I made this jewelry chest for Rosalynn soon after returning from the White House, and it is one of the few times I've used ash wood. I made wooden hinges (from finger joints) for the top tray, which can be locked.
-- Jimmy Carter (2018, p. 44)

From a young age, Jimmy Carter found both comfort and delight in woodworking. He first learned the basics on his family’s farm and later refined his skills in school, where he was taught to make simple pieces of furniture. In The Craftsmanship of Jimmy Carter, he recalls that “as a final project, I made a miniature of the White House, although I had no interest in public office at the time” (p. 4). Carter carried this passion into adulthood, working in wood during spare moments in the Navy and even at Camp David during his presidency. When he left the White House, staff and cabinet members pooled funds as a parting gift to equip his home workshop in Plains, Georgia with new tools. After his presidency, in the cabin he and Rosalynn built in the North Georgia Mountains, he designed and constructed all of the furnishings himself. Reflecting on the solace the craft continued to offer him, Carter wrote that “these times of solitude are like being in another very pleasant world” (p. 22).