Take Five: Rep. E. L. ‘Buddy’ Carter
It’s time again for Take Five, when HOH talks with a member of Congress about topics relatively unrelated to legislative work.
This week, Rep. E. L. “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., talks about being a pharmacist, working out and how his firstborn got his name. Q: You started working in a pharmacy as a teenager, and eventually turned that into your career. What is one thing you miss (or don’t miss) about being a pharmacist? A: Well, the thing that I miss the most is helping out the patients. It’s such a great profession, and such a meaningful profession, where we can truly help people and their health needs. I just miss the interaction with the patients and their families.
Q: You were an athlete in high school. Do you still have a favorite sport to play, and do you play for any congressional teams? A: Well, about the only thing I really get to play anymore is golf. You know, I still work out quite often, in fact, I work out every day. But I’m not playing on any congressional teams yet.
Q: In either your career as a pharmacist or as a politician, what is your proudest moment? A: I think the proudest moment has been just watching the city of Pooler as it has grown. I was mayor of the city of Pooler from 1996 to 2004. And when I became mayor in 1996, our population was 4,500. And when I left in 2004, our population was almost 20,000. And now it’s almost 30,000.
Q: Do you have a favorite joke? A: Well my favorite joke, my favorite recent joke, is, “I was invited to, I was supposed to have dinner with Hillary [Rodham] Clinton the other night. Unfortunately, she insisted on having it on her server, so we couldn’t make it happen.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about your home state? A: The people, first of all. Greatest people in the world. And secondly, it just is the most beautiful state. You’ve got everything in Georgia. You’ve got the coast, you’ve got mountains, you got middle Georgia which is just a beautiful area, the rolling hills.
Q: Is there anything else I should have asked you about? A: Well, the only other two things I wanted to mention, you know, I mentioned I work out. I do 500 pushups every morning. I should say, I do it at least 4 out of 7 [mornings]; I don’t do it every morning. Obviously can’t do something every day, like that. I do get at least four or five days every week. And I do, a kind of stomach exercises, about 2,000 or so, again about four to five days out of the week.
And the only other thing that I guess would be interesting to some people is that I’m a big Billy Joel fan. I’ve seen him in concert nine times, my firstborn is named Joel. And I’m just a big fan.
The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress
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