Jimmy Carter 1972, but had a cool reception in the legislature. But after two weeks of negotiations, it was passed at midnight on the last day of the session. Ultimately he merged about 300 state agencies into 22—a fact he would emphasize in his presidential run—although it is disputed that there were any overall cost savings from doing so. In an April 3, 1971 televised appearance, when asked if he was in favor of a requirement that candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Georgia would have to run on the same ticket, Carter said, "I've never really thought we needed a
Jimmy Carter several rounds of question-and-answer before movie critic Gene Shalit correctly guessed he was a governor. In May 1973, Carter warned the Democratic Party against politicizing the Watergate scandal, the occurrence of which he attributed to President Richard Nixon exercising isolation from Americans and secrecy in his decision making. On December 12, 1974, Carter announced his candidacy for President of the United States at National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His speech contained themes of domestic inequality, optimism, and change. When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries, he was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians; his name