning up the central heating.
5. However, the peanut farmer jokes were never far behind, and the sweater seemed twee, although the tactic has now been adopted by George Bush in an attempt to appear greener than his black oil roots would suggest.
6. And then, of course, he claimed to have seen a UFO
7. One of Carter's most memorable actions as president was a pardon for draft dodgers who had fled the country or gone into hiding rather than serve in the Vietman War. It still didn't beat the UFO.
8. Carter is also well known for his family members, notably first sibling Billy "nothing embarrasses me " Carter. Billy began his career in exploiting his brother's position innocently enough, by promoting his own brand of beer. Billy Beer was sold with the catchline, "It's the best beer I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot." By 1979, however, he had moved on to accepting more than $200,000 from Libya that resulted in a federal inquiry and forced his brother to make a presidential statement on the matter. Billy died of cancer in 1998.
9. As Chelsea Clinton's forerunner, first daughter Amy Carter grew up under the glare of secret service headlights and intense media interest. She was not the family's only child, but her three brothers - Jack, Jeff, and Chip - were grown up when they moved into the White House and did not generate the tree-house building, book-reading interest in the press that Amy did.
10. Amy, however, failed to live up to the media hype like Billy did. After attending college and being arrested in the obligatory left-wing protest (against on-campus recruitment by the CIA) she moved back to the south, married James Wentzel, had a son, Hugo, and kept herself out of the spotlight.
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