Though news accounts of the “banzai bunny" and cartoons of giant, bucktoothed rabbits were clearly fanciful, the incident came to be seen as a metaphor for Carter’s struggling presidency.
‘Everyman’ President Jimmy Carter was ahead of his time, historian says
Presidential historian Jane Hampton Cook reflects on the professional and personal life of America’s 39th president after his death at 100 years old.
After the passing of 100-year-old former President Jimmy Carter, many are recalling the "killer rabbit" incident in which Carter had to fight off a berserk swamp creature while fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
The bizarre incident occurred in April 1979 but was not known to the public until months later when, according to an account by then White House Press Secretary Jody Powell, the press official shared the story with reporter Brooks Jackson. After the story broke, it captured the American imagination and came to be seen as emblematic of the Carter presidency, which many perceived as ineffective and flailing.
Sensationalized headlines ran across the country such as the Washington Post’s "Bunny Goes Bugs. Rabbit Attacks President" and the New York Times’s "A Tale of Carter and the ‘Killer Rabbit.’"
TRIBUTES POUR IN FROM CONGRESSIONAL LAWMAKERS AFTER JIMMY CARTER'S DEATH: 'A GREAT HUMANITARIAN'
Former President Jimmy Carter discusses his cancer diagnosis during a press conference at the Carter Center on August 20, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
The story, which is backed by a photograph taken by a White House staffer, goes that Carter, while fishing near Plains, suddenly noticed a large swamp rabbit swimming quickly toward him. Powell said that "this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat." Carter used a paddle to splash water at the creature, causing it to change course and swim away.
The New York Times reported in August 1979 that the rabbit had "penetrated Secret Service security and attacked President Carter," forcing him to "beat back the animal with a canoe paddle." The outlet reported one White House staffer saying, "the President was swinging for his life."
The picture, which was not released by the White House until after Carter lost his re-election effort to Ronald Reagan in 1980, shows the now-deceased president splashing water as a large rabbit, its ears poking out of the water, swims away.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER US PRESIDENT, REMEMBERED IN SPORTS WORLD AFTER DEATH
President of the United States Jimmy Carter in a boat in Plains, Georgia, chasing away a swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus). This led to the "Jimmy Carter rabbit incident." Photo source: Jerry Callen. President Jimmy Carter and the "killer rabbit." Narsil.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Photograph courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library. (Public Domain photo courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library)
Carter’s account of the incident is somewhat less dramatic. The deceased president said: "A rabbit was being chased by hounds and he jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle and the rabbit turned and went on and crawled out on the other side."
However, that did not stop national and local media outlets from running the story about the "killer rabbit" far and wide.
In 1979, Carter was in the middle of his one-term presidency. He was facing several difficulties both at home and abroad, including an energy crisis and economic issues and the Iran hostage crisis. Amid these troubles, Carter’s approval ratings took a dramatic dip, and he reached some of the highest disapproval numbers of his entire presidency.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for taking U.S. hostages, at the White House in Washington, April 7, 1980. Library of Congress/Marion S. Trikosko/Handout via Reuters.
While newspaper accounts of the "banzai bunny" and cartoons of giant, bucktoothed rabbits were clearly fanciful, many came to see the whole story as a sort of metaphor for Carter’s struggling presidency.
Powell, who originally thought of the incident as an innocent, comical story, later said he had come to regret his decision to share it with the press because of the way it was used to portray the president as so weak and inept that he was even afraid of a bunny.
Powell described the events as a "nightmare" in his 1985 memoir "The Other Side of the Story."
"It still makes my flesh crawl to think I could have been so foolish, I thought it was funny," he wrote. "Had I been doing my job, I would have stopped the President at that moment, pointed out the dangers to him and his administration if such a story ever got out. . . . Sadly, I did nothing of the kind."
March 24, 1979-Elk City, Oklahoma: President Jimmy Carter addressing a town meeting.
Carter, a Democrat, served as the nation’s 39th president from 1977 to 1981. He was the longest-living president in U.S. history, passing away at the age of 100 in his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at 3:45 p.m. An outspoken Christian, Carter was known for his significant humanitarian efforts after his presidency and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
