On the nation’s birthday, President Jimmy Carter paid a visit to Modesto. Here’s what happened
Former President Jimmy Carter, who on Saturday entered home hospice care in Plains, Ga., after a series of short hospital stays, visited Modesto at least once — and it happened to be on the nation’s birthday.
In July 1980, when he was campaigning for reelection against Ronald Reagan, 39th President James Earl Carter Jr. visited Merced and Stanislaus counties. His Modesto stop included a Democratic Party fundraiser at the Wycliffe Drive home of Frank Damrell Jr. and family.
Modesto Bee coverage of the day noted that standing just outside the front door of the Damrell home was a new 30-foot-tall flagpole with a bronze plaque inscribed, “In honor of the visit of the President of the United States, July 4, 1980.”
Bee staff writer Elizabeth Leedom also reported that the president saw “Hello, Jimmy” emblazoned across a farmer’s field as he flew into Modesto from Merced and commented, “I don’t know how he did it, but I thank him for it.”
Leedom added that “Carter apparently missed a similar sign in a field on Scenic Drive near Oakdale Road which said: ‘This is Reagan country.’”
A 2001 column in The Bee included this recollection by Thomas R. Stone of Stone Bros. Real Estate: ““That was quite an exciting event for this quiet, secluded neighborhood. The Secret Service came and interviewed everyone door to door. The presidential helicopter landed at the park next to Sipherd Elementary School and (Carter) was whisked by limousine to Wycliffe Drive.”
Joining the president that day were first lady Rosalynn Carter and the couple’s son, Chip.
Leedom’s July 5 report of Carter’s Modesto visit was full of colorful details. She observed that future U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, then 32 and chairman of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, was among the first to shake the hand of Carter, now 98.
“You’re awfully young to be chairman of the Board of Supervisors,” Carter told him.
“You’re awfully young to be president,” Condit responded.
To file under “the more things change, the more they stay the same”: Nearly 43 years later, another young Condit is Board of Supervisors chairman: Channce Condit, the 33-year-old grandson of Gary Condit.
Carter’s comments to the Modesto crowd are just as relevant today. “Our differences are a sign of strength,” he said, issuing a plea for the acceptance of refugees, many of whom had recently flooded the Central Valley, especially from Southeast Asia. “I would guess that every person here is part of an immigrant family. I don’t see any native Indians here.”
At the time of his visit, nearly 1 million people from Afghanistan were looking to escape Soviet communism and saw the United States as a promised land, the president said. He told those gathered on that July Fourth, “God knows we’ve got problems. But we’ve never failed to face our differences, learn from our mistakes and unite ourselves when we recognize a danger to our country.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
