ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Former President Jimmy Carter is being remembered for many things tonight. But in Georgia, he's being remembered as one of the Peach State's own. Carter was born and raised in the tiny town of Plains in southwest Georgia. He served as the state's governor from 1971 to 1975 and went back to Plains when he left the White House. Reporter Sam Gringlas is with WABE in Atlanta. Hey, Sam.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Hey, Andrew.
LIMBONG: All right, so first, tell me about some of the reactions in Georgia this evening.
GRINGLAS: Senator Raphael Warnock called Carter one of his heroes, writing that Carter's leadership was driven by love, his life's project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. He also called Carter a moral powerhouse who moved us closer toward our highest ideals. Remembrances are also pouring in from Republicans, too, like Governor Brian Kemp, who said the former president showed the world the impact our state and its people have on the country.
LIMBONG: Before Carter launched a long shot bid for the White House, he kind of cut his teeth in the state legislature and in the governor's mansion in Atlanta. So how did that shape both Georgia and Carter?
GRINGLAS: Yeah, so Carter served on his local school board and the Georgia State Senate. And this was a time when debates over segregation were happening all around him, but Carter largely sat out the Civil Rights Movement. When he ran for governor in 1970, he ran as a conservative Democrat who appealed to some of the racist attitudes of this time. But then at his inauguration, he stunned supporters when he declared - the time for racial discrimination is over. And he went on to take steps like diversifying the state workforce. This approach, his time in Georgia and in Plains also shaped the Carter presidency. And when he launched his bid for the White House, it was run out of a campaign headquarters on Main Street in Plains.
LIMBONG: You know, his ties with Plains are pretty deep, and he went back there during his long post-presidency. Tell me about how he left his mark on Georgia in recent years.
GRINGLAS: So Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, went on to found the Carter Center in Atlanta, and it's become this hub for promoting democracy, public health, conflict resolution. The center is credited with helping nearly eradicate guinea worm disease, which is this debilitating parasitic infection. And Carter stayed engaged in politics, too. Just last month, Andrew, he cast his last presidential vote from his home in Plains.
LIMBONG: So what do we expect in Georgia to remember the former president in the coming days?
GRINGLAS: So the final details haven't been published yet, but we expect a funeral procession to leave from Plains for Atlanta before heading to Washington, D.C. And at the end of about a week of remembrances, Carter will return home to Plains for a service likely at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school for years after he returned there from the White House. And ultimately, he'll be laid to rest alongside his wife, Rosalynn, near the modest home in Plains they shared for more than six decades.
LIMBONG: That was WABE's Sam Gringlas. Sam, thank you so much.
GRINGLAS: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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