carter's father, james died after having recently been elected to the georgia house of representatives. for a year, jimmy, rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in plains. carter is the only u.s. president to have lived in public housing before he took office. carter wanted to expand the family's peanut-growing business. his first-year harvest failed because of droughts, however carter wanted to open many bank lines of credit to keep the farm going. he also took classes and read on agriculture while rosalynn learned accounting to manage the business. even though they struggled at first, the carters grew the peanut business and became successful.