ST. LOUIS – On my Presidential Library, Museums and More travels, I had the chance to see the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the former president’s history.

But it was my trip to Plains during the town’s annual peanut festival that I got to spend some time with President Carter, his family, and friends in the place he called home. And it was clear to see how much Plains was part of his life.

James Earl Carter Jr. lived in Plains most of his life, outside of when he was in the Navy and living on-base or at sea. Then there were his years in Atlanta when he was Governor of Georgia. And, of course, his four years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“That was a startling new theology or philosophy for people in those days. To consider everybody the same in the eyes of God. That is something we still have a hard time accepting,” Carter, then 93, said to a church group. “If we’re white, we think we’re better than African Americans. If we’re men, we think we’re better than women. Sometimes women think they’re better than men. But the Bible teaches, and Jesus taught, that we’re all the same. God’s care for us is the same for everybody.”

He called himself “a peanut farmer from Plains.” The soil here is built for peanut farming. But the Southern charm was evident everywhere I went in the one-block town.

Carter’s hometown embraced him and Rosalyn and they it, participating in the annual peanut festival, signing copies of his many books. And participating in a Sunday tradition: his Bible study at Maranatha Baptist Church.

People came from all over just to be near the former president.

“If you feel that you don’t live a life full of joy and happiness and purpose in life that’s worthwhile and exciting and adventurous, it’s your fault,” Carter said.

Carter, who lived to be 100, the oldest former president in the nation’s history, attributed his longevity to one healthy snack.

“I have eaten peanuts my whole life,” he said. “If you want to live a long life, eat peanuts.”

Peanuts and politics aside, he lived a second full life after leaving office. He served as president emeritus, leading by example and building homes with Habitat for Humanity, serving as a peace negotiator and diplomat, an ambassador of understanding and a beacon to so many of how to live a good, honest life.

“What kind of person do I want to be?” Carter said. “We have done that up to this moment in life. But starting today, we can ask the same questions. ‘What kind of person do I want to be?’ And who is it up to? You and me.”