James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 46th Governor of Georgia, the __ Vice President of the United States, and ran as the Democratic nominee in the 1980 Presidential election. A progressive Southerner like his good friend and superior in the White House Neill Wallace, Carter was regarded as a rising star within the Democratic Party and as a case-in-point example of a South that was beyond the integration debates that had framed the 1950's and as an example of the spread of liberalism in the prosperous, enlightened 1970's following the conservative 1960's. He enjoyed a 91% approval rating as Governor of Georgia, a position he held from 1971 until 1978, the first Georgia Governor to win reelection to a consecutive four-year term.