At Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, memories of former President Jimmy Carter have peppered the patchwork of political and cultural paraphernalia adorning its walls for decades. In 1970, the Georgia native and peanut-farmer-turned-statesman launched his campaign for governor at the dive bar, where he remains immortalized within a collage of cracked paintings, faded photographs, weathered sports pennants and dusty beer cans.
As the nation mourned Mr. Carter, who died on Sunday, locals converged on this bar in east Atlanta to raise a glass in his honor. A painted portrait of Mr. Carter hangs by a window in the dining room; pictures of him intersect those of other Democratic heavyweights; and by the front door, a framed Christmas card to the Maloof family, which has owned the bar for decades, features an oil painting by Mr. Carter of his hometown, Plains, Ga.
Brian Maloof, the owner and son of the bar’s namesake, Manuel Maloof, was devastated by the news of Mr. Carter’s death. He recalled the former president writing him a letter in 2004, sharing his condolences after the elder Maloof died. Mr. Carter and Manuel Maloof, who were longtime friends, used to sit in a booth by the window in the bar, pondering the world’s problems and dreaming up solutions, the younger Mr. Maloof said.
“He always knew my name,” Brian Maloof said, adding, “He’s an example of how you want to live your life.”
Steven Pitts, the bar’s general manager, remembers serving Mr. Carter when he first started working there in the 1990s.
“He was such a nice man,” Mr. Pitts said. “He came here the day after Trump got elected in 2016, and he talked to my daughter. He said, ‘Would you like to have a picture taken?’”
Mike Looney, a regular for the last decade, said he never met Mr. Carter — but he understands why Manuel’s became a favorite watering hole for the former president.
“This is a neighborhood kind of place,” Mr. Looney said. “This is a place you can come to and always feel comfortable talking about politics, although it’s rare to see somebody wearing a Make America Great Again hat in here,” he added with a chuckle.
Ruth Dusseault, a journalist and graduate student instructor based in San Francisco, recounted in a February 2023 interview — when Mr. Carter entered hospice care — how Manuel’s has honored Mr. Carter throughout the years.
Manuel’s was the natural venue for Mr. Carter to kick off his bid for governor, said Ms. Dusseault, who used to be a lecturer at Georgia State University and led an effort to catalog the bar’s rich history as it underwent renovations in 2015. It is “basically a fountainhead of Southern Democratic values,” Ms. Dusseault said.
When Mr. Carter was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, she recalled, the Maloofs hung a banner outside the tavern that read, “Get Well Soon, Jimmy!”
Mr. Maloof said he’s been cooking up ways to remember and celebrate Mr. Carter since he became ill years ago, so Manuel’s should bring in even more people in the coming days.
“He’s been a great customer and friend to the business,” Mr. Maloof said. “People are critical of his presidency, but the man was dedicated to this country and doing the right thing.”
