ATLANTA — Hugh A. Carter Jr., former President Jimmy Carter's second cousin and a key White House aide during the Carter administration, died Sunday at 80 years old.
An online obituary at the Hancock Funeral Home in Americus, Georgia, said he "passed away peacefully... surrounded by his loving family."
Born September 29, 1942 in Americus, Hugh was the son of Hugh A. Carter Sr., Jimmy's first cousin, and Ruth Carter. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Glenna, three daughters, three grandchildren and two sisters.
During the presidential campaign in 1976, he was credited with organizing the famed "Peanut Brigade," the grassroots group of Georgia volunteers who helped spread Carter's campaign around the country.
Upon Jimmy Carter winning the White House, Hugh Carter joined his cousin's administration as a special assistant to the president for administration.
A 1977 New York Times profile credited him with keeping a tight staffing budget, managing 200 White House employees and acting as a presidential liaison to the Secret Service, Federal Protective Service and honor guards.
“Working here at the White House, through too many comforts and too many nice things, the staff will forget what it's like to be an average American with problems like getting to work in the morning”, Carter told The Times.
That profile described him as giving "the impression of having a tri‐level personality: the genial, smiling exterior with the suggestion beneath of a steely seriousness, and beyond that a keen perception, and appreciation of the absurdities and ironies to the human condition."
In a statement, Jason Carter - Jimmy's grandson and the Carter Center Board Chair - said Hugh "was not only close family, but he was crucial in my grandfather’s election as president by organizing the famous Peanut Brigade, and he skillfully implemented true zero-based budgeting within my grandfather’s White House."
"He was also widely known for his kindness and generosity. We will keep Glenna and his family in our hearts and prayers during this difficult time," Jason Carter said.
Hugh Carter was also on the Carter Center Board of Councilors and previously was on the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia, as well as the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Tech foundation, according to his online obituary. He was a 1964 Georgia Tech grad, earned a masters from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1968 and in between served as a U.S. Army officer, the obituary states.
A businessman and executive, he was owner, chairman and president of Darby Printing Company, a publishing company in Atlanta, for 27 years before he sold it in 2013. Before the White House, he worked his way up from management trainee to vice president at the Harland Company in Atlanta, a check-printing business.
Services for Hugh will be held Saturday, August 5 at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, where Jimmy Carter long conducted Sunday School, beginning at 11 a.m.
Hancock Funeral Home's page states:
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Melech Hospice House (11125 North 52nd Street Temple Terrace, FL 33617), The Alzheimer's Association, The Carter Center, The Atlanta Lab Rescue or Georgia Tech.