On arriving in Atlanta at the beginning of 2011, I got an immediate sense of the energy of former President Jimmy Carter.
A friend invited me to attend the quarterly meeting of the Carter Center’s Board of Councilors.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
My friend held out the possibility of meeting Carter, who he said often mingled with the crowd at the pre-meeting, early morning coffee hour. The board is a group of Atlanta and Georgia leaders who serve as advisers and advocates for the center’s work.
Of course, I leaped at the chance to meet a former president, something I’d never done.
As it turned out, I was introduced to Carter, who immediately declared himself a loyal reader of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He made a point of welcoming me to Georgia; I tried to avoid spilling my coffee.
As the formal meeting began, I settled into a seat near the back of the room, looking forward to calling my mother, a Carter fan. But he had a surprise for me.
In his remarks near the conclusion of the meeting, the man who’d negotiated the Camp David Accords offered his opinion on recent developments in the Middle East. He made clear that he believed the deal he’d brokered wasn’t being honored. He said he’d written an opinion piece about it but was having trouble getting American newspapers to publish it because his views weren’t popular.
“The editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is here today,” he said. He told the crowd he didn’t know if we’d publish his piece.
My satisfying sense of accomplishment had been turned on me. A former president had called me out before a crowd.
As the meeting came to a close, I lingered and then slowly made my way to the stage. I spotted what I assumed to be Secret Service agents and figured I shouldn’t hurry to the front or move too quickly.
I got Carter’s attention.
“Mr. President, I haven’t seen that op-ed,” I said. “But I promise you I will read it, and we’ll consider publishing it.”
It seemed like the least I could do.
(We would later publish a piece by Carter on the issue.)
That was my first encounter with Carter, who died Sunday at 100. But he seemed determined to make sure it wouldn’t be my last.
By the time I got to my car after that meeting, I had an email from Carter with his opinion piece attached. By the time I got to the office, I had an invitation to dinner with Rosalynn and him.
Both emails were signed “Jimmy.”
After months of trying to schedule the dinner — I’m sure it was Carter’s calendar that was the challenge — I showed up later that year at the former first couple’s Carter Center apartment. He’d encouraged me to bring along several of my colleagues.
Carter gave us a tour of his apartment, a modest and comfortable space. Some things were in disarray because of a visit from a grandson. He even showed us his bedroom.
Dinner conversation was comfortable, cordial, unassuming and friendly. There seemed to be no subject with which Carters were unfamiliar, and they offered well-developed opinions and unique perspectives. A few things stood out from the notes I made immediately afterward:
Carter spoke with passion about the challenges in the Middle East. It was remarkable to hear him refer to world figures in the way a person talks about intimate friends. His concerns and hopes for the region were personal and sincere.
He expressed disappointment in the United States’ election system, citing particularly the dangers of so much money being spent by candidates and their supporters. He made a point of noting that the Carter Center, which had gained international status for monitoring elections, would not, if asked, monitor an election in our country because of the rules and practices we follow. (I have recalled this part of the conversation often; Carter anticipated the problems we’d encounter with elections well before it became an issue in 2020.)
I asked Carter whether he thought it was possible for a president to be truly successful, given the endless demands of the job, and the complications of the world — and the need to respond almost perfectly to all of them.
“I don’t know,” he said.
He said he believed it was possible for him to have been successful, but that he didn’t know if that was still true.
With the realities of modern politics, bold moves are hard to make, he said. He referenced his decision to give up control of the Panama Canal as an example of something that took great political will.
I got to see Carter on other occasions, including in his time visiting with students at Emory University. He had a tradition of meeting with the school’s first-year students.
When I sat in on a journalism class he visited in 2012, I observed as he offered unique insights into how the media work — and how it affected his political life.
On that occasion, Carter told the story of his first campaign for public office, when he ran for the Georgia state Senate in 1962. Carter explained to students that the Supreme Court had outlawed Georgia’s “county unit” system, basing its ruling on the principle of “one-man, one-vote.”
Carter told of an Atlanta Journal reporter saving his political career when the journalist exposed voter fraud in Quitman County, which overturned a primary race in Carter’s favor.
That example of the good work journalism can do was followed by his analysis of current state of media.
When Carter was president, he noted, he played to morning newspapers and the 6 p.m. network news. Today’s immediate and constant coverage requires a president to respond and react more quickly — and with less information and consideration.
But it was a trip to Plains in 2015 that remains a personal highlight for me.
At that time, Carter was getting a lot of attention for attending and teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church.
We’d written about it, as had many other news outlets.
I couldn’t resist the chance to see it for myself.
A crowd lined up early in the morning (seats were first-come, first-serve) and was shepherded into the church. Among the highlights that day was the attendees’ rendition of “Happy Birthday;” Carter had celebrated his 91st the day before.
After Carter’s class and the service — and two passes of the collection plate — Carter and his wife made themselves available for pictures.
Of course, I felt like I had to get one to mark the occasion.
As always, Carter greeted me enthusiastically. And he reminded me that he read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that morning, as he did every day.
Kevin Riley was the editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 2011 to 2023.
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