Jonathan Alter

Great to meet you, Don. Glad to be here.

Great to meet you, Don. Glad to be here.

Great to meet you, Don. Glad to be here.

I think it had a central role in Jimmy Carter's life, more so than another person, in part because he always called Plains, Georgia home. This is a tiny community of 650 people in rural southwest Georgia. Traveling there is like traveling to a totally different country than most people connect with the United States. Pretty much everything about it is different.

I think it had a central role in Jimmy Carter's life, more so than another person, in part because he always called Plains, Georgia home. This is a tiny community of 650 people in rural southwest Georgia. Traveling there is like traveling to a totally different country than most people connect with the United States. Pretty much everything about it is different.

I think it had a central role in Jimmy Carter's life, more so than another person, in part because he always called Plains, Georgia home. This is a tiny community of 650 people in rural southwest Georgia. Traveling there is like traveling to a totally different country than most people connect with the United States. Pretty much everything about it is different.

down to the fact that you can spot a Confederate flag down there just across the street from where the Carters lived. And this connection to the land and where he was from was complicated because Sumter County, Georgia, which is where Plains is located, was one of the meanest counties in the Jim Crow South. And as I think people know, Jim Crow was... white terrorism.

down to the fact that you can spot a Confederate flag down there just across the street from where the Carters lived. And this connection to the land and where he was from was complicated because Sumter County, Georgia, which is where Plains is located, was one of the meanest counties in the Jim Crow South. And as I think people know, Jim Crow was... white terrorism.

down to the fact that you can spot a Confederate flag down there just across the street from where the Carters lived. And this connection to the land and where he was from was complicated because Sumter County, Georgia, which is where Plains is located, was one of the meanest counties in the Jim Crow South. And as I think people know, Jim Crow was... white terrorism.

This is what we were talking about. And this is what Jimmy Carter was faced with when he was a young man just back from the Navy, assuming his late father's business and civic responsibilities. And so he came back just before the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which desegregated schools in the United States, or was intended to, but was met with what was called massive resistance.

This is what we were talking about. And this is what Jimmy Carter was faced with when he was a young man just back from the Navy, assuming his late father's business and civic responsibilities. And so he came back just before the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which desegregated schools in the United States, or was intended to, but was met with what was called massive resistance.

This is what we were talking about. And this is what Jimmy Carter was faced with when he was a young man just back from the Navy, assuming his late father's business and civic responsibilities. And so he came back just before the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which desegregated schools in the United States, or was intended to, but was met with what was called massive resistance.

A lot of racial strife broke out when Carter was around 30 years old, and he had to deal with all of that. And his family connections made it even more complicated. His father had been a white supremacist, very much in league with what other businessmen in the area believed. His mother, however...

A lot of racial strife broke out when Carter was around 30 years old, and he had to deal with all of that. And his family connections made it even more complicated. His father had been a white supremacist, very much in league with what other businessmen in the area believed. His mother, however...

A lot of racial strife broke out when Carter was around 30 years old, and he had to deal with all of that. And his family connections made it even more complicated. His father had been a white supremacist, very much in league with what other businessmen in the area believed. His mother, however...

Lillian Carter was a nurse who took care of black patients for free, as well as delivering Rosalind Carter.

Lillian Carter was a nurse who took care of black patients for free, as well as delivering Rosalind Carter.

Lillian Carter was a nurse who took care of black patients for free, as well as delivering Rosalind Carter.

Yeah. So Jimmy and Rosalind Carter knew each other for 96 years. That's amazing. You can imagine. They were married for 77 years. which is longer than all but a thousand couples in the United States.

Yeah. So Jimmy and Rosalind Carter knew each other for 96 years. That's amazing. You can imagine. They were married for 77 years. which is longer than all but a thousand couples in the United States.