Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit
After seeing this incident referred to obliquely in an internet story, I wondered what the story of "Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit" was all about. Here's what I learned.
During the first year of his Presidency, on April 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter had gone fishing by himself (with secret service and press in tow) in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. According to Carter, a rabbit being chased by hounds "jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle." Carter told his staff about this, but they didn't believe his story, insisting that rabbits couldn't swim, or that they would never approach a person threateningly. However the incident was captured on footage taken by a White House photographer
Press Secretary Jody Powell mentioned the event to Associated Press correspondent Brooks Jackson on August 28, 1979 and Jackson filed the story with the wire service the following day. The story "President Attacked by Rabbit" was carried across the front page of The Washington Post, though the White House's refusal to release the photograph resulted in the newspaper using a cartoon parody of the Jaws poster labeled "PAWS" as its illustration. The White House still refused to release the photograph of the incident to the media until it turned up during the Reagan administration and the story saw a revival.
In Press Secretary Powell's 1986 book The Other Side of the Story, he told the story as follows:
“Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a rabbit. Not one of your cutesy, Easter Bunny-type rabbits, but one of those big splay-footed things that we called swamp rabbits when I was growing up."
“The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.”
The incident with the rabbit became used by Carter's political opponents as a metaphor for what the intended to portray as a hapless and feeble administration. The incident was also parodied a number of entertainers. For example author Susan Katz, in her book "The President's Stuck in the Bathtub", she includes a poem entitled "President Attacked by Rabbit." Grammy Award-winning folk singer Tom Paxton also wrote a song about the incident entitled "I Don't Want a Bunny Wunny" which appears on his 1980 album The Paxton Report. The lyrics are as follows:
President Carter got into his boat;
Wasn't in a hurry, wanted to float.
Think about the country, think about sin.
Along swum a rabbit, and he tried to climb in.
(spoken) "And what did Jimmy say?"
[Chorus:]
"I don't want a bunny wunny in my little row boat,
In my little row boat in the pond.
For the bunny might be crazy and he'll bite me in the throat,
In my little row boat in the pond."
Look at him swimming, look at him fly,
Ears laid back and a gleam in his eye!
Hissing through his front teeth, swimming like a seal!
If you were the President, how would you feel?
You'd prob'ly say,
[Chorus:]
President Carter saved the day;
Splashed with the paddle, rabbit swam away.
Jimmy was a hero, felt it in his bones,
Said in the words of John Paul Jones,
[Chorus:]
During the first year of his Presidency, on April 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter had gone fishing by himself (with secret service and press in tow) in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. According to Carter, a rabbit being chased by hounds "jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle." Carter told his staff about this, but they didn't believe his story, insisting that rabbits couldn't swim, or that they would never approach a person threateningly. However the incident was captured on footage taken by a White House photographer
Press Secretary Jody Powell mentioned the event to Associated Press correspondent Brooks Jackson on August 28, 1979 and Jackson filed the story with the wire service the following day. The story "President Attacked by Rabbit" was carried across the front page of The Washington Post, though the White House's refusal to release the photograph resulted in the newspaper using a cartoon parody of the Jaws poster labeled "PAWS" as its illustration. The White House still refused to release the photograph of the incident to the media until it turned up during the Reagan administration and the story saw a revival.
In Press Secretary Powell's 1986 book The Other Side of the Story, he told the story as follows:
“Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a rabbit. Not one of your cutesy, Easter Bunny-type rabbits, but one of those big splay-footed things that we called swamp rabbits when I was growing up."
“The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.”
The incident with the rabbit became used by Carter's political opponents as a metaphor for what the intended to portray as a hapless and feeble administration. The incident was also parodied a number of entertainers. For example author Susan Katz, in her book "The President's Stuck in the Bathtub", she includes a poem entitled "President Attacked by Rabbit." Grammy Award-winning folk singer Tom Paxton also wrote a song about the incident entitled "I Don't Want a Bunny Wunny" which appears on his 1980 album The Paxton Report. The lyrics are as follows:
President Carter got into his boat;
Wasn't in a hurry, wanted to float.
Think about the country, think about sin.
Along swum a rabbit, and he tried to climb in.
(spoken) "And what did Jimmy say?"
[Chorus:]
"I don't want a bunny wunny in my little row boat,
In my little row boat in the pond.
For the bunny might be crazy and he'll bite me in the throat,
In my little row boat in the pond."
Look at him swimming, look at him fly,
Ears laid back and a gleam in his eye!
Hissing through his front teeth, swimming like a seal!
If you were the President, how would you feel?
You'd prob'ly say,
[Chorus:]
President Carter saved the day;
Splashed with the paddle, rabbit swam away.
Jimmy was a hero, felt it in his bones,
Said in the words of John Paul Jones,
[Chorus:]
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