Well-wishers flock to Rosalynn Carter tribute to bid farewell to former U.S. and Georgia first lady
Ross Williams, Alabama ReflectorNovember 28, 2023 This story was originally published on Georgia Recorder. The museum at the Carter Center in Atlanta typically echoes with the oohs and ahhs of tourists and the banter of field tripping schoolchildren, but all was silent Monday night as hundreds of well-wishers walked through the colorful displays to honor a flower-draped casket. Rosalynn Carter, former first lady of Georgia and the United States, is set to make her final journey to her Plains, Georgia home Wednesday after fans across the state and country say farewell. Carter, 96, died at her home Nov. 19 a few days after her family announced she had entered hospice. Her husband of 77 years, former President Jimmy Carter, called her his “equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” and she was widely admired for her decades of advocacy, especially her work on behalf of people with mental illnesses and their caregivers. Mental health advocate Aisha Bryant of Midtown Atlanta said she had the opportunity to meet Carter at Emory University in 2017 through her work with people with autism. She said the former first lady’s humility and kindness stuck with her. “I just remember her being so humble towards me and just everything that she’s done in life, I didn’t expect that she’s just so happy, so calm, the demeanor about herself,” she said. Many people in the crowd had personal stories of encounters with Rosalynn Carter. When she crossed your path, she always made you feel special, said Shellie Stuart, who came to the Carter Center Monday from Lincoln City, Oregon – about 2,700 miles away. Aisha Bryant, left, and Shellie Stuart sign a guest book for former first lady Rosalynn Carter. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder) Stuart met the Carters through her work with Friendship Force International, a nonprofit promoting cultural exchange around the world, and accompanied them on travels, including a 2002 diplomatic mission to Cuba. “I was always amazed at how Rosalynn Carter had time for everybody,” she said. “Everybody mattered. Nobody was made to feel less important than anybody else. She was a huge inspiration to me and my friends. We felt that it was important to come here from Oregon, just to pay our respects and be part of this.” John Lang, who made the 10-hour trip from Columbus, Ohio, looked back fondly on the seven or eight Habitat for Humanity projects he accompanied the Carters on in the U.S. and in foreign lands that include India, Haiti, and Thailand. He said he’ll never forget Rosalynn Carter’s beautiful smile, but she was far more than just a pretty face at the president’s side. “She was out there working day in and day out,” he said. “I saw her in 90-degree weather, sweating with all the rest of us. And I think that’s one of the things a lot of people don’t realize, that Mrs. Carter and President Carter actually did the work.” Lang said the former first couple were just as loving and affectionate as they are often described. “They really were always holding hands, just on little short jaunts or going to get something to eat, you know, they would be holding hands, and I thought that was a true recognition of a marriage and that commitment to the other person,” he said. Melissa Danielson of Forsyth said she also worked with Rosalynn Carter as her art registrar in the 1990s. When dignitaries sent the Carters gifts and awards, Danielson would catalog them before Rosalynn Carter would decide where to put them in the Carter Center. “It was a pleasure working for them,” she said. “They were such compassionate people, very humble. She was such a wonderful lady to work for. She’s very down to earth and caring so much about people. My heart goes out to her family right now. I mean, she was a grandmother, great-grandmother. Those are the people that I feel for deeply right now.” Carter’s family members are set to say their goodbyes in a series of private services leading up to her funeral on Wednesday. On Tuesday, invited guests will pay tribute at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. According to the Carter Center, every living former first lady is expected to attend – Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – as is current first lady Jill Biden, who is expected to arrive in Atlanta Tuesday with President Joe Biden. Other notable guests expected to attend include former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and “multiple members of Congress and Georgia elected officials,” according to the Carter Center. On Wednesday, Carter’s motorcade is scheduled to travel the 160 miles south to Plains for a private service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where the Carters worshiped, volunteered, and taught for decades. Members of the public are invited to line the motorcade route down Bond Street and along Ga. 280 in downtown Plains. Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Carl, Tuberville, and Britt offer condolences for Rosalynn Carter
