Jody Powell, President Jimmy Carter's longtime aide and White House Press Secretary, died this afternoon of an apparent heart attack. He was 65.

Powell was born on a farm in Vienna, Ga. He started in politics as an unpaid errand runner and driver for Jimmy Carter's campaign for governor in 1970, but became his press secretary in the Governor's mansion. He remained Carter's spokesman for 10 years -- during Carter's term as governor, as a presidential candidate and throughout the Carter presidency from 1977 to 1981.

In Washington, Powell was 33 when he took the White House post. As a part of the "Georgia Mafia," the group of young aides that surrounded the president, he was the subject of rapt media attention himself. Time Magazine described Powell as a "sandy haired, chain smoking" fast-talking Southerner in an article titled, "Carter's Mouth," while Rolling Stone put Powell on its cover, along with Carter chief-of-staff Hamilton Jordan, under the headline, "White House Whiz Kids." Carter once said of Powell, "Jody probably knows me better than anyone except my wife."

After the White House years, Powell went on to write a twice-weekly column for the L.A. Times and worked as a news analyst for ABC News. He eventually founded Powell Tate, a successful public relations and strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C..

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today of Powell, "When I needed advice at the start of my own tenure as Press Secretary, he was always generous with his time and wise in his counsel. I'll miss his support and encouragement, and I'll be keeping him and his family in my thoughts and prayers."

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