A seemingly harmless encounter with a swamp rabbit while fishing in Georgia turned into a media frenzy, captivating the nation and highlighting the lighter side of President Carter's administration.
As US president Jimmy Carter sat fishing on a Georgia pond in 1979, a 'killer rabbit' approached — and brought a media storm with it. Jimmy Carter in a boat in Plains, Georgia , chasing away a swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), which led to the ' Jimmy Carter rabbit incident'.The Bee Gees are playing on the radio, Deer Hunter has just swept the Oscars — and, for one afternoon in Georgia , the biggest threat to US president Jimmy Carter is a 'killer rabbit'.
Or at least this was the story that captivated news outlets, politicians, religious leaders and the American public during the last year of the 39th president's one and only term.'There are fish stories, and then there are rabbit stories,' began the article by the Associated Press.The August 30, 1979 story was one of the first signs of the storm of coverage, controversy and media parody that was to come. The story, as leaked to the AP, was this: The president, fishing on a pond near his Georgia home some months earlier, had spotted a large animal swimming towards his canoe.In short it was, according to then-press secretary Jody Powell, 'intent upon climbing into the presidential boat'. Instead of hitting it directly or — as some would later suggest — having Secret Service agents shoot the creature, Mr Carter shooed it away by splashing the water with his paddle.The story had been told by Mr Carter himself to staffers one afternoon after he returned to the White House.'He had recently … and we were talking about home folks and how the quail were nesting and similar matters of international import. 'Suddenly, for no apparent reason — he was drinking lemonade as I remember — the president volunteered the informatio
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