Hugh Alton Carter Sr. (August 13, 1920 – June 24, 1999) was an American politician and businessman from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He was also the first cousin of former U.S. president

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

Early life and education

Born in

Plains, Georgia Plains is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 573. It is well-known as the home of Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who were the 39th president and first lady of the Un ...

, Carter served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

seeing combat in Europe. After the war, Carter remained in the reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1964. Carter graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University, during a time when it was a two-year college, then from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

with a BS in industrial engineering, and followed by an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Political career

Carter served seven terms (14 years) in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

, from 1967 until 1981 and was a Democrat. He represented District 14, and succeeded his cousin future-President

in that post. He represented eight Georgia rural counties, and served as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and was a senior member of the Appropriations, Rules and Fiscal Affairs Committees.

Business ventures

Carter owned a bait shop and a general (later antique) store. In 1949, Carter started a third business growing fish bait. Originally limited to crickets, he later expanded into worms. By the mid-1950s, Carter was selling worms nationwide and laying claim to the title of "the world's largest worm farmer", producing more than 60 million a year. Carter wrote six pamphlets on worm and cricket farming, the best seller in 1958 was ''18 Secrets of Successful Worm Raising'' The

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

originally sold for $1.00. When Carter raised the price to $2.95 sales grew even faster. In 1978, he wrote a book: ''Cousin Beedie and Cousin Hot: My life with the Carter Family from Plains, Georgia''. The book drew the wrath of aunt Lillian Carter and cousin Billy Carter. In the book, he had referred to the President's mother as "domineering", while offering his opinion of Presidential brother, Billy: "He's not a redneck, but can make money as a redneck". Shortly after the book's publication, Carter drew a political opponent. Peanut farmer Malcolm "Chicken" Wishard, was backed by Hugh Carter's aggrieved aunt Lillian and cousin Billy. However, Wishard's campaign slogan "Help the Chicken take the Worm", failed to inspire voters, and Carter was re-elected to another term in the State Senate.

Later years

Carter retired from the State Senate in 1981. His bait growing business suffered declining sales in the 1990s, and he closed it in 1996.

Death

At the age of 78, Carter died in Americus, Georgia, on June 24, 1999.Political Graveyard
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References

External links

*
How and Where to Sell Fishworms and Crickets (1957) - Hugh A. CarterRaising the Gray Cricket (1978) - Hugh A. CarterHow to Raise the African Redworm (1959) - Hugh A. CarterHow to Feed the Hybrid Red Wiggler (1965) - Hugh A. Carter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Hugh People from Plains, Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Southwestern State University alumni University of Georgia alumni Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Hugh 1920 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly