Billy Carter
Encyclopedia : B : BI : BIL : Billy Carter
William Alton "Billy" Carter (March 29, 1937 – September 25, 1988), the younger brother of United States President Jimmy Carter, was born in Plains, Georgia.
Carter served four years in the United States Marine Corps then returned to Plains to work for his older brother in the family business of growing peanuts.
On December 6, 1976 he lost the mayoral election in Plains.
In 1977, Carter endorsed Billy Beer, capitalizing his colorful image as a beer drinking, southern boy that had developed in the press while his brother ran for President. Billy Carter's name was occasionally used as a gag answer for a Washington, D.C. trouble-maker on 70s episodes of The Match Game.
In late 1978 and early 1979 Carter visited Libya with a contingent from Georgia three times. He eventually registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and received a $220,000 loan. This led to a Senate hearing over alleged influence peddling which some in the press dubbed "Billygate". A Senate sub-committee was called To Investigate Activities of Individuals Representing Interests of Foreign Governments (Billy Carter-Libya Investigation).
After the failure of Billy Beer, Carter sold his house to settle back taxes with the IRS. On September 25, 1988 Carter died in Plains, Georgia of pancreatic cancer at age 51. His mother and both of his sisters also died from pancreatic cancer.
In 1999, Carter's son William "Buddy" Carter published a biography on his father titled Billy Carter: A Journey Through the Shadows (ISBN 1563525534).
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