On Sunday, the Carter Center announced that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter had died. She was 96. Congressman Jerry Carl (R-AL01) said on the social media site X: “Tina and I are thinking of and praying for President Jimmy Carter, plus the many family and friends of First Lady Rosalynn Carter. May she rest in peace.” U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) said on X: “First Lady Rosalynn Carter dedicated her life to service – particularly as a mental health advocate. Much of her work shapes how we address today’s mental health crisis. My prayers go out to President Carter and the Carter family.” U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) said on X: “Rosalynn Carter lived an incredible life that was wholeheartedly devoted to serving others. She leaves behind a legacy of grace, grit, and goodwill. Our thoughts and prayers are with President Carter and their loved ones.” She is survived by former President Jimmy Carter. President Carter served as President from 1977 to 1981. Carter, at age 99, is the longest-lived President in American history. The former President has been in hospice care for the past several months. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden released a statement on the Passing of Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. “First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way,” the Bidens wrote. “Throughout her incredible life as First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn did so much to address many of society’s greatest needs. She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities.” “Above all, the deep love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership, and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism,” the Bidens continued. “She lived her life by her faith. Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship – through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss – we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter. She will always be in our hearts. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter. May God bless our dear friend. May God bless a great American.” To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Rosalynn Carter acclaimed by admirers for her pioneering advocacy for mental health, caregiving
John McCosh, Alabama Reflector November 20, 2023 This story was originally published on Georgia Recorder. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has died, according to the Carter Center, leaving a rich legacy of championing mental health and women’s rights. She will be buried at the ranch house in Plains she and former President Jimmy Carter built in 1961. She died Sunday just days after the family announced she had entered hospice at the home. Carter was 96. She was married for 77 years to Jimmy Carter, who is now 99 years old and entered hospice early this year. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in a statement on the center’s website. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum Sunday, a testament to her broad popularity that transcended partisan politics and her enduring contributions to causes and charities that stoked her passion. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday were at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, participating in a Friendsgiving dinner with service members and military families from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford. “Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship – through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss – we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter,” the president said in a statement. “She will always be in our hearts. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter.’’ Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said Georgia and the country are better places because of Carter’s contributions. “A former First Lady of Georgia and the United States, Rosalynn’s lifetime of work and her dedication for public service changed the lives of many,’’ Ossoff said. “Among her many accomplishments, Rosalynn Carter will be remembered for her compassionate nature and her passion for women’s rights, human rights, and mental health reform.’’ Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp paid tribute to her, recalling her service as Georgia’s first lady during Jimmy Carter’s term as governor starting in 1971. “A proud native Georgian, she had an indelible impact on our state and nation as a First Lady to both,” Kemp said in a statement. “Working alongside her husband, she championed mental health services and promoted the state she loved across the globe. President Carter and his family are in our prayers as the world reflects on First Lady Carter’s storied life and the nation mourns her passing.’’ Former President Donald Trump said on X that he and his wife, Melania joined in mourning Carter. “She was a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion for mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter,” said Trump. Georgia GOP Congressman Rick Allen posted on the X social media platform: “Rosalynn was a beloved Georgian and dedicated her life to serving others. Our nation will miss her dearly, but her legacy will never be forgotten.” Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Carter “a saintly and revered public servant” and a leader “deeply driven by her profound faith, compassion and kindness.” Pelosi, a California Democrat, recalled how Carter, while her husband was serving as Georgia governor, was moved by the stories of Georgia families touched by mental illness and took up their cause, despite the stigma of the time. “Later, First Lady Carter served as honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health: offering recommendations that became the foundation for decades of change, including in the landmark Mental Health Systems Act,” Pelosi said. “At the same time, First Lady Carter was a powerful champion of our nation’s tens of millions of family and professional caregivers.” The eldest of four children, Rosalynn was born at home in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927. One of her best childhood friends was Ruth Carter, Jimmy’s younger sister. Jimmy Carter’s mother, Lillian, was a nurse who treated Rosalynn’s father when he was ill with leukemia. Rosalynn enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College in 1945 after she graduated from Plains High School with honors. Jimmy Carter was home on leave from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis that fall when he asked her to go to a movie. By Christmas, he’d proposed to her, but she turned him down because things were moving too fast for her. He soon asked again, and the couple married at Plains Methodist Church on July 7, 1946, a month after Jimmy graduated