Jimmy Carter liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which he attributed to Ted Kennedy's ambition to replace him as president. After Kennedy announced his candidacy in November 1979, questions regarding the latter's activities during his presidential bid were a frequency of Carter's press conferences held during the Democratic presidential primary. Kennedy surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign, and Carter won most of the primaries and secured renomination. However, Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which gave Carter weak support in the fall election. Carter and Vice President Mondale were formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention
USS Jimmy Carter and the only submarine to be named for a living former president. The contract to build "Jimmy Carter" was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 29 June 1996, and her keel was laid on 5 December 1998. Original schedules called for "Jimmy Carter" to be commissioned in late 2001 or early 2002, but on 10 December 1999, Electric Boat was awarded a US $887 million extension to the "Jimmy Carter" contract to modify the boat for testing of new submarine systems and highly classified missions previously carried out by . During modification,