Jimmy Carter was the only president - or I should say "ex-president" - I ever met. (I think of the thousands of people who can say that; interesting that the most soft-spoken and unassuming president in my lifetime was also the most outgoing.) It was in 1984 or 85; I was a staff writer – the staff writer – for the Observer, the monthly publication of the American College of Physicians, and I was covering a conference on preventive medicine at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. After the panels, various speakers, including President Carter, met individually with the media. I no longer remember what he said; all I remember is that he gave me, a writer from a small, little-known, organizational publication, the same amount of time and consideration that he gave all of the other reporters.
