Jimmy Carter and Howlett were a hot banquet deal across the midwest in the 1970s. Michael Howlett had been the Illinois state auditor and the secretary of state before his run for the governor's office.

He hitched his wagon to the farmer from rural Georgia, but it wouldn't be enough to win Michael Howlett the job he wanted.

He knocked out the incumbent Daniel Walker in the Democratic primary, but lost the general election to James Thompson, Illinois' longest-serving governor. Instead, Howlett opened a consulting firm. A building in the capitol complex was later named after him, just after his death.

Carter ran at the top of the national ballot with Minnesota Sen. Walter Mondale, who was the first vice president to reside in the official vice presidential residence. He also had an office in the White House, another first, and was an active contributor in that role.

As of this writing Carter and Mondale are the longest-living post-presidential team in American history.

Carter, for his part, was a state senator, governor of Georgia and, of course, a one-term president. The energy crisis and the hostage crisis, inflation and economic stagnation are his presidential legacy. He's spent the past quarter-century building homes, sending aid to Africa and enterprising negotiations with international leaders. In 2002 he was award a Nobel Prize.

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.

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