My journey with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter began in 1975, when I got a call from iconic weekly newspaper publisher Lou Lerner.
“Rick,” Lou bellowed, “I’m going to give you the opportunity to work for the next President of the United States.”
“OK, Lou,” I responded, “I’ll bite and who might that be?”
“Jimmy Carter,” he responded.
And I followed, “Who the (blank) is Jimmy Carter?”
For the next 49 years, either I and/or my family — wife, kids, even grandkids — have been involved with the Carters and their work — White House, Carter Center, The Elders, Habitat for Humanity, and now, sadly, funerals.
Over time they became far more than principals for whom we did advance work around the globe. They became family. That wasn’t because of what they were, but rather who they were.
Both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter defined public service. They also personified integrity, commitment and persistence. And they were down-to-earth, real people, who communicated easily with people everywhere they went. Plus, they listened.
I and members of my family traveled the globe for and with the Carters — Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America — all with the goal of tackling the most intractable global health challenges and advancing peace and democracy. They didn’t just observe and report; they rolled up their sleeves and worked. They made a difference.
In 2014, the Publicity Club of Chicago honored my business partner, Jim Terman, and me with their Lifetime Achievement Award. When we were notified by PCC leadership, they asked if we had any ideas for a keynote speaker at the award ceremony. Someone said, “Would it be possible to get President Carter?” As close as our family had been to the Carters, I honestly thought it would be a Hail Mary to get him up to Chicago for the dinner and award ceremony, especially with his Carter Center travels. Imagine my shock when Beth Davis, longtime Carter aide, called to say that “President Carter will be delighted to come and deliver the keynote.”
President Carter sat next to me at the dinner, as I alternated between chatting with him and reviewing my notecards for introducing him. When I introduced him, he came up and, almost 90 years old at that time, used nary a note when talking extensively about Jim and me.
Almost 20 years before that, when the Carters were coming to Chicago for an event, they suggested that I invite my mom, then in her late 80s, down to their hotel suite “for a visit.” That visit lasted over an hour; and, as I listened from an adjoining room, they told stories and laughed and hugged at the conclusion.
Having lost my dad to a heart attack in 1968, over the decades I formed a special bond with President Carter as we traveled the globe and worked on special projects and assignments. Honestly, he became a surrogate father to me and a grandfather figure to our kids, three of whom did Carter Center advance work for both him and Rosalynn. When my wife Judy passed away from ovarian cancer in 2010, the first call I got was from Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. And when I brought my oldest grandson, Will, to Atlanta for a Carter Center and Presidential Museum visit, President Carter and Will walked to an event together discussing fly fishing techniques — a pastime our families share.
Jimmy Carter has been a true North Star to me and my family and will always remain so.
Rick Jasculca is co-founder of a Chicago-based public affairs firm, and worked with President Jimmy Carter in a number of capacities since 1975.