from Annapolis. As Jimmy Carter climbed the Navy’s ranks, the couple started a family with sons John William arriving in 1947, James Earl III (“Chip”) in 1950, and Donnell Jeffrey in 1952. Daughter Amy was born in 1967. Carter was accepted into an elite nuclear submarine program, and the young family then moved to Schenectady, N.Y. But when his father fell ill, Jimmy left his commission and moved back to Plains to take care of the family’s peanut business. Rosalynn was an active campaigner during her husband’s political climb, beginning with his run for state senator in the early 1960s. By the time he was elected president in 1976, she vowed to step out of the traditional first lady role. Five weeks after Inauguration Day, the President’s Commission on Mental Health was established with Rosalynn serving as honorary chairperson. The Mental Health Systems Act, which called for more community centers and important changes in health insurance coverage, passed in 1980 at her urging. In 1982, the couple founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, with a mission to “wage peace, fight disease and build hope.” She later founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at the school now known
Barry Moore says Democrats “have been out to get Trump since he came down the escalator”
On Monday night, former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury for charges dating back to 2020, accusing the former President and 18 of his attorneys, advisors, and affiliates of conspiring to unlawfully overturn the results of the 2020 election. Congressman Barry Moore (R-AL02) – who has endorsed Trump for President – took to Twitter on Tuesday to denounce the prosecution of Trump and his team. “The United States had never before indicted a former president, and now Biden’s Department of Justice and weaponized blue state prosecutors have indicted President Trump four times in a matter of months,” Moore said on Twitter. As they continue their quest to throw their chief political opponent in jail, Democrats have joined the likes of Maduro and Noriega,” Rep. Moore wrote on Twitter. “They have been out to get President Trump since he came down the escalator, and Americans can see through this desperate sham.” Moore, a member of the House Judiciary Committee that is investigating alleged influence peddling by the President’s son, Hunter Biden, and allegations that Biden himself may have received payoffs from foreign sources while he was Vice President – has suggested that the indictments of Trump are part of a plan by Democrats to distract attention from those hearings. “JUST IN: The Biden family received more than $20 million from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan while he was VP,” said Moore on Twitter. “Biden dined with these oligarchs and spoke with them on the phone 20 separate times. The indictments are just a distraction from the real story.” Most Republicans dismiss the Trump indictments as partisan politics. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) called them a “sham” and a “witch hunt” in a statement on Tuesday. Some Trump opponents, on the other hand, claim that he should not be allowed on the ballot due to the legal controversy. William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen claim that by challenging the results of the 2020 election, Trump is guilty of participating in an insurrection between the election and the certification of the Electoral College votes on January 9, 2021, and is thus barred from holding public office under the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment. Trump has already made history as only the third President in the country’s history to be impeached by the House of Representatives and the only President to be impeached twice. Like Bill Clinton and Andrew Johson before him, Trump was not convicted by the Senate. Trump is the sixth one-term President since 1900 to lose reelection. The others are William Howard Taft in 1912, Herbert Hoover in 1932, Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and George H. Bush in 1992. If Trump wins the Republican nomination for President and then is elected to a nonconsecutive term in 2024, he would be the first to accomplish that since Grover Cleveland. Moore is serving in his second term representing Alabama’s Second Congressional District. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Report claims Joe Biden will block Space Command’s move to Huntsville
An NBC news report released Monday claimed that President Joe Biden will intervene to keep the Pentagon from moving Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville. The President’s objections to the state of Alabama are reportedly due to the state’s ban on abortion. Many speculate that the real reason could be political in that Colorado voted for Biden in 2020, while Alabama did not. Congresswoman Terri Sewell responded to the report on Twitter, “Both a GAO and Inspector General report confirmed that the Air Force used a merit-based process in its decision to locate U.S. Space Command headquarters in Huntsville. This conclusion was made under two separate administrations. Huntsville is without question the best home for SPACECOM.” “The White House should immediately reconfirm Huntsville as the headquarters of SPACECOM,” the Democratic Congresswoman continued. “To change course would be because of politics and not merit. Surely, the Biden Administration would not allow politics to improperly influence this decision.” U.S. Senator Katie Britt echoed Sewell’s criticism of the report. “President Biden’s plans would irresponsibly yank a military decision out of the Air Force’s hands in the name of partisan politics,” Sen. Britt said on Facebook. “Huntsville finished first in both the Air Force’s Evaluation Phase and Selection Phase, leaving no doubt that the Air Force’s decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct purely on the merits. That decision should remain in the