The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter - A GPB Podcast Special - Part 1

TRANSCRIPT: 

Jimmy Carter: It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national world. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of our unity of purpose for our nation. I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard.

Donna Lowry: Hello and welcome to GPB's special program looking back on the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. I'm Donna Lowry. One of the most important pieces of Jimmy Carter's legacy is his work creating the Carter Center. The center has worked for four decades to aid democratic elections and eradicate preventable diseases. Morning Edition host Pamela Kirkland spoke with the center's CEO, Paige Alexander, on her experiences working with the former president.

Pamela Kirkland: So I want to start with the original mission of the Carter Center. Some 40 years ago, Jimmy Carter wanted to continue having an impact globally, and this center was born out of that. What was the vision for the center some 40 years ago and what has the Carter Center achieved since then?

Paige Alexander In 1982, as President and Mrs. Carter like to say, when they were involuntarily retired from the White House, they had an opportunity to continue to do the work that they had wanted to do and finish up in the White House. And so, by establishing the Carter Center here in Atlanta, he wanted to create kind of a mini-Camp David. And the idea was to be able to focus on the things that mattered to him: human rights, conflict resolution, alleviating suffering. And so that's how the Carter Center was built. So we're here on over 30 acres in Freedom Park, and we have for 40 years hosted world leaders and tried to solve problems and — and create space for people to have conversations.

Pamela Kirkland: President Carter's commitment to human rights and diplomacy are a cornerstone of his legacy. How has the center continued to champion that work?

Paige Alexander: President Carter always spoke the truth and he wanted to be of service to people. And so when the Carter Center was created, and we spent time traveling overseas and filling our roles with experts and people who care deeply about those small villages at the end of the road in Mali, in Sudan, in Ethiopia, it gave him an opportunity. It gave them an opportunity and us to figure out what we could do at the end of the road. And we always see these people as the same as President and Mrs. Carter: The possibilities and the potential is there; the attention is not. And so by highlighting these places, it gives us an opportunity to help people help themselves.

Pamela Kirkland: The Camp David Accords, widely regarded as one of President Carter's greatest diplomatic achievements. How does the enduring legacy of the Camp David Accords continue to influence some of the international relations policies that we see today?

Paige Alexander: Yeah, the Camp David Accords were absolutely one of his major accomplishments. And I think he has been a champion for peace. And we have continued to look at those opportunities, whether it's what is happening in Sudan, whether it's what's happening in Ethiopia, or throughout Asia. This is the work that we do because we have 3,100 staff people and they're all overseas, and we've got 300 here in Atlanta. But the bulk of the work that we do is overseas, and all politics is local and all development is local. So for our opportunity to take the cues from the staff in the field to figure out what the next step is and where conflicts need to be resolved and where there are human rights abuses and what are the diseases that are prevalent that are holding communities back? All of that is what we look at in the field, and then we try to help address it.

Pamela Kirkland: Thinking back to again post-presidency Jimmy Carter thinking he wanted to tackle things like global health and potential pandemics, the eradication of Guinea worm, mental health when it comes to the first lady and some of her initiatives and where we are today. You mentioned COVID and how that brought up so many of these issues. How unique is that, that they had that much foresight to see that these were issues that needed to be addressed?

Paige Alexander: They're both incredibly unique individuals. I think history has shown their contribution to the world and to the political process, and to everything that they did when they were in the White House and the governor's mansion here in Georgia. It's indicative of the legacy that they've left behind in the organization that bears their name here at the Carter Center. So for us building out on that legacy and making sure that we adjust to changing times. As President Carter used to say, there are always — there's always going to be work to do in this field, and we'll continue to do it.

Pamela Kirkland: Paige Alexander, thank you so much.

Paige Alexander: Thank you. It's a pleasure talking about the Carter Center and President and Mrs. Carter's legacy.

 

Donna Lowry: That was GPB's Pamela Kirkland speaking with Paige Alexander, CEO of the Carter Center in Atlanta. You're listening to GPB's special program looking back on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. I'm Donna Lowry. In March of 2023, I had the opportunity to speak with the Mann family, who had a close personal relationship with the former president going back five generations.

I am thrilled to have here Sheri Mann Stewart, Royce Mann, and Tendal Mann to talk about this. Thank you so much for being here.

Sheri Mann Stewart: Thank you.

Donna Lowry: Lots — lots to get into. But let's start with how far back your family goes with Jimmy Carter's family.

