Plan B Forum

Former President Carter shakes hands with everyone on flight

Updated 8:34 am, Monday, June 12, 2017



ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter took time to shake the hand of every passenger aboard a recent commercial flight from Atlanta to Washington.

James Parker Sheffield was aboard the flight last week and tweeted video of the smiling 92-year-old walking down the aisle and shaking hands with everyone aboard. Sheffield tells Atlanta's WSB-TV (http://2wsb.tv/2t8Tr18 ) that Carter's enthusiasm was "authentic and humble."

Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo tells the AP that Carter has shaken hands with travelers on planes for decades since leaving office and "enjoys it."

Carter was flying to Washington ahead of Friday's funeral for his former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Sheffield's video of Carter exchanging pleasantries with passengers has been widely-shared online. As of Monday morning, it had been retweeted more than 12,000 times and liked more than 34,000.

dales wrote:And I am certainly no fan of Jimmy Carter, but compared to the current occupant of the WH (who crashes weddings and graduations) Jimmy Carter runs rings around Drumph.

IRL - my late father had a chance to meet him and expressed what a decent person he was (even though my father did not vote for him).

BoSoxGal wrote:Any minute LJ will weigh in to say what a bitter old man President Carter is . . .

And How is it an ex-president is allowed by the secret service to even fly commercial?

Nixon Feels Flight to Coast on Commercial Plane ‘Scored Points’ With the Public

SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES DEC. 28, 1973



LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Dec 27—President Nixon began a post‐Christmas vacation at his San Clemente estate today convinced, as one aide said, that his trip across the country by commercial jet had “scored points with the public.”

But the Secret Service and the Federal Aviation Administration expressed considerably less enthusiasm about the trip, apparently the first ever made by a President on a scheduled airliner.

Mr. Nixon took a commercial plane instead of his own jet to save fuel in the energy crisis.

The Secret Service, which is responsible for Presidential security, said in Washington that it “would prefer the President to use military aircraft for security reasons.” Ronald L. Ziegler, the White House press secretary, replied that “they O.K.'d his traveling” on a United Air Lines jet.

Alexander P. Butterfield, administrator of the aviation agency, said he was “dismayed” that the agency had been given little advance notice of the trip. He himself found out about it only when the United DC‐10 was taxiing onto the runway at Dulles Airport outside Washington.

“This serious oversight,” said the outspoken Mr. Butterfield, who was the first man to disclose the existence of the Watergate tapes, “left precious little time for our air traffic people to implement their special precautionary procedures which must always be followed when the President takes to the air lanes.”

To that, Mr. Ziegler replied: “The success of the trip was based on the fact that no extraordinary measures were taken except for the Secret Service security of the aircraft. Whenever the President does something unique it may draw criticism, but the key to the President's ability to fly on a regularly scheduled flight was not to make it known in advance.”

Considerable grumbling was also heard from some members of the staff and from the White House press corps, who were still coming into Laguna Beach, 10 miles north of San Clemente, late this afternoon, almost a day behind Mr. Nixon.

Nixon Feels Flight to Coast on Commercial Plane ‘Scored Points’ With the Public

rubato wrote:And then ruined it by crowing about how successfully manipulative he was:

Nixon Feels Flight to Coast on Commercial Plane ‘Scored Points’ With the Public

What an evil POS.

yrs,
rubato

Scooter wrote:Who peed in your cornflakes this morning?

Lord Jim wrote:

rubato wrote:And then ruined it by crowing about how successfully manipulative he was:

Nixon Feels Flight to Coast on Commercial Plane ‘Scored Points’ With the Public

What an evil POS.

yrs,
rubato

Gee rube, what a clever fellow you are...

You managed to sort out that Mr. Nixon's intent with this stunt was to draw attention away from The Watergate Cover Up that was enveloping his Presidency...

You really are quite a smart boy...