Guest Column: Remembering Rosalynn

by JOSEPH W. KNAAPEN

Don’t  be disarmed by her gracious smile or soothing Southern charm; you trifle with Rosalynn Carter at your own risk. I learned, to my chagrin, that the petite Mrs. Carter was a lady of giant iron will, and she staunchly defended her husband and her commitment to Christian principles and humanitarian ideals. She died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96.

During the 1976 campaign that made her husband, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, I was a raw, rookie reporter in Muscatine, Iowa. I interviewed Carter and all the candidates – Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh and LaDonna Harris among them – parading through Iowa to line up votes in the caucuses. 

An issue for Carter was his stance as a leader of the New South – and that he was not a repeat version of Jim Crow adherents like Lester Maddox, who Carter succeeded as Georgia governor, or Alabama’s governor George Wallace. Carter truly was different, and when Mrs. Carter came to town, she let me know what a disappointing story I had written. 

I was surprised when some Democrat ladies trooped into my office, offering to give me a ride to Mrs. Carter’s speech. She wanted to talk to me. At the car, I was ushered to the seat next to Mrs. Carter. I was mentally preparing my first question when she unloaded.

In quiet, polite, Christian language, Mrs. Carter totally emasculated me, ripping details of the story I had written of my interview with Carter. If I couldn’t get it right, she suggested, maybe I should try another career. She never raised her voice, never used an objectionable word. She nailed me graciously. 

Her measured correction ended just as we arrived at our destination. She exited the car, turned on that signature smile and Georgia charm, and faced her audience. 

