Central Coast man recalls driving President Jimmy Carter in 1974

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV)- It's President's Day, and today we look back at a former president visiting the Central Coast. Then Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter paid a visit back in 1974.

Over the weekend, President Carter was put in hospice, and so our thoughts are with him on this President's Day.

Dave Osgood, the driver of a local congressional candidate at the time, spoke of when Carter came to visit and what it was like.

"Well, it was 1974. The Democratic nominee for Congress in the area was Julian Camacho. Camacho was considered a very viable candidate," said Dave Osgood. "So the National Democratic Party would send in resources, including national figures, to help help the campaign effort. So they sent in Ted Kennedy. And Walter Mondale. And the governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter."

We met Governor Carter at the Monetary Airport, and we had to decide ahead of time where what do we do with the Governor of Georgia, who really nobody knew," said Dave Osgood. "And I think the thinking was that sending him to UC Santa Cruz, which is probably not the best place for the governor of Georgia. So we looked at venues around Monterrey and Salinas, and North Monterey County. It just happened to be the day of the Castroville Artichoke Festival. So we had to make use of his time somewhere, and Camacho was going to go there anyway to campaign. So we took him to Castroville, and Governor Carter basically followed Julian around from table to table. And he was warmly received at the festival."

"But the other candidates for president had come in like Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale. So we were kind of used to that," said Dave Osgood. "And I suppose we figured one of them could be president. I don't think anybody would have predicted Jimmy Carter. But he was he was clearly very impressive, just what everybody says. Humble, friendly, smart."

"Jimmy Carter was very warm, friendly. Easy going. Yeah, you could sense that. He was very capable. He was not just a peanut farmer, but also a nuclear engineer. And he was a successful politician. So you know, we kind of knew he was probably going places."