Air Force’s purview. Instead, President Biden is now trying to hand the Gold Medal to the fifth-place finisher. The President’s blatant prioritization of partisan political considerations at the expense of our national security, military modernization, and force readiness is a disservice and a dishonor to his oath of office as our nation’s Commander-in-Chief. Locating the permanent Space Command Headquarters on Redstone Arsenal undoubtedly remains in the best national security interest of the United States. President Biden should allow the Air Force to proceed with doing its job. Alabama’s world-class aerospace and defense workforce, capabilities, and synergies stand ready to fulfill the mission and strengthen our national security long into the future.” Congressman Dale Strong said on Twitter, “I’ve seen all the reviews and reports on the basing process – but don’t remember access to late-term abortions being one of the 21 criteria used to evaluate the sites. President Biden, already the oldest man to ever serve as President of the United States, recently announced his re-election plans. There was very little enthusiasm for the 80-year-old President’s re-election announcement. Nine of the last ten polls on Biden’s job performance show more Americans disapproving of Biden’s performance rather than approving. One recent ABC News/Washington Post poll had President Biden trailing former President Donald Trump by six points in the popular vote. Building a pathway to electoral college victory for Biden without Colorado, which he won in 2020, could be problematic. However, Alabama has not been carried by a Democratic presidential nominee since Jimmy Carter in 1976. There is no plausible scenario where Biden can win Alabama’s electoral college votes in 18 months. The Democratic Party hasn’t contested the state in years. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Rep. Terri Sewell celebrates Judge U.W. Clemons on his 80th birthday
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell celebrated the birthday of the Honorable Judge U.W. Clemon with a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Clemon was Alabama’s first Black federal judge. He was also a former State Senator. He celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday, April 9th. “I rise today to honor the extraordinary career of a legal giant and Civil Rights activist, Alabama’s first Black federal judge, the Honorable U.W. Clemon, who celebrated his 80th birthday on April 9th,” Sewell said on the floor of the House. “A native of Alabama, Judge Clemon was born in 1943. Despite much of his childhood in the segregated school system of Jefferson County, Clemon broke down barriers, graduating as a two-time valedictorian, first at Westfield High School in 1961 and then at Miles College in 1965. As a college student, Judge Clemon was a leading voice for civil rights. He marched in countless student demonstrations under the direction of Dr. (Martin Luther) King and played a pivotal role in the Selective Buying Campaign to boycott segregated stores in downtown Birmingham.” “Before graduating from Columbia Law School in 1968, Clemon clerked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, forming a life-long association serving as local counsel on numerous civil rights lawsuits throughout Alabama,” said Sewell. “Judge Clemon always understood the importance of the law in the fight for justice and equality. He quickly gained a reputation as an effective and fearless lawyer, taking on Coach “Bear” Bryant to desegregate the all-white University of Alabama football team, and he took on the U.S. Steel Corporation, which led to the desegregation of the American steel industry.” “By 1974, Judge Clemon took his advocacy to the Alabama State Legislature, making history as one of the first two African Americans elected to the Alabama Senate since Reconstruction,” Sewell said. “His tenure as a pioneering lawmaker and skilled attorney caught the attention of President Jimmy Carter, who appointed then-(Alabama State) Senator Clemon to serve as Alabama’s first Black federal judge in 1980. He went on to serve on the federal bench for 30 years until 2009.” “Judge Clemon was a highly respected jurist inside and outside the courtroom,” Sewell continued. “He was known as fair but tough. He demanded that lawyers before him represent their clients competently and effectively. Judge Clemon served as Chief Justice for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama from 1999 to 2006.” “Despite retiring from the bench in 2009, Judge Clemon has remained a vibrant member of the Birmingham legal community where he continues to practice law, serving the underrepresented, vulnerable, and underserved,” said Sewell. “He has received numerous awards, holds three honorary degrees, two street namings, and most recently, an elementary school was named in his honor. On a personal note, Judge Clemon is a trusted advisor, counselor, and a loving father figure to me. My most formative legal experience was serving as a law clerk for Judge Clemon after graduating from law school in 1992.” “I learned so much serving as his law clerk,” said Sewell. “I learned more about the practice of law and saw firsthand what justice looks like by witnessing him in his courtroom. Sitting with him in his chamber was always an educational experience. The Judge tested my knowledge, stretched my legal acumen, challenged my views, and inspired me to be a better lawyer and person. I know that I now serve as Alabama’s first Black Congresswoman because I was blessed by a transformative experience clerking for Alabama’s first Black federal judge. I want to thank his loving family, his wife of 50 years, Ms. Barbra, and his two children, Michelle and Isaac, for sharing him with so many of us.” “I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 80th birthday and the extraordinary career of an exceptional jurist, lawmaker, and public servant, and wonderful counselor, Judge U.W. Clemon, whose life’s work stands as a testament to the power of one person to change the world,” said Sewell. “May the seeds Judge Clemon has sowed continue to bear fruit for generations to come. Happy birthday, Judge.” During U.W. Clemon’s tenure in the Alabama Senate, he chaired the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Terri Sewell is the first Black Woman to represent Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is serving in her seventh term representing Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com
Celebrating Presidents Day
Today is Presidents Day. It is a federal and state holiday, so banks, post offices, government offices, courthouses, schools, and businesses will be closed. This is the annual observance of President George Washington’s birthday. Washington was the first President of the United States, head of the Constitutional Convention, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, a hero of the French and Indian War, and one of the most revered Americans in history. Washington’s actual birthday is Wednesday, February 22, but we celebrate it on a Monday to have a three-day weekend. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is February 12. This holiday has evolved into rather than just celebrating Washington’s memory. All 46 U.S. Presidents are remembered and honored today. George Washington is one of the four Mount Rushmore presidents, along with Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in the Virginia Colony. Washington was the son of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. Washington was the oldest of their six children. His father also had three children with his first wife, including Lawrence Washington. His half-brother Lawrence was an inspiration and mentor to the young George Washington after their father died in 1743. Washington inherited land and slaves from his father and inherited Mount Vernon from Lawrence’s widow in 1761. Washington could have enjoyed a life of luxury on his inherited estates. Washington was a very enthusiastic farmer. Washington was an active breeder of mules, and generations of American farmers were influenced by Washington’s advocacy for the animals, which are a sterile hybrid cross between a donkey and a horse. Washington was also a very cutting-edge sheep breeder and agronomist. As much as he loved Mount Vernon and managing his lands, Washington spent much of his life elsewhere. He was an accomplished surveyor and mapmaker. He was one of the top military officers in the Virginia Militia. Washington spent years fighting the Revolutionary War, leading an army that had not existed before and training them to fight as an army. Gen. Washington had to fight smallpox, exposure, and malnutrition, which collectively killed more of his soldiers than the British did. Washington’s victory at Yorktown shocked the world. An entire British Army was trapped – and would have been wiped out if the British had not surrendered. Following the War, Washington resisted calls from some of his troops to seize the government by force and instead went home to his farm. When it became clear that the Articles of Confederation were not working, Washington joined calls for a new Constitution and led the Constitutional Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. Washington was elected the first president of the United States and served two terms. He could have easily been elected to a third term but chose to go home to his farm instead. Despite poor health, he came out of retirement during Adams’ presidency to head the U.S. Army for an anticipated war with France. Fortunately, Adams averted that War with diplomacy. Washington died at Mount Vernon in 1799. This Presidents Day celebration is overshadowed by the breaking news that former President Jimmy Carter, age 98, has been sent to hospice. Carter, who was President from 1977 to 1981, and Bill Clinton are the last two living twentieth century Presidents. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Jim Zeigler: Jimmy Carter as President vs. as ex-President
After several hospital stays, former President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia. Hospice is often (but not always) comfort care as a person is dying. Carter, 98, is an example of a person whom I can disagree with politically while liking and admiring him as a human – and in Carter’s case, as a Christian and Bible teacher. In the divisive world we live in, it has become rare for us to be able to think, “I disagree with him politically, but he is a fine person and does a lot of good.” My impression of Carter as President was – weakness. He was weak in responding to the radical Islamicists. He was weak in protecting Americans taken hostage. The radical Islamicists sensed his weakness. They kept American hostages imprisoned until the day Carter left office. As Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated as President to follow Carter, our hostages were being released. And he gave away the Panama Canal. As an ex-President, Carter did a world of good. He was a leader – and a pretty good carpenter – in Habitat for Humanity. Hundreds of formerly homeless are now in homes built in part by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. While an ex-President, he taught his popular Sunday School class in Plains, Georgia, for over 40 years. Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn (pronounced rose-a-lynn) were a model for marital integrity. They were married in 1946 – 76 years of marriage. Wow. Jimmy Carter is the longest-living former President. Historians will likely say that Jimmy Carter did more as a former President than any except former President John Quincy Adams, who served in Congress for years until his dying day. Please be in prayer for President Carter, his wife, his family, and all who have loved him in his long life on this earth. He lived an abundant life. Jim Zeigler is the retired State Auditor of Alabama.
Past U.S. presidents, VPs asked to recheck for classified docs
The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to recheck their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about investigations. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the archives at the end of the administration. The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle, they said. The letter was first reported by CNN. Spokespeople for former presidents Trump, Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton and former vice presidents Pence, Dick Cheney, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Biden’s lawyers came across classified documents from his time as vice president in a locked cabinet as they were packing up an office he no longer uses in November. Since then, subsequent searches by the FBI and Biden’s lawyers have turned up more documents. Former Vice President Pence, too, this week, discovered documents and turned them in after saying previously he did not believe he had any. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the searches by Biden’s attorneys and the FBI appear to fulfill the Archives’ request. The Archives had no comment. Handling of classified documents has been a problem off and on for decades, from presidents to Cabinet members and staff across multiple administrations stretching as far back as Jimmy Carter. But the issue has taken on greater significance since former President Donald Trump willfully retained classified material at his Florida estate, prompting the unprecedented FBI seizure of thousands of pages of records last year. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents and also Biden’s. It turns out that officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material and turn it over to authorities at least several times a year, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents. Current and former officials involved in the handling of classified information say that while there are clear policies for how such information should be reviewed and stored, those policies are sometimes pushed aside at the highest levels. Teams of national security officials, secretaries, and military aides who share responsibility for keeping top-level executives informed — and the executives themselves — may bend the rules for convenience, expediency or sometimes simple carelessness. While much of the attention has been on classified information, the Presidential Records Act actually requires that, from the Reagan administration onward, all records must be transferred to the Archives regardless of classification. It’s against federal law to have classified documents at an unauthorized location, but it’s only a crime if it was done intentionally. Speaking Thursday at an unrelated news conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that though he could not discuss any specific ongoing investigation, “We have had for quite a number of years any number of mishandling investigations. That is, unfortunately, a regular part of our counterintelligence division’s and counterintelligence program’s work.” He said there was a need for people to be conscious of laws and rules governing the handling of classified information. “Those rules,” he said, “are there for a reason.” Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Joe Guzzardi: Tech layoffs may give U.S. IT workers opportunities
Elon Musk, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, and the firings he immediately called for that included H-1B visa holders, as well as the tech industry’s mass, across-the-board layoffs, raise a three-decade-old question: should the H-1B visa be eliminated, and should U.S. tech workers be put first in line for the white-collar, well-paid jobs? Musk, who completed his $44 billion Twitter takeover last month, declared that he would end lifetime bans from his platform and tweeted that diverse viewpoints would be welcome. He has a golden opportunity not only to end censorship and restore free speech as he’s promised, but to also hire U.S. tech workers when the workforce needs to grow again. Going forward, Musk would have a chance to replace the Twitter employees that he’s fired with U.S. tech workers. The firings – about half the Twitter staff, or around 3,700 employees – are allegedly a cost-cutting measure. He summarily dismissed big earners like CEO Parag Agrawal, $30 million annually; Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, $18.9 million; Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, $17 million; and General Counsel Sean Edgett, whose salary is unknown, but likely in the same range as his peers. A class action lawsuit was filed against Twitter in San Francisco federal court, claiming that the employees were not given the mandatory 60-day notice prior to the layoffs. Many of the fired Twitter workers may be in the double-whammy vortex. As H-1B employees, unless they find another job within 60 days or successfully change their immigration status, they must leave the U.S. or, no longer legally present, risk deportation. H-1B holders who are legally required to leave must depart and not overstay their visas which the federal government clearly identifies as temporary. The U.S. Immigration and Immigration Services estimates that about 8 percent of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, between 625 and 670, have H-1B visas. Tech and social media are either laying off workers by the thousands or imposing hiring freezes. With Intel’s 20 percent slash, Snapchat’s 20 percent cut, and hiring freezes at Amazon and Apple, H-1B holders are on edge. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, cut 11,000 jobs, 13 percent of its staff after Mark Zuckerberg admitted that his so-called metaverse project was a $15 billion bomb. Meta/Facebook is in a tough spot vis-à-vis its H-1B layoffs. Per the Department of Labor classification, this means 15 percent or more of Meta’s full-time employees are H-1B nonimmigrant workers. For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley and other employers have falsely claimed that without nonimmigrant H-1B visa employees, their businesses would suffer. Yet now, with widespread tech layoffs that include H-1B holders, admitting 85,000 international workers in 2023, the visa’s annual cap, would further hurt U.S. tech workers who are either displaced and forced to train their replacements or denied interviews. Because H-1B employees are cheaper to hire than U.S. tech graduates, the corporate elite prefer them over more skilled, more well-educated Americans. The Wall Street Journal hosted a panel discussion that featured two advocates who favor expanding