Jimmy Carter, Charles Kirbo and a Billy Goat named Mac

In the shadow of the Exxon fuel pumps, behind the car wash, where unsheltered men slumber, stands a mid-century designed building with a slightly familiar logo - and in 2024, a mostly unfamiliar name: The Charles H. Kirbo Building.



Owned and refurbished by The Carter Center in 1990, it's where Briarcliff meets Moreland meets Ponce. Traffic meets jam.

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The Charles H. Kirbo Building - located "where traffic meets jam"; or officially 1149 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE.

And reason to tell this story, where you'll meet a goat named Mac. 



“When I was young, I had wanted a goat for Christmas," recalls Kathy Kirbo, Charles' daughter.



"There were no holiday goats at Lenox Square or Rich’s downtown—only a Pink Pig."

RELATED: Rich's Remembered: Christmas Special



So Mr. Kirbo and then-Governor Jimmy Carter traveled to Plains because they knew Billy Carter (the governor’s brother) had a goat for sale.



The perfect Christmas gift. A Billy (Carter) goat.



“Governor Carter then drove the goat [3 and a half hours] back to Atlanta from Sumter County,” Kathy continues. “They put the goat in the offices across from the state capitol, the Trinity Washington Building, until Christmas; so I wouldn’t see it.”



Governor Carter brought the goat through the basement of the government building.



And who was this Charles Kirbo?

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"He was my closest friend," President Carter has said of Charles Kirbo. "Without his wisdom, sound judgment and guidance, I never would have been a state senator, governor or president of the United States."

One of the greatest attorneys ever produced by the University of Georgia.

"He was my closest friend," President Carter has said, "Without his wisdom, sound judgment and guidance, I never would have been a state senator, governor or president of the United States."



Now back to the hidden Christmas goat.



Mr. Kirbo told columnist Bill Shipp decades ago, “I got Chip Carter (Gov. Carter’s son) to get the goat - his name was Mac - and to meet me on Trinity Avenue nearby, with my truck.”



Kirbo had a 200-acre farm in North Fulton, where he lived with his family. Plenty of room for Mac.



“I received my goat for Christmas and it was great," Ms. Kirbo says, "but the story doesn’t have a happy ending. A neighbor's dog attacked and killed Mac.” (And she promptly received another goat.)



Mr. Kirbo was from Bainbridge, and like President Carter was a modest, simple man, blessed with extraordinary intellect and abilities.



Chip Carter told me in Plains, “Charles Kirbo was like a father to me.”

RELATED: Developing an affinity and admiration for Philip Shutze - over tea, of course



“When I was young, I would go to my father's office and the partners would display their daughters in framed pictures as debutantes. There I was with my goat,” laughs Ms. Kirbo, whose father was a celebrated trial lawyer, and longtime partner at the influential King & Spalding law firm in Atlanta.



He had a full sense of humor too. His work desk drawer had a rubber rattle snake. He was famous for practical jokes - “crazy stuff, you never would expect,” Ms. Kirbo adds with another laugh.

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Charles Kirbo came into the public eye when Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 and slid out of it when Carter left the White House.

Throughout President Carter's political career, Mr. Kirbo remained a behind-the-scenes adviser, revealing little about his work with the 39th President of the United States.



Once he told a reporter: "I don't do a lot of damn talking about what I do."

Kirbo often wore overalls, drove an old truck and Gold Dome security didn’t always believe he was Governor Carter’s lead advisor and chief.



“They both never forgot the people they grew up with and shared common experience," Ms. Kirbo reflected. "[That's] the reason I think they bonded early on."



Their association began in 1962, when Kirbo helped successfully argue a vote-tampering case that led to Carter being declared the winner of the election for a seat in the Georgia Senate.



Kirbo later served as chief fundraiser for the Carter Presidential Library.

There was talk of him becoming a Supreme Court Justice, or a U.S. Senator.

No thanks.



Public office was never attractive.



He came into the public eye when Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 and slid out of it when Carter left the White House.

Kathy Kirbo is the Executive Director of the Reef Ball Foundation (aquatic preservation).



“Everyone always thinks their dad is the best," she says, "but as the years went by I realized I won the dad lottery.”



Charles Kirbo died September 2, 1996. He was 79.



“My father’s legacy could be viewed by reflection, as it is intimately bound to President Carter. He and my father shared common values and views.”



And a long time ago, shared a common goat named Mac.