Atlanta — Dr. Meredith Evans was simply 4 years outdated when she wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter.
“Dear Jimmy Carter…here is some cash that can assist you be president,” Evans wrote on the time, sending a greenback and a penny.
Evans finally obtained her a reimbursement and far more. She now serves as director of the Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the place a memorial service was held for the late president Saturday as a part of his six-day state funeral following his loss of life final weekend on the age of 100.
“When I met President Carter for the primary time, I informed him in regards to the letter, we each laughed about it,” Evans informed CBS News.
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Evans says Carter’s compassion and authenticity are woven all through the museum, beginning together with his childhood within the rural farm communities of Plains and close by Archery.
“It was an African American neighborhood,” Evans mentioned of Plains. “I do not assume it was till Plains that he realized how troublesome segregation was for individuals of colour.”
It was the individuals of Plains who helped catapult the small-town peanut farmer to the governorship of Georgia and finally the White House. Evans mentioned Carter overcame the shortage of identify recognition to win the presidency.
“Nobody had any thought,” Evans mentioned of Carter within the early portion of each races. “And a number of the marketing campaign movies discuss Carter who? Who’s that? And then there’s this dialog about who he’s and what he stands for.”
Carter defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976, putting his own stamp on the inauguration when he turned the primary president to get out of the limo and stroll at his Inaugural Parade.
“He was the primary to get out of the automotive,” Evans mentioned. “And I assumed, have a look at this — he is a trailblazer and did not even notice he was a trailblazer.”
The museum highlights the Camp David Accords through which Carter negotiated a peace settlement between the leaders of Israel and Egypt in 1978.
“I’d argue, it’s most likely one of many biggest issues he ever did,” Evans mentioned. “He introduced two arch enemies collectively and had a treaty signed. Not many presidents can say they did that.”
But Carter’s presidency was mired with controversies, from report inflation to the Iran hostage disaster, finally sealing his defeat towards President Ronald Reagan. The thirty ninth president went on to establish the Carter Center, focusing on humanitarian work, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
According to Evans, Carter obtained the Nobel with “pleasure and humility.”
“He would not see himself higher than anybody.”