the H-1B program and one critic who urges major reforms. The advocates, David Bier, the Cato Institute’s immigration studies associate director, and Theresa Cardinal Brown, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s managing director of immigration and cross-border policy, argued that the H-1B visa cap should be increased and that their labor market presence makes America a more prosperous place. The critic, Dr. Ron Hira, Howard University, political science associate professor and Economic Policy Institute research associate, countered that the rigged H-1B system is a transfer-of-wealth scam that makes the employers wealthy winners, and the workers, low-wage losers. Dr. Hira added that employers aren’t required to prove that a U.S. worker shortage exists before hiring an H-1B, that H-1B workers’ wages are set too low, and that the compliance system doesn’t hold employers accountable. “Guest-worker programs are supposed to fill domestic labor shortages. The H-1B program does not fill shortages,” Dr. Hira said. The Journal debate represents the challenge that H-1B critics face. No matter how many H-1B visa holders lose their jobs, or how economically depressed the tech sector is, the demand for more visas will remain. Pro-immigration media supporters like the Journal, immigration advocacy groups, lawyers, corporate America, and the powerful Chamber of Commerce will incessantly lobby Congress for more, more, more H-1B visas. Ray Marshall, President Jimmy Carter’s Labor Secretary and University of Texas Professor Emeritus, gave a no-frills summary of the H-1B that its advocates should heed: “One of the best con jobs ever done on the American public and political systems…H-1B pays below market rate. If you’ve got H-1B workers, you don’t have to do training or pay good wages.” Musk has an opportunity to set an example for Meta and others to follow: hire U.S. tech workers. Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist who writes about immigration and related social issues. Joe joined Progressives for Immigration Reform in 2018 as an analyst after a ten-year career directing media relations for Californians for Population Stabilization, where he also was a Senior Writing Fellow. A native Californian, Joe now lives in Pennsylvania. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
George Wallace Jr.: 50th anniversary of George Wallace assassination attempt offers opportunity for reflection
Fifty years ago, on May 15, 1972, I was a student at the University of Alabama and in my Tuscaloosa apartment when a “Special Report” on the television announced that my father, Gov. George C. Wallace, had been shot and critically injured in an assassination attempt on his life. The frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination at the time, Dad had been campaigning in Maryland on the eve of that state’s primary. The Michigan primary was scheduled for the next day, as well, and polling predicted that my father would carry both states by wide margins. It was at a parking lot rally in Laurel, Maryland where Arthur Bremer, a troubled, 21-year-old busboy from Milwaukee, took five fateful shots and wounded my father in the chest and abdomen as he was shaking hands in the crowd. Dad later told me that he was immediately aware his injuries were serious, and when he hit the ground, he purposely turned his head, closed his eyes, and pretended to be dead in hopes that a possible second gunman would choose not to shoot. Despite the chaos surrounding him, he had felt a certain peace and finality come over him as he wrongly assumed his wounds would be fatal. A Secret Service agent had kneeled over him in a protective position, but his drawn gun was dangerously close to Dad’s head. “I wish you wouldn’t point that at me – I have been shot enough for one day,” he told the agent. Bremer’s flurry of gunfire had also resulted in Secret Service agent Nick Zarvos being shot in the neck, Alabama State Trooper E.C. Dothard, a member of the gubernatorial security detail, receiving a graze to the stomach, and Dora Thompson, a campaign volunteer from Hyattsville, Maryland, suffering a knee wound after a bullet ricocheted off of the asphalt. A diary that Bremer kept for months stated his intention to “do something bold and dramatic” and indicated he had originally intended to assassinate President Richard Nixon. Stalking the president on his various travels, Bremer got close enough to take a shot at an economic summit in Ottawa, Canada, but the strong Secret Service presence surrounding the chief executive prompted him to change plans and target my father – the most likely future president – instead. Within minutes of receiving the news, state troopers arrived at my apartment door, whisked me to the airport, and placed me aboard a private jet along with Charlie Snider, the national chairman of the Wallace presidential campaign, press secretary Billy Joe Camp, and a handful of others. We soon arrived at Holy Cross Hospital, where my father had been taken by ambulance and was undergoing five hours of emergency surgery. The attending doctors told us that his already grave injuries were complicated by the fact that just prior to the rally, Dad and his traveling campaign staff had stopped at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant, where he ate his usual lunch of hamburger steak and fries doused in ketchup. The bullets had caused the undigested food to explode within his abdomen, and the lingering peritonitis blood infection and abscesses that followed would almost claim his life. When I walked into the recovery room, my father was still heavily sedated and many of the stitches on his chest and stomach were visible. He reached out with a look I had never seen – one of a man who had been to death’s door and was back among the living, reunited with his family. I have never forgotten that look. It soon became clear that the injuries had paralyzed my father from the waist down, and though we held hope that he would eventually regain use of his legs, those particular prayers were left unanswered. He remained hospitalized at Holy Cross for several weeks as he fought infections and held the continuing specter of death at bay. Once he regained strength, he received visits from notable leaders that included President Nixon, Senator George McGovern, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and Ethel Kennedy, whose husband, Robert Kennedy, had been killed while campaigning for the presidency in 1968. Cards, letters, telegrams, and flowers flowed into the hospital by the thousands. Upon his release, Dad flew to Miami on a military medical aircraft, which was provided