At Georgia Capitol, a bipartisan farewell to Jimmy Carter

Greg Bluestein, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 4, 2025

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ATLANTA — It was but a brief stop in the dayslong goodbye to Jimmy Carter. But the funeral procession’s “pause” at the state Capitol on Saturday spoke volumes about the former president’s legacy in Georgia.

As the hearse carrying Carter’s body lingered in front of the Statehouse, dozens of lawmakers and leaders from both parties stood in silent tribute, not far from the statue honoring Carter’s historic rise from state legislator to the White House.

Carter’s son Jack and grandson Jason — a former state legislator himself — briefly disembarked from the rolling motorcade to exchange hugs and handshakes with Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

As the procession rumbled away, former Gov. Sonny Perdue reflected on Carter’s enduring legacy in Georgia.

Perdue, the first Republican elected to Georgia’s top job since Reconstruction, and Carter could hardly be more different politically. But they found common ground over a range of issues, from their rural Georgia roots to a shared goal to close gaps in mental health care.

“I hope it says something about us, as far as a country that’s willing to recognize a great person and a great leader,” Perdue said in an interview. “Obviously, I have great respect for what he did — not what party he belonged to, but what he created and did for mankind afterward.”

Behind Perdue stood the building where Carter first etched his name in national politics. The desk Carter used during two terms in the Georgia Senate still sits in the ornate chambers, as does the signature he scrawled with a pencil in a drawer inside the governor’s ceremonial office.

Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald quipped of being labeled a “Carter disciple” during his stint in the Legislature by legendary House Speaker Tom Murphy. State Rep. Bill Hitchens talked of first getting to know Carter as a young Georgia State Patrol officer assigned to the newly elected governor’s security detail.

A few feet away, former state Rep. Calvin Smyre was bursting with memories of Carter. Smyre once was the longest-serving state lawmaker in Georgia, and he was part of the contingent of Democratic electors that formally cast a ballot to seal Carter’s presidential victory in 1976.

But perhaps what Smyre remembers most about the peanut-farmer-turned-president is Carter’s speech five years earlier, when he took office as governor in 1971 with a declaration that, “The time for racial discrimination is over.”

“Carter helped change the political terrain of Georgia,” Smyre said. “He didn’t test the winds before he made decisions. He acted with courage and commitment, and we stand on his shoulders.”