U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, waves to the crowd at our union’s 1980 Annual Delegates Meeting in Niagara Falls. From left to right are CSEA Capital Region President Joseph McDermott, CSEA Executive Vice President Tom McDonough, Carter, U.S. Rep. John LaFalce and U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
In cover photo, U.S. President Jimmy Carter waves to CSEA delegates while addressing our union’s 70th Annual Delegates Meeting on Oct. 1, 1980.
Our union is mourning the loss of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on Dec. 29, 2024, at age 100.
Carter was born and raised in Plains, Ga., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and owned a peanut farm. A strong supporter of civil rights, Carter became active in politics and served in the Georgia State Senate and later as governor of Georgia. In 1976, he was elected U.S. President and served from 1977 to 1981.
Carter has a special place in CSEA’s history. In 1980, Carter became the first sitting U.S. President to address our union’s Annual Delegates Meeting. He was also the first U.S. Presidential candidate to receive an endorsement from our union, which had affiliated with AFSCME two years earlier.
As reported in the Oct. 15, 1980, Public Sector (then CSEA’s statewide publication), on Oct. 1, 1980, also Carter’s 56th birthday, he attended our union’s 70th Annual Delegates Meeting in Niagara Falls to address delegates and accept CSEA’s Presidential endorsement.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter at our union’s 1980 ADM in Niagara Falls. In background are NYS Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink (partially obscured), CSEA Attorney Jim Featherstonhaugh (partially obscured), AFSCME President Jerry Wurf, CSEA President Bill McGowan and CSEA Statewide Treasurer Jack Gallagher.
Carter, who had met with United Auto Workers in Michigan earlier that day, traveled to Niagara Falls in the late afternoon. At the ADM site, Carter was greeted by then CSEA President William McGowan, our union’s nine other statewide officers and then AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf. Also attending the event were Gov. Hugh Carey, U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Rep. John LaFalce and numerous other elected officials.
During his speech, Carter thanked our union for the endorsement and pledged strong support for public employees.
“I know from personal experience the dedication that you bring to your careers of public service,” said Carter during the address. “Most people know that public employees keep our nation safe, our roads in good condition, our schools open, our water and air clean, our workplaces healthy and safe, our elderly and sick cared for, our laws endorsed and perform countless other necessary services day and night.”
CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan, who at the time was our union’s Herkimer County Local President
and chair of CSEA’s Local Government Executive Committee, literally got a front-row seat to Carter’s address.
“We were all locked in the room about an hour before President Carter spoke,” recalled Sullivan. “Secret Service was everywhere. I did have the honor of shaking [Carter’s] hand. I don’t think that anything as exciting had happened in CSEA before.”
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, left, shakes hands with CSEA President Bill McGowan at our union’s 1980 ADM in Niagara Falls. In the background are U.S. Rep. John LaFalce and U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Sullivan noted that CSEA’s recent affiliation with AFSCME was a major factor in Carter’s visit, which received much media coverage.
“Video of the event was on the news and I was in the pictures,” said Sullivan. “[My community] and my family were impressed.”
After Carter’s presidency ended, he returned to his family’s home in Plains, Ga., where he lived until his death. He also advised many subsequent U.S. Presidents in both political parties and engaged in numerous humanitarian projects, including playing a key role in expanding Habitat for Humanity and working on many worldwide human rights efforts. He was also involved in diplomacy, including in the Middle East and North Korea.
“President Carter was a great humanitarian who did so much for the world in the years after his presidency,” said Sullivan. “He will be missed but not forgotten.”
