Teresa Mansfield was a member of the campaign for Jimmy Carter, known as the Peanut Brigade. A fellow teacher, Gladys Crabb, recruited her. “She asked me one day; ‘would you like to go with us on the Peanut Brigade?’ I said; ‘what? I said; ‘what is the Peanut Brigade?’”

Her friend explained the campaign and its strategy. “She said; ‘we’re going to travel to several different states. It’s the weekend before the election in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee.’ We traveled to those states. We stopped off in Atlanta Georgia to pick up some more people. Some people on board that charter bus were from Albany Georgia, too.”

Mansfield was enthusiastic. Not only did she go, but she brought students with her. “I took two black students with me, and I thought it would be something, an experience for them too.”

However, the campaign proved challenging. “I noticed we were not well received. I don’t know if the whites were not well received.” The reactions were wide spread. “In fact, every white person was negative.”

Mansfield speculated on how the two high school students viewed the experience. “Did they hold that against me for taking them there?”

Mansfield recalled campaigning in one store. “I went in this pharmacist’s store, and I was saying; ‘here, I want to give you some literature on Jimmy Carter, he’s going to be President.’ He said; ‘get out of my store. I know you were from Carter County,’ he said; ‘you got big teeth just like Carter,’” Mansfield recalls with a laugh.

Another incident was much more nerve wracking. “We were standing on the curbside in South Carolina. You know, as the cars slowly passed by, I would go to the car and tell them to vote for Jimmy Carter.” She told how one driver aimed his vehicle towards her. Crabb acted fast. “If she had not pushed me back, his aim was to run over me, or hit me.”

While Mansfield experienced a significant amount of hardship, she did share warm recollections of people who were receptive. “They would smile and say; ‘I’m going to vote for Carter.’ They would say that, and that made me feel good, so you try not to dwell on the negative.”

She recalled what they found most persuasive. “Just saying that he would make a great president. He’s for the people, for the common man.”

Mansfield also shared her own reasons for voting for Carter. “The fact that he mingled with blacks.” His involvement in Habitat for Humanity was another draw, with many of the Habitat homes being built for African Americans. Mansfield listed other traits she admired. “He was a well-rounded person. He had been in the military, and he was just a likable person.” His warmth made an impression on her. “I think about what a gracious person he was, and he would always smile at you.”

For more stories about Jimmy Carter please go to www.americustimesrecorder.com/category/jimmy-carter/