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The First Lady I Knew VOA Reporter Reflects on Rosalynn Carter
December 4, 2023
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ROSALYNN CARTER - REPORTER REFLECTION
HEADLINE: "The First Lady I Knew": VOA Reporter Reflects on Rosalynn Carter
TEASER: ‘Steel magnolia’ redefined role of first lady
PUBLISHED AT: 12/04/2023, 5:56p
BYLINE: Kane Farabaugh
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Plains, Georgia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Kane Farabaugh
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: Stearns, Mia Bush
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 4:43
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE:TVR
EDITOR NOTES: to be produced Friday December 1 for weekend release))
((INTRO:))
[[VOA Correspondent Kane Farabaugh has covered the life and legacy of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter for nearly 20 years. After attending the former first lady’s funeral Tuesday, Farabaugh shares his personal reflections of Rosalynn Carter, who helped redefine the role of first lady in and out of the White House.]]
((Mandatory CG: Carter Center))
((NATS)) (Rosalynn Carter) "Every person in this room should be proud of this report."
((NARRATOR))
Rosalynn Carter’s compassionate smile and Southern accent masked a competitive drive and determination that helped her husband Jimmy Carter win the White House in 1976. Those qualities earned her the label of “steel magnolia” in 1970s media. ((end credit))
Former White House Communications Director Jerry Rafshoon remembered why, ((Mandatory CG: Carter Center))
with Jimmy Carter’s first reaction after receiving polling numbers in the final days of the 1980 election that foretold his impending defeat to Ronald Reagan. ((end credit))
((Jerry Rafshoon, Former White House Communications Director))
“He said only one thing… don’t tell Rosalynn. I want to tell her myself. And that was it."
((Kane Farabaugh ((off camera))))
“She took it harder than him, didn’t she?”
((Jerry Rafshoon, Former White House Communications Director))
“Yeah.”
((Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady))
“It took me a while to get over it. Because what I thought, and what I still think is that if had he been reelected, things would be different in the country today."
((NARRATOR))
In a 2014 interview with Rosalynn Carter, I saw the “steel.”
((Kane Farabaugh, VOA News))
“He’s often referred to as ‘the greatest ex-president.’”
((Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady))
“Yeah, and I don’t like that. He was a great president. People are finding that out.”
((NARRATOR))
… but on a personal visit to her hometown of Plains in 2017, I also saw the “magnolia” as Rosalynn Carter – then 90 -- spent a sunny afternoon teaching me how to fly fish at the pond in front of her home.
I had never used a fly-fishing rod, but the former first lady -- who learned the sport late in life -- patiently provided hands-on instruction, explaining, “It’s all in the wrist.”
As the old adage goes, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime,” something Rosalynn Carter not only applied with me that afternoon in Plains, author Jonathan Alter says she lived it in all she did.
((Jonathan Alter, Author))
“Rosalynn Carter was raised as a Methodist, and she worshipped with her husband at Baptist churches in Plains. But in some ways, the Methodist credo: ‘Do as much as you can, for as many as you can, for as long as you can’ was something that they really lived.”
((Mandatory CG: Carter Center))
Nats: "We know that mental illness is a disease as any other."
((NARRATOR))
Whether fighting to remove the stigma associated with mental illness, eradicating neglected tropical diseases, or monitoring elections abroad, the “steel magnolia” never stopped making the world better, even in her 90s.
((Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady))
“It’s just so exciting to go and see something that you’ve done ((end courtesy)) that helps other people. You just don’t want to stop.”
((NARRATOR))
Rosalynn Carter also always made people feel welcome, inviting friends for coffee on Sunday afternoons in Plains, or taking pictures week after week with thousands of visitors to her church on Sundays, my family among them.
She always took time to spend with us, particularly my three sons, during our visits to Plains. While I worried it was a burden on her busy schedule, she never made us feel like we were imposing. She never stopped smiling and she never seemed to tire.
((Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady))
14:04:03”05 “There’s no way we can quit, and besides I don’t feel old.”
((Jason Carter, The Carter Center Chairman))
“My grandmother doesn’t need a eulogy. Her life was a sermon.”
((NARRATOR))
Sitting among the crowd at Glenn Memorial Chapel at Emory University for Rosalynn Carter’s tribute service was a bittersweet occasion, holding back tears with laughter of memories of her wit and determination as her grandson Jason Carter noted her many causes and accomplishments, including her personal efforts to save the endangered monarch butterfly from extinction.
((Jason Carter, The Carter Center Chairman))
“Even the Roslaynn Carter butterfly trail goes 3000 gardens from Mexico to Canada to help monarch butterflies on their journies.”
((NARRATOR))
One of those butterfly trail gardens lines the streets of Plains, Georgia, today. Noticeably absent among the flowers and plants are any magnolias, steel or otherwise.
As the hearse carrying her coffin traveled through the town she called home for nearly a century, the realization Plains lost an icon and the world lost a great advocate for numerous important causes is compounded by the sadness my family and I feel over the loss of a friend.
But Rosalynn Carter’s life and legacy lives on in a healthier world she dedicated her life to improving. It also lives on in the cherished memories of the times she spent with me and my family, especially that afternoon fly-fishing at the pond in front of her home, where she shared her joy of a pastime in a place she loved… and near where she is now laid to rest.
((Kane Farabaugh, VOA News, Plains, Georgia))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateDecember 4, 2023 18:31 EST
Byline
Kane Farabaugh
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
