After the death of former President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100, many remember the incident of the “killer rabbit” when Carter had to fight a swamp animal while fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
This strange incident took place in April 1979 but was not known to the public until months later when, according to an account by then White House Press Secretary Jody Powell, a press officer shared the story with reporter Brooks Jackson. After the story came out, it captured the American imagination and was seen as a symbol of the Carter presidency, which many considered ineffective and shocking.
Fascinating headlines swept the nation such as the Washington Post’s “Bunny Goes Bugs. Rabbit Attacks President” and the New York Times’ “A Tale of Carter and the ‘Rabbit Killer.’
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Former President Jimmy Carter discusses his cancer diagnosis during a news conference at the Carter Center on August 20, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
The story, supported by a photo taken by a White House staffer, says that Carter, while fishing near the Plains, suddenly saw a large swamp rabbit swimming quickly toward him. Powell said “this large, wet animal, making a strange noise and gnashing its teeth, intended to board the President’s boat.” Carter used a paddle to beat the water on the animal, causing it to change direction and swim away.
The New York Times reported in August 1979 that a rabbit “entered Secret Service security and attacked President Carter,” forcing him to “return the animal with a boat oar.” The newspaper reported that one of the White House staff said, “The President is fighting for his life.”
The photo, which was not released by the White House until Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan in 1980, shows the late president splashing water like a giant rabbit, its ears sticking out of the water, swimming.
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United States President Jimmy Carter on a boat in Plains, Georgia, chasing a swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus). This led to the “Jimmy Carter rabbit incident.” Image source: Jerry Callen. President Jimmy Carter and the “killer rabbit.” Narsil.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Image courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library. (Public Domain Image courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library)
Carter’s account of the incident is less surprising. The deceased president said: “The rabbit was being chased by dogs and jumped into the water and swam towards my boat. When he arrived, I poured water on me with a pin, the rabbit turned and continued crawling on top of the boat. the other side.”
However, that did not stop the national and local media from running the “killer rabbit” story far and wide.
In 1979, Carter was halfway through his presidency. He was facing many difficulties at home and abroad, including the energy and economic crisis and the Iranian hostage crisis. During these crises, Carter’s approval ratings dropped dramatically, and he reached some of the highest disapproval numbers of his entire presidency.
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US President Jimmy Carter announces new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for taking US hostages, at the White House in Washington, April 7, 1980. Library of Congress/Marion S. Trikosko/Handout via Reuters.
Although newspaper accounts of the “banzai bunny” and pictures of large, bucktoothed rabbits were clear, many saw the whole story as a kind of metaphor for Carter’s struggling presidency.
Powell, who initially thought of this incident as an innocent, funny story, later said that he regretted his decision to discuss it with the media because of the way it was used to portray the president as a weak and powerless person. afraid of the rabbit.
Powell described these events as a “nightmare” in his 1985 book “The Other Side of the Story.”
“It still makes my flesh crawl to think I could have been so stupid, I thought it was funny,” he wrote. “If I was doing my job, I would have stopped the President at that time, I would have shown him the danger to him and his superiors if a story like this comes out. . . . Sadly, I did nothing of the sort.”
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March 24, 1979-Elk City, Oklahoma: President Jimmy Carter addresses a town meeting.
Carter, a Democrat, served as the nation’s 39th president from 1977 to 1981. He was the longest-lived president in US history, and died at the age of 100 at his home in the Plains on Dec. 29 at 3:45 pm. A Christian, Carter was known for his important humanitarian efforts after becoming president and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
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