President Carter remembered across the Tennessee Valley
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- We are hearing reaction here in the Tennessee Valley to the death of President Jimmy Carter.
As Georgia’s Governor before becoming the 39th President of the United States in 1977, President Carter had an impact on the Tennessee Valley.
President Carter served as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, and was very involved in the Peach State and across our region.
We got to speak with some of those right here in Chattanooga and in North Georgia who say they will appreciate his contribution to our country.
President Carter most recently visited Chattanooga in 20-14 to be the keynote speaker for the annual Estes Kefauver Dinner, of which he was the original keynote speaker in 19-74.
This visit to was support his grandson, Jason’s, campaign for Georgia governor.
President Carter said in that visit. “I mentioned earlier that Georgia has the most powerful governorship in the nation by far.”
Former Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Stuart James was an organizer for that event, and fondly remembers the conversations he had with the former President.
James said, “I was told that President Carter might have an engineering personality, might be a bit shy, a bit matter of fact, but he was anything but. He was intelligent. He knew about current events. He knew about current happenings in the Republican and Democratic Parties. He was one of the most friendly, nice, and accommodating people I have ever met.”
President Carter was honored across his home state on Monday.
For example at the I-75 welcome center heading into the Peach State, you can see the Georgia state flag being flown at half staff, as it is at all Georgia state buildings.
Georgians such as Whitfield County Democratic Party Chair Daniel Lovinggood said that President Carter had a profound impact on how politics operate in this state.
Lovinggood said, “What I remember of Jimmy Carter and the things that he did as Governor was to consolidate the massive number of agencies in the state of Georgia from 65 to 20. He improved the state’s mental and health care system. He improved the educational system by creating vocational and technical colleges.”
Perhaps he will be remembered most for his humanitarian work after his Presidency.
Historian Linda Moss Mines said, “He lived a life of compassion. He lived a life of integrity, and he was so much more than the job of Governor, the job of peanut farmer, or the job of President. He was an individual that understood you could make a difference in other people’s lives.”
President Carter will be laid to rest in his hometown of Plains, Georgia after a state funeral on January 9th.