by President Nixon, to appear at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where McGovern, a committed liberal, would claim the nomination. My father’s forced absence from the campaign trail had allowed his competitor to secure the required delegates. During his convention remarks, Dad warned the Democrats that embracing the extreme left and its ultra-liberal agenda would cost the party the support of the rank-and-file, blue-collar, middle-class families that served as its foundation and doom it to lose the Deep South states in future elections. Like a clairvoyant with a crystal ball, all of the predictions he made those years ago have come true today. As my father spoke, a handful of liberal delegates tried to shout him down, and some marched around the convention hall wearing paper masks depicting Arthur Bremer, which Wallace supporters ripped from their faces. The vast majority, though, gave him a warm reception and appreciated the history of the moment. His mission complete, it was time to return to his beloved Alabama. My father would serve two more terms as governor and run for president a fourth time in 1976, though he lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter, a former Georgia governor who had once been a Wallace supporter. Retirement from public office in 1987 would offer him the opportunity for reflection in his later years, and his relationship with God grew significantly. One of the most enduring and revealing testaments to my father’s deepening faith came in an incredible letter of forgiveness he wrote with no fanfare or public announcement to his assailant, Arthur Bremer, in 1995. A copy of the missive was discovered tucked away in Dad’s files years after it was written. “I love you and have forgiven you, and if you will ask Jesus Christ into your heart,
Joe Biden calls former VP Walter Mondale ‘giant’ of political history
President Joe Biden saluted his “friend of five decades” Walter Mondale on Sunday, traveling to the University of Minnesota to remember the former vice president and Democratic Party elder whose memorial service was delayed for a year due to the pandemic. Mondale died in April 2021 at age 93. He is credited with transforming the office of the vice presidency — which Biden himself held for eight years under President Barack Obama — expanding its responsibilities and making himself a key adviser to President Jimmy Carter. Mondale “was a giant in American political history,” Biden said of Mondale, known to friends as “Fritz.” He added that Mondale was one of the “toughest, smartest men I’ve ever worked with” both as Senate colleagues and as a mentor when Biden was Obama’s No. 2 and then later as president. Biden emphasized Mondale’s empathy, recalling his own promise during the 2020 presidential campaign to unite the country. That’s something the president has strayed from a bit in recent weeks as he seeks to draw a starker contrast between his administration and congressional Republicans who have opposed it on nearly every major issue. “It was Fritz who lit the way,” Biden said. “Everybody is to be treated with dignity. Everybody.” Biden added of Mondale: “He united people sharing the light, the same hopes — even when we disagreed, he thought that was important.” “It’s up to each of us to reflect that light that Fritz was all about.” The invitation-only, 90-minute service Sunday inside a stately campus auditorium featured plentiful organ music. Biden, who received a standing ovation, said he spoke with Mondale’s family beforehand and “got emotional” himself. Democratic Sen. Tina Smith called Mondale a “bona fide political celebrity” who still dedicated time to races large and small back in their home state. Minnesota civil rights icon Josie Johnson spoke of what a good listener Mondale was and how he championed inclusiveness. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar described once being an intern who climbed under chairs and a table to carry out a furniture inventory when Mondale was vice president. “That was my first job in Washington. And, thanks to Walter Mondale, this was my second,” Klobuchar said of being a senator, noting that Mondale encouraged her to run and taught “the pundits in Washington how to say my name.” Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said Minnesota may be better known as Mondale’s home state than its moniker “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” and praised Mondale’s intellect, humility, humor, and optimism. “He embodied a sense of joy. He lived his life every single day,” Walz said. “At 91, he was still fishing for walleye. Unlike me, he was catching some.” A booklet given to attendees for the “afternoon of remembrance and reflection” quoted from Mondale’s 2010 book, “The Good Fight”: “I believe that the values of the American people — our fundamental decency, our sense of justice and fairness, our love of freedom — are the country’s greatest assets and that steering by their lodestar is the only true course forward.” Its back cover showed Mondale’s face next to the slogan, “We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace,” which Klobuchar described as being memorialized after the then-vice president said them at the end of the Carter administration. Mondale was a graduate of the University of Minnesota and its law school, which has a building named after him. During Sunday’s remembrance, Biden wiped his eyes as a performance of “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie” played, and the service closed with the university’s marching band, which sent people away with the “Minnesota Rouser” fight song. Mondale followed a trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, serving as Minnesota attorney general before replacing Humphrey in the Senate. He was Carter’s vice president from 1977 to 1981. Mondale also lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections ever to Ronald Reagan in 1984. He carried only Minnesota and the District of Columbia after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won. But he made history in that race by picking Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, of New York, as his running mate, becoming the first major-party nominee to put a woman on the ticket. Mondale remained an important Democratic voice for decades afterward and went on to serve as ambassador to Japan under President Bill Clinton. In 2002, at 74, he was drafted to run for the Senate again after Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash shortly before the election. Mondale lost the abbreviated race to Republican Norm Coleman. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
