Atlanta — Dr. Meredith Evans was simply 4 years outdated when she wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter.
“Pricey 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 acquired her a reimbursement and way 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 demise final weekend on the age of 100.
“Once I met President Carter for the primary time, I instructed him in regards to the letter, we each laughed about it,” Evans instructed CBS Information.
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Evans says Carter’s compassion and authenticity are woven all through the museum, beginning along with his childhood within the rural farm communities of Plains and close by Archery.
“It was an African American group,” Evans mentioned of Plains. “I do not suppose it was till Plains that he realized how troublesome segregation was for individuals of shade.”
It was the individuals of Plains who helped catapult the small-town peanut farmer to the governorship of Georgia and in the end the White Home. Evans mentioned Carter overcame the shortage of identify recognition to win the presidency.
“No one had any concept,” Evans mentioned of Carter within the early portion of each races. “And a number of the marketing campaign movies speak about Carter who? Who’s that? After which there’s this dialog about who he’s and what he stands for.”
Carter defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976, placing his personal stamp on the inauguration when he grew to become the primary president to get out of the limo and stroll at his Inaugural Parade.
“He was the primary to get out of the automobile,” Evans mentioned. “And I assumed, have a look at this — he is a trailblazer and did not even understand he was a trailblazer.”
The museum highlights the Camp David Accords by which Carter negotiated a peace settlement between the leaders of Israel and Egypt in 1978.
“I’d argue, it’s in all probability one of many best 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.”
However Carter’s presidency was mired with controversies, from report inflation to the Iran hostage disaster, in the end sealing his defeat towards President Ronald Reagan. The thirty ninth president went on to determine the Carter Middle, focusing on humanitarian work, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
In accordance with Evans, Carter acquired the Nobel with “pleasure and humility.”
“He would not see himself higher than anybody.”
