Today on “Politically Georgia,” hosts Bill Nigut and Tia Mitchell reflect on the life and legacy of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96.
On the show, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs shares stories from Plains about Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter based on his decade of covering the couple:
“I just think she was a wonderful person. … Often as journalists, we get jaded, we get cold about who we meet and who we deal with and how we deal with people. But they’re … also the people that we like and also people that we care about, even though we have to cover them hard and fairly, just as we do with everyone,” Suggs said.
Also on the show, state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver of Decatur remembers meeting Mrs. Carter when she was a Rosalynn Carter scholar at Emory University’s law school. Oliver, who worked extensively on passing the state’s Mental Health Parity Act in 2022, reflected on Mrs. Carter’s 50-year legacy of destigmatizing mental health.
Oliver praised “Rosalynn Carter’s consistent commitment to removal of stigma and parity in delivering of service” in mental health treatment.
She said Mrs. Carter “was unique and history-breaking in the way that she was a partner with Governor Carter and President Carter.”
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