SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — While many people wave and shout to a U.S. president from far away, South Kingstown’s James Manni actually jogged with former President Jimmy Carter, drove his limousine, and — most importantly — provided personal protection that comes with being a Secret Service special agent.
Manni reflected Monday on the death of the 39th president to whom he intermittently provided protection on numerous occasions from 1985-1990 after Carter left office and traveled for his various causes. Manni, at the time, was a special agent in the Secret Service.
“He was a humble, honorable guy who was nice to all of us and never really liked all the pomp and circumstance around being president or holding that kind of high office,†said Manni, who later became a state trooper rising to the ranks of superintendent in Rhode Island. Retired from law enforcement, he’s now South Kingstown’s town manager.
Carter, 100, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, after entering hospice almost two years ago for a terminal illness. The longest-living president in American history, he became the first former commander-in-chief to reach the century mark.
His endurance in hospice — far longer than any of the Carter family members said they expected — is no surprise to Manni.
“When I was protecting him, I was a young guy, and he was 37 years older than me. I could barely keep up with that guy jogging. He was fit and had this incredible endurance,†Manni said, adding, “I did all I could to keep up with him.â€
Once, while jogging with Manni assigned to him and visiting Brown University, Carter wanted to visit his daughter, Amy, who was a student there. So Manni and the other Secret Service detail following in a car got the specific address of her apartment in a three-decker building.
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