Bob Anders and Deb Anders-Bond were hosting a Christmas party at their country home in Hardin County in December of 1979, when they received a once-in-a-lifetime invitation.
It was from then-President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
This week as the country has mourned Carter’s death and celebrated his life, the longtime Ames couple has been reminiscing about the special opportunity they had in 1980. They initially told their tale in a Story Corps recording in 2017 that is available at storycorps.org.
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Bob and Deb Anders were invited to dine with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in their private dining room at the White House in January of 1980.
Invitation came over a black rotary dial phone
Bob and Deb were busy enjoying their holiday party in 1979, hosting friends and neighbors, including a family from Los Angeles whose children had never seen snow before.
“It was a typical party in our house,” Bob Anders said. “We were playing records, probably dancing, probably messing around with rubber stamps, and there was a lot of beer going down, and the wood stove was glowing, and it was just a great time.”
Then the black, rotary dial phone with an eight-foot coiled cord hanging on the wall rang. It was for Bob.
The woman calling introduced herself as the personal secretary for First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
“I talked with her a bit, and she asked straight out, if I would be interested in coming to Washington, D.C., and having lunch at the White House with the First Family,” Bob Anders said. “Well, I said, ‘of course, this would be wonderful.’”
So a date was set in early January of 1980. Bob Anders was given details on how to enter the White House grounds, appropriate dress and what identification would be required.
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A photo of the West Hall shows where President Jimmy Carter read newspapers. Bob and Deb Anders were invited to dine with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in their private dining room at the White House in January of 1980.
Luncheon was an appetizer to the caucus season
In 1980, Iowa hosted the first caucuses in the nation. Things were heating up as the Anderses arrived in Washinton, D.C.
Bob Anders had recently been elected as the youngest person to serve on the Hardin County Board of Supervisors before the couple headed east. Carter was running for reelection, and wanted to involve some local politicians.
“His presidency hadn’t been exceedingly popular,” Bob Anders said. “He did achieve great success, personally, in the Iowa caucuses when he ran for president. So President Carter, as an incumbent president, wanted to solicit support from the state of Iowa, and so he decided to invite Iowa Democrats to Washington, D.C., to have lunch at the White House.”
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Bob and Deb Anders were invited to dine with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in their private dining room at the White House in January of 1980.
Bob Anders had to call the White House back
After Bob Anders got off the phone, the celebration kicked up a notch. There was hooting and hollering.
“There was great jubilation,” he said.
But then Bob’s friend and campaign manager asked if they invited his wife.
The party guests thought Deb should go, too and Bob had to call the White House back.
“I kind of mulled this around in my mind, and I was persuaded by the people in our gathering to call this woman back,” Bob Anders said. “And I thought, ‘My God, here I am. I’m calling the White House. I’m asking a favor after probably one of the highest honors of my life was given to me.'”
After speaking with Rosalynn Carter’s personal secretary again and explaining the situation, Bob Anders received a most gracious response.
“She said to me, ‘If Mrs. Carter knew your wife wanted to come along and was not invited, she would be very upset,’” Bob Anders explained.
The couple was on their way, and everyone in the room was jumping up and down and shouting.
The Anderses were two of 10 Iowans invited to the White House luncheon in January. When the couple arrived at the White House, Deb Anders-Bond asked security if she could take her camera, noting that she was a photographer.
“They said I could, and that if the President or Mrs. Carter didn’t want me to take any pictures, they would tell me,” she said.
It was snowing lightly as the couple arrived at the south entrance of the White House. Snow was accumulating on the South Lawn, but not on the driveway, which was heated.
“I’ll never forget walking up that driveway. It was just surreal, just you and I alone, Deb, walking to the White House, hand in hand,” Bob Anders said to Deb. “We went into the south entrance, and we were greeted by some staff members.”
The first room they entered was the Diplomatic Reception Room, one of three oval rooms in the building where the presidential residence is located. The room was on the ground floor facing south onto the lawn.
