Willie Nelson and Jimmy Carter's friendship grew as Carter was governor of Georgia and running for president in the 1970s. Once Carter became president in 1976, he invited Nelson to stay at the White House. In his book "White House Diary," which detailed much of his time as president, Carter wrote about one of Nelson's visits on September 12, 1980. "Wille Nelson, [his wife] Connie, and their two daughters are staying with us. We jogged three or four miles and then went swimming. I like them very much. They are at ease with us and vice versa." We like to think of Nelson and Jimmy splashing around in the White House pool.
Later that night, Nelson got into a little bit of mischief at the White House. He wrote in his 1988 autobiography about smoking a joint on the White House roof with someone. Many years later, it was confirmed by Chip Carter, Jimmy and Rosalynn's second son, that he was the one Nelson had smoked with, as reported by GQ. Jimmy later said that Nelson had intentionally covered up that he'd smoked with Chip, alluding in his autobiography to it being someone on the White House staff instead. Now that's true friendship.
