Jimmy Carter Tells Dave A Funny Story | Letterman

well President Carter I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you being here it's

very nice of you thank you I'm glad to see you because I know you have a very busy schedule

and to make room for us really means a great deal to me thank you again well I just thank

you for having me on your show Regis

uh we don't get many uh presidents on this television show and in fact we've never had

any uh but we're very excited as I have said all night that our first guest has had some

time to come by and say hello please welcome the author of this book right here it's entitled

talking peace and ladies and gentlemen the 39th president of the United States of America

Jimmy Carter Jimmy foreign

[Music] [Applause] thank you very much for your time I know you must be busy and certainly

have better things to do than say hello to us but I'm grateful to you for it I appreciate

being here can I just sell the book I'll make a living do you I mentioned that we met once

before do you remember that do you remember the circumstances under that

but I've always made a practice to tell the truth and um you know I meet a lot of famous

people the DiMaggio Carlson Leno and so forth [Applause] I I can't say that I remember you

don't remember it was you were actually doing another television show live at five across

the hall I remember that television show very well and I came up and you had uh footsteps

of Abraham was that the name of the book something like that my memory is as good as yours blood

of everything all right all right still on sale yeah okay and and uh I came up and I

had you autograph a copy for me oh yeah very good yeah thank you well yeah thank you for

remembering oh sure thank you what what did you uh make of the events a couple of weeks

ago it was a nice honor for you to be there and to be recognized for your efforts in the

Middle East well that was exciting and gratifying you know there were a lot of preparations

I had to go into it though uh that was the first time I visited the white house since

I left 12 and a half years is that right and uh Bill Clinton explained to me all the preparations

that had to be made and this is a true story he called prime minister Rabin who did not

want to come and he finally said okay please come I think it'll be a momentous earth-shaking

event and I'd like for the world to see you and Arafat on the same stage and uh robine

finally said okay I'll come and then he said well I'd like he also to exchange a handshake

and uh prime minister being said I'll exchange a handshake but no kisses

um you hadn't been there in 12 and a half years no even when they uh hang my portrait

hung my portrait in the White House they had a ceremony yeah yeah but uh they forgot to

invite me I didn't even so I saw my portrait in the white house and my wife for the first

time uh two weeks ago um now we know about some of the things that you do certainly and

we know about some of the things that other former presidents do and I think something

that kind of got the attention of folks I don't know a year and a half ago a couple

of years ago former President Reagan allegedly received like two million dollars to go speak

in Japan I think I may have the facts not exactly nailed down on this but yeah now do

you can you comment on that is that all right for him to be taking a two million dollar