After all 10 guests had arrived, they were escorted into the central hallway to the Map Room.
“The Map Room is the room that President Franklin Roosevelt orchestrated World War II,” Ander said.
The group was given a briefing about domestic and international affairs.
Bob and Deb Anders were invited to dine with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in their private dining room at the White House in January of 1980.
The President arrives
“Then the door to the Map Room opened, and President Carter walked in,” Bob Anders said. “He shook each of our hands, and we introduced ourselves to him, and then he said, ‘Let’s have lunch.’”
They all squeezed into a small elevator and rode to the next floor, where the family residence was located. Rosalynn Carter soon appeared and introduced herself. She wanted to show the group something special, so they walked down the central hallway to the Yellow Oval Room, which walks out onto the Truman Balcony.
“When the White House was remodeled, President Truman installed a balcony up on that second floor, because he was a guy from Missouri, and he liked to sit on a balcony,” Anders said.
The group walked out on the Truman Balcony with the President and Rosalynn Carter and Jimmy Carter pointed to the South Lawn.
“He pointed out a number of trees that the different presidents had planted,” he said.
Bob and Deb Anders were invited to dine with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in their private dining room at the White House in January of 1980.
Lunch was served at the White House, including a bowl of peanuts
When the waiter announced that lunch was ready, the group of Iowans entered the family dining room and found their names written in calligraphy at specific seats. The Carters each took a chair a the end of the long table.
Bob Anders was seated next to Rosalynn Carter and Deb Anders-Bond sat near the president.
“Rosalynn Carter explained a little bit about the history of the presidential china. … We could see it right there,” Anders said. “The Carters did not buy any presidential china, as I recall. But we were using china from different presidential terms for that meal, I remember there was a charger, which is a large plate on which all of the other place settings sit. And it was kind of a gold colored large plate.”
In the center of the dining table, there was a large bowl with peanuts, which was the signature food of President Carter. And there was a huge and beautiful bouquet of fresh-cut flowers.
The first course was a clear broth. The main dish was shrimp and beans. Dessert was a pecan torte.
“President Carter, as I remember, spoke primarily about two things, and one was international affairs,” Bob Anders said of the lunch conversation. “In 1979 the Russians had invaded Afghanistan, and that was a big deal.”
President Carter applauded the visitors for being from Iowa, because he said the state was one of the primary agriculture production leaders in the United States.
“One thing we did not know is that the infamous Carter grain embargo was to be announced that very day,” Bob Anders said. “President Carter embargoed grain that was being shipped to the Soviet Union in retaliation for their invasion to Afghanistan.”
Rosalynn Carter gave the group a tour of the family quarters after the meal. They left the dining room, went into the hallway and crossed into the Presidential bedroom and dressing room.
“As we crossed through the dressing room, I noticed that Jimmy Carter’s suits were all hanging on wire hangers. He wasn’t a very pretentious guy,” Bob Anders said. “Having an opportunity to walk through the private bedroom of the President was pretty amazing.”
From there, they visited the Treaty Room, where presidents have met with their cabinets for more than 100 years, the Lincoln Bedroom, which contains the bed President Lincoln had custom-made, and the Queen’s Bedroom.
Secret Service guides White House tour
A Secret Service officer took over the tour and led the group through the other famous rooms of the White House for about an hour.
The group eventually exited through the North Portico.
“We walked up the drive and up to the steel gate of the iron gate that surrounds the White House, and I can still remember the click as the gate shut behind us,” Anders said.
That evening, when the couple returned to their friend’s house where they were staying, they composed a song to sing to their families over the telephone.
It’s sung to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?” − “White House luncheon. White House luncheon. Shrimp and beans. Shrimp and beans. Rosalynn and Jimmy. Rosalynn and Jimmy. Bob and Deb. Bob and Deb.”
Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: This Ames couple visited President Carter’s private residence in 1980
