Presidents Day 2009
Jimmy Carter fly fishing in the Tetons.
Here on Presidents Day 2009, we’re going on honor another of our Presidents who enjoyed the great outdoors. This time it’s Jimmy Carter. If you’ll take a look at the latest rankings by CSPAN, you’ll notice a fascinating pattern taking shape. With last year’s featured President Herbert Hoover coming in at 34 and this year’s coming in at 25, it might appear that a President who enjoys spending time in the outdoors doesn’t turn out to be very good at his job. This is a pattern repeated in many an outdoorsman’s life. It seems we’re so distracted by the lure of being “out there” that we end up doing a rather poor job in the business world. Catching some fish often seems more or at least as important as balancing those books or attending that meeting, but I’m not sure that applies to a proper handling of the Iran hostage crisis. Still, I’m more comfortable with a President who enjoys the outdoors, and as we’ll see next year, they don’t always turn out so bad, at least according to the so-called “experts” (hint: think Teddy Bear).
I’m not a big fan of Howell Raines. I read his book Fly-Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis and can’t say I liked it. Anyway, Mr. Raines did write a nice piece on Carter’s fly fishing in May of 1991 for the New York Times. It gives a quick overview of fly fishing in the former President’s life. I like that Carter took up fly fishing later in life (in the 70s) in an area not particularly known for its fly fishing, the Deep South. We have that in common, to some extent. I wasn’t Carter’s age when I took it up (I was around 16), but it was something I came to on my own with very little encouragement from my father or other relatives. Another line that I found interesting refers to the period immediately following Carter’s loss of the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan: “…Carter touched on the therapeutic role that fly fishing played after he lost the 1980 election.” I’d bet many of us fly fishers have found comfort in our sport to help in dealing with life’s problems, and I’ve seen it spoken of explicitly by others such as John Gierach and Ed Engle, for example. It would be an interesting topic to discuss this “use” of fly fishing in the life of its practitioners from former Presidents down to average Joe troutaholics. We’re not sure we should be using it in this way or even why it helps, we just know it does, and maybe that’s enough. You don’t need to look at the writings of others, however, to learn about the role of the outdoors and fly fishing in Carter’s life. He wrote a book on the topic himself: An Outdoor Journal. I’ve never read it, but it’s on my list of must-read titles.
Jimmy Carter was President when I was born in 1978, and therefore will always hold a unique place for me among the Presidents. He’s also the only President I’ve ever seen in person (at an Atlanta Falcons football game). Early in my own fly fishing journey, I remember reading an account of Carter fishing Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park. It just further cemented my desire to fish there. Despite how I might feel about some of his decisions while President and a few of his recent actions, I think he and his wife Rosalynn have done a lot of good in the world. So here’s to Jimmy Carter and all of our Presidents who loved the outdoors!
Take care and have a happy Presidents Day,
Nathan
Tags: fly fishing, Jimmy Carter, Presidents Day