Gaddafi's Favourite Redneck

Billy Carter, the beer-guzzling brother of President Jimmy Carter, became a serious headache for the White House when he was required to register as a foreign agent on 15th July, 1980, due to his dealings in Libya. Taking two large ‘loans’ from Gadaffi’s regime, viewed by the USA as a terrorist state, was perhaps Billy’s most controversial moment while his brother was in office - but not necessarily the most embarrassing…  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the ‘wit and wisdom’ Billy published for his fanbase; reveal the hard alcoholism that lurked behind much of his behaviour; and recall the appalling advertising campaign with which he attempted to turn around this very bad publicity…  Further Reading: • ‘Billy Carter Files as Foreign Agent’ (The Washington Post, 1980): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/07/15/billy-carter-files-as-foreign-agent/3c9afef6-10cc-4832-881a-94117d111533/ • ‘Embarrassing Relatives Plague Presidents’ (ABC News, 2003): https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=90138&page=1w • ‘Mo Rocca on why Jimmy Carter's brother Billy Carter was misunderstood’ (Salon, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzoGPJNRa1E For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices