The younger brother of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, he promoted Billy Beer and Peanut Lolita; and he was a candidate for mayor of Plains, Georgia.

[11] In 1977, although a Pabst Blue Ribbon drinker,[5] he endorsed Billy Beer, introduced by the Falls City Brewing Company, who wished to capitalize upon his colorful image as a beer-drinking Southern good ol' boy.

[citation needed] He was known for his outlandish public behavior;[13] he once urinated on an airport runway in full view of the press and dignitaries.

[15] In February 1979, Carter was admitted to seven weeks of rehabilitation at the Long Beach, California Navy Hospital alcohol treatment facility.

[15] In 1981, he was forced to sell his Plains properties to pay taxes and debts and moved to Haleyville, Alabama where he worked in sales for Tidwell Industries.

He eventually registered as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and received a $220,000 loan of which, The New York Times speculated,[19] only $1,000 was repaid.

One and a half years following his death, his older sister, Gloria Carter Spann, died at age 63 from pancreatic cancer.