Follow ex-prez dad in politics? Most Carters say no

HENDERSON, Nevada, Oct 22 (Reuters) If your father was president of the United States, either you relish politics or may forever after want a lower profile.

Only one of former President Jimmy Carter's four children is now on a political path. His eldest son is running for US Senate in Nevada while his siblings usually avoid public attention. Yet all of them fanned out across Nevada on Friday and yesterday to boost Jack Carter's trailing Senate bid and shared their outlooks on seeking office in separate interviews.

''I haven't encouraged them to and they have lived their own lives,'' Jimmy Carter, 82, said in between campaign stops. ''We were surprised and delighted when Jack called us on the phone and said he was going to run for the US Senate.'' Until now, the most of the Carters, Chip Carter, 56, said he had run 75 campaigns and was once elected to the city council in Plains, Georgia. Yet he is now out of politics and spends half the year living in Amman, Jordan, running an investment company.

''I had considered running for Congress,'' he said before a union rally in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas. ''It came down to living in Washington and I didn't want to live in Washington.'' Most adamant about staying out of the public eye is the youngest, Amy Carter, 39, who drew the most attention during Carter's presidency from 1977-81 while just a girl. President Carter famously cited her during his 1980 presidential campaign debate with Ronald Reagan telling him nuclear weapons was the most pressing issue. Carter lost his bid for a second term to Reagan.

''It's only because I love my brother that I am out here doing this,'' she said in a rare interview before two days of campaigning. ''I don't really enjoy attention that much.'' ''I'm probably more anxious than the other members of my family,'' she said, adding that she spends her days doing volunteer work at this son's school in Atlanta.

Mother Rosalynn Carter, 79, said Amy had some unpleasant early memories of public attention that came with being the daughter of a politician.

''When Jimmy was governor of Georgia she was three years old going out to trick or treat,'' she told Reuters. ''All the TV lights came on and frightened her to death.'' The former first lady said even after hearing the criticism directed at her husband during his presidency, she is still far from immune to the negative attacks of politics. ''It hurts worse when it is a son,'' she said.

Also keeping a low profile is Jeff Carter, 54, who used to work on computer transportation simulation models and now works on South East Asian policy issues at the Carter Center.

''It's hard to compete with dad; that's why I went into computer programming,'' he said. ''The presidential thing is so intense it just burned me out.'' Polls show Carter trailing far behind Republican incumbent Sen. John Ensign, a former casino manager.

Reuters LL VP0902