Leaders for a Change

Portrait of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale center on white background. Green stripe bordering the top edge with white text. White stripe with green border and green text on the bottom edge. Horizontal white stripe with green borders and black text across the lower center.

Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, ran for president of the United States with U.S. Senator Walter Mondale from Minnesota as his running mate in 1976. His campaign buttons and other materials were green and white. The green symbolized Carter’s agricultural experience as a peanut farmer. Voters elected Carter as the 39th president. He took 50.1 percent of the vote compared to Republican candidate Gerald Ford and his running mate Bob Dole who captured 48 percent of the vote. Carter and Mondale remained in the White House until 1981 after losing the 1980 election to Republican Ronald Reagan and his running mate George H.W. Bush. After losing the election, Carter returned to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, and his peanut farm.