Sheri Mann Stewart: So I'm old, and I've known five generations of his family, but it's thanks to my mom (Connie Ward Stewart). She really got our family connected with their family. So starting in her 20s, she got to know Jimmy when he was a state senator. She got to know Jimmy and Rosalynn when he was a state senator. And she had been appointed by Gov. Carl Sanders at age 23 for her. She was the only woman on the state scholarship commission. So as the only woman, the men on the commission sort of chose her to do a lot of the work. Jimmy was a senator and he got to see what a great job she did. He had gotten to know who she was. Rosalynn somehow had gotten to know who she was, and they were impressed with her. And she was a journalism student. She was down on Jekyll Island Beach on some vacation and the manager of the hotel came down and found her on the beach and said, "You're Connie Stewart, right?"And she said, "Yes." And he said, "there's a call for you. They say it's important up in the office. She went up and these voices said, "Connie, it's Jimmy and Rosalynn. We've decided to run for governor and we'd like you to run the campaign with us and the family." And she said she took about a beat or said, "all right." As a little girl I got to see them many times through my — through those years and there's photos from me, that ended up in newspapers and things where every time I'd see Jimmy, he'd hold out his arms and I'd go run and jump in his arms and he'd pick me up and give me big hugs.

Donna Lowry: Jimmy Carter continued his close relationship with Sheri and her family over the years.

Sheri Mann Stewart: He lost that first gubernatorial campaign. But they asked my mom to keep working with him to run again. And then the second campaign was a bit easier.

Donna Lowry: Jimmy Carter even made a special effort to encourage young Sheri's interest in community engagement.

Sheri Mann Stewart: I honestly have to say — and I'll get a little teary — Jimmy became a father figure for me. I literally would write Jimmy letters as a child. And sometimes he would respond: I have this letter from when he was governor and I had written him about an idea I had that there would be a Georgia cleans up day. I forget what I called it. I have a copy of it, of course. And he wrote me back, a long letter back. What a great idea that I was a young person thinking about the environment and all.

Donna Lowry: When Sheri had children of her own, Tendal and Royce, they too grew up with childhood experiences of Jimmy Carter. That left a big impression on them. Tendal, I'm not ignoring you. You're the oldest. Do you remember your first memories of meeting him?

Tendal Mann: I couldn't even pinpoint the first one, but I, you know, can for as long as I can remember, you know, remember having Jimmy and the Carters kind of being a part of our life. And I can remember even as a young child going down to Plains, Ga.

Sheri Mann Stewart: He always made a point of when he would see the boys there at the different events, he would come and give us the little private tour of the boyhood home and tell them particular things about, you know, then my daddy built, you know, put the bucket in here to be the shower for us. And he would tell the particular stories and he would hold them in his arms and put them on his lap.

Donna Lowry: Royce, what are your memories?

Royce Mann: Yeah, I just like Tendal, don't remember the first time I met him because it was when I was an infant. My middle name is Carter in his honor.

Sheri Mann Stewart: His and Rosalynn's honor.

Royce Mann: His and Rosalynn’s honor. And he would always refer to me as Carter, never by my first name. But getting to sit with him at the Carter Center and just ask him questions, as I think I was an 11-year-old about his work, about the ideas and the goals that he had when he was my age and a little bit older, and how he realized those and how he never strayed from his values. Those are lessons that I'll always carry with me.

Donna Lowry: I understand you ran for Atlanta School Board. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Royce Mann: Yeah, I ran for Atlanta Board of Education, and I definitely think my passion for education and for public policy and the potential that it has for uplifting people, especially young people and creating the world we want to see is due to President Carter, Rosalynn and especially my grandmother, Connie Stewart.

Donna Lowry: Connie Stewart began her career in 1969 as the press secretary to first lady Pat Nixon. She went on to serve in four presidential administrations, including Carter's. Carter also became crucial for another industry that would bring countless jobs and opportunities to the state.

Sheri Mann Stewart: When he did get elected governor, he pretty quickly also saw the potential of the film industry in Georgia and he created the nation's first film office connected to state government. He had been able to get some fundraising campaigns from folks who didn't just live in Georgia but around the country, including California. And he had traveled out there and saw the potential and thought about how much money could come into the state of Georgia if he could get films to be made here. And so he started the nation's first. He appointed my mom to be on the first commission of the country. 

Donna Lowry: I want to include here, to people who don't know, that you're an actress and a producer.

Sheri Mann Stewart: Yes, we're all actors and, you know, and that's deftly inspired by — I used to visit with my mom when she was on the commission, the Film Commission of Georgia. She would take me to film sets. I got to meet people like Leslie Uggams, who signed in my little autograph book, and Michael Christian and all these interesting folks, Shelley Winters and all. And these were things that Jimmy created for the state of Georgia, which obviously has lasted and built and brings in $9 billion or something.

Donna Lowry: And he doesn't get the credit for what's going on right now. Of course, the Georgia film credit is a big part of everything, but I had no idea it went back that far…

Sheri Mann Stewart: Yes. He started it for the country. No other governor had thought to do this. And that became the model for the rest of the country. So, we can thank him for that.

Royce Mann: And if I can just jump in, they had a great exhibit on this at the Carter Center that really laid out how it, you know, has grown from that first commission and those first ideas of trying to create a Hollywood of the South to what we have now.

Donna Lowry: Wow. Okay. I want to thank you so much, Sheri Mann Stewart, Royce and Tendall Mann for talking with us and sharing these special stories about the former president. Thank you so much for for sharing your thoughts and having this conversation.

All: Thank you.

Donna Lowry: I'm Donna Lowry, and I've been speaking with Royce and Tendall Mann and Sheri Mann Stewart.

Peter Biello: GPB is reflecting on the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter. From his humble beginnings in Plains to his global humanitarian efforts, President Carter's impact shaped Georgia and the world. GPB's daily news podcast Georgia Today will have the latest updates on memorial services, celebrations of his life, and stories from those his inspired. Listen to Georgia Today wherever you get your podcasts.

Donna Lowry: You're listening to GPB's special program looking back on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter.

When a peanut farmer from Georgia was elected president of the United States, author and historian Douglas Brinkley said it was, quote, "the closest America has come to picking a president out of the phone book." Jimmy Carter's homespun style and scrappy grassroots campaign was something different in 1976. Instrumental in that campaign was Dot Padgett, an activist from Douglasville, west of Atlanta, who organized the famous Peanut Brigade: Carter campaign volunteers who fanned out across the country. Padgett, now 96 years old, shared her memories of Carter in a 2016 book: Jimmy Carter Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts. She spoke with GPB's Orlando Montoya.

Dot Padgett: When I met him, I was a mother of four children, working in the yard. And I absolutely loved working in the yard. I pulled weeds, I raked leaves, I planted flowers. But I wondered, “What will I ever tell my grandchildren that I ever did in my life?” And just at that moment, a car drove up to the curb and a man walked out. And it was Jimmy Carter. And he walked up in my yard and asked me if I would volunteer for him to work in his race for governor.

Orlando Montoya: And you write that you had a sense of Jimmy Carter's future when you saw him for the first time. What did you see in him that impressed you?

Dot Padgett: In 1970, I really did not know Jimmy Carter. I had heard the name. My husband had visited him briefly on some banking business, but nothing political. And what impressed me with what I did know about him was that the people that he surrounded himself with ... had the same values that I had and the same vision. And I thought, well, if these people support him, then that must be the same values that he has.

Orlando Montoya: Fast forwarding a few years to 1976, Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign was run by a 26-year-old Hamilton Jordan, the future chief of staff to the president. What was your role in the campaign?

Dot Padgett: As a volunteer in 1975, I was asked to help raise money. Rosalynn Carter would campaign three weeks out of a month in other parts of the country. I would scheduled a week for her in the state of Georgia.  And we would go around and the little ticket that we sold to meet and greet Rosalynn Carter sold for $10.  So we set up a series of luncheons, coffees and teas to meet Rosalynn Carter. There was absolutely no money in that campaign at all. My only connection to it before then was they were having a yard sale to raise money to pay the rent. It was quite different from what we hear now.

Orlando Montoya: I don't think a yard sale is going to pay for a campaign today.

Dot Padgett: A yard sale would not pay for one hour of what they do today. It’s — it's totally different. I'm probably one of the few people that know absolutely the difference between that campaign. We were under federal election laws as a result of Watergate. We were allowed, for the entire campaign, $31 million that we could spend. I don't think anybody can grasp the meaning of that. Do you?

Orlando Montoya: It sounds like it's peanuts.

Dot Padgett: It was peanuts and pocket change.

Orlando Montoya: The Peanut Brigade sent volunteers, many with Southern accents, to knock on doors and hand out fliers across the country. How did voters in the cold of New Hampshire and the Midwest respond to you guys?

Dot Padgett: This was a campaign strategy, and it was before it even had the name Peanut Brigade. Part of the campaign structure was that there were nine Democratic candidates in that primary — names that people recognized: senators, congressmen, people that you’d seen their names in the paper — and a peanut farmer from South Georgia. So how do you set him apart? They determined to send a plane full of Georgians to New Hampshire. And we spent a week there. We had some interesting things happen. I know one woman, her husband happened to be mayor of Plains. She knocked on the door. The lady opened the door, cracked it open a little bit, and she was standing there in the freezing cold. She said, “I’m here from Georgia to ask you to vote for my friend Jimmy Carter for president.” But she said, “I am so damn cold, I don't care who you vote for.” They invited her in; they liked honesty. And I mean, if you were a voter and you were faced with nine people and you had somebody to sit down and talk to you, it made a difference. I spoke to a man, and he was very kind. He took my brochure. He looked at it. I gave him my entire story. And he took the brochure. And he said, “Young lady, I love the way you have said it. But I have not understood a word you have said.” It was our Southern accents! But he said, “I'll take your brochure and I'll read it.” He won that race. He had won in Ohio and Iowa. And so, that really is the thing that put him in the spotlight.

Orlando Montoya: When Carter was elected president, you became assistant chief of protocol at the State Department. What did that role entail?

Dot Padgett: Well, mine was specifically for the international visitors that were invited by the president to come to this country on an official visit. And our office was to organize and travel with them. Specifically, protocol has nothing to do with the political aspects. We stay away from that. Our job is to a visitor that comes here. You help them look good in their own country, to keep them on a schedule. And that was primarily what our assignment was.

Orlando Montoya: Now, a lot of people close to Carter, like yourself, ended up in Washington roles. How did you see the culture clash of South Georgia going to Washington play out during Carter's time?

Dot Padgett: Well, personally, I had an absolutely wonderful time in Washington. I made a lot of friends and it gave me kind of a head start. But no, the press, the restaurants, they were not very friendly because we didn't have a lot of money. And we worked long hours every day.  And there was not a lot of time for recreation. And so, they thought that we were either anti-social or either we didn't have the presence enough to enjoy the Washington, D.C., life. But mostly, it was because we just worked hard.

Orlando Montoya: Do you think he was misunderstood while he was president?

Dot Padgett: Oh, I think he was misunderstood. If you read his speeches, you will see some gems, some treasures. But no one would pick it up because his delivery was not the delivery of a movie star. A lot of attention has been focused on the Peanut Brigade, because that's a large part of it. And I'm not unhappy about that at all because it was 600 people that deserved credit. But I would like for people to actually take a look at what he was able to accomplish and maybe he can rise up through the ranks of history as one of our best presidents. I don't know. I think it will take some time for that to happen. But I eventually do believe that that will happen.

 

Donna Lowry: GPB's Orlando Montoya speaking with Dot Padgett, who was part of Jimmy Carter's Peanut Brigade in 1976.

You're listening to GPB's special program looking back on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. I'm Donna Lowry. When the news broke of Jimmy Carter's move to hospice care in February 2023, people in Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia were gearing up for an annual Presidents Day celebration, which took on a special meaning under the circumstances. Grant Blankenship talked to people at the former president's alma mater, Plains High School.

Grant Blankenship: The centerpiece of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site is the former Plains High School, Carter's alma mater. And today, the old auditorium with its folding wooden seats was decked out, as it has been for over a decade on Presidents Day. But flags, red, white and blue bunting and memorabilia belonging to historian Laurence Cooke laid out for his presentation.

Laurence Cook: You know, it's ironic today that that I'm giving this presentation on the lesser-known presidents because we're here in President Carter's hometown and President Carter's one of the best-known presidents. And I would say as a historian, I'll make the statement: I believe he's the best-known president around the world.

Grant Blankenship: Cook says Carter loves these talks about the nearly forgotten details of presidential history and is usually here on Presidents Day. This year, of course, is different. And so Cook says he was tempted to change course.

Laurence Cook: But I knew that President Carter would want me to stay with the planned program and not make it all about him.

Grant Blankenship: In conversation around Plains, people echoed the theme of a selfless Jimmy Carter again and again. Like Carter, Rebecca Davenport is a fan of these Presidents Day talks in Plains, and she has her own piece of memorabilia, a 1977 Carter inaugural pin hanging from her sweater.

Rebecca Davenport: He's our only president from Georgia, so why not wear it today, right.

Grant Blankenship: And it's not a replica. It's the real deal.

Rebecca Davenport: Isn't that crazy? And so I'm celebrating him today.

Grant Blankenship: So what is she celebrating?

Rebecca Davenport: I think his concern for the underdog, as someone who might have had a controversial presidency, but afterwards, I think the whole country can confirm that we admire him and his spirit.

Grant Blankenship: Bernadette Backhaus and Spencer Horn were passing through Plains on vacation when they stopped in the main street across from where out-of-town journalists are already gathering. Baucus says they like to cram as much history as they can into these road trips. And they came today with knowledge of Carter's condition.

Bernadette Backhaus: Yeah, we were in the hotel room last night, just sitting in the room, just watching TV, and we looked at our fans and we were like, Oh my God, he's, you know, he went into hospice care, you know, just kind of sad.

Grant Blankenship: Walker says she's read a few of Carter's books and she wishes more people saw him the way she does.

Bernadette Backhaus: Well, I mean, how do I say this? He was definitely into human rights, the respect of people and things like that. And it's just a shame people don't consider him a good president with what — what he did do.

Grant Blankenship: Like Backhaus, Angelique Chemin says she was shocked by the news that Carter's in hospice.

Angelique Chemin: I mean, it's it's kind of breaking my heart. And I feel very sad for his wife and his family to, to have such a gentle, sweet soul, you know, leave our world.

Grant Blankenship: For Chemin, it's Carter's lived example of the central tenet of his Christian faith that inspires.

Angelique Chemin: You now, as they say in the Bible, love, everybody never says love everybody, but it just says love everybody.

Grant Blankenship: It's a lesson Chemin says she hopes she remembers even after Carter passes away. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Plains.

 

Donna Lowry: You're listening to GPB's special program looking back on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. When Jimmy Carter died this week, Salvation South editor Chuck Reese remembered the night when he, only a teenager at the time, first shook the great man's hand. Chuck has some thoughts about the examples Carter left behind for all Southerners.

Chuck Reece: Since time immemorial, or at least since everybody I grew up with can remember, the Ellijay, Ga., Lions Club has put on the Gilmer County Fair every summer. Farmers young and old compete to see whose corn, squash, okra, tomatoes, and other vegetables came out of the garden biggest and best-looking. Kids get to ride the tilt-a-whirl and the Ferris wheel, and slam into each other in bumper cars. I particularly remember a certain summer at that fair. I was walking across the fairgrounds to meet some friends when a casually dressed man with red hair walked up to me and said this:

"My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president."

I’m sure he knew I wasn’t old enough to vote for him, but I was mighty pleased that he shook my hand, anyway. If my memory serves me right, he was wearing a Marshall Tucker Band T-shirt. That band from South Carolina was one of my favorites at the time, so I figured Mr. Carter was cool. But I could never have guessed I had just shaken hands with one of the greatest human beings my home state would ever produce. Let’s study his life for a moment.

At age 28, Naval Ensign Carter led a team that dismantled a nuclear reactor that was melting down. On the day he was sworn in as governor, he declared, “The time of racial discrimination is over.” As president, he brokered the Camp David Accords, ending the war between Egypt and Israel. After he left office, he founded the Carter Center in 1982 to defend human rights and reduce human suffering.

Among its countless achievements, the Center Center led the eradication of Guinea worm disease, a parasitic infection that afflicted 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia four decades ago. In 2024, only seven cases were reported worldwide. Put another way, Jimmy Carter led an effort that reduced the incidence of that disease by 99.9998 percent.

The way Jimmy Carter lived his life — focused entirely on ensuring that all human beings had an equal chance to pursue life, liberty and happiness — was an example to the whole world. And in his speech and writing, he always reminded us that those who have much must be willing to give much. I’ve always been partial to the way he put that in 2002, when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize:

He said, “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.”

When President James Earl Carter Jr. passed away  on Sunday at the age of 100, a giant walked off our Southern soil. May all of us who make this region our home remember — and try to live up to — his examples. Come see us at SalvationSouth.com.

 

Donna Lowry: You're listening to Georgia Public Broadcasting. That concludes the first of our two-part special program on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter. For more on Jimmy Carter, visit GPB.org/News. I'm Donna Lowry. Thanks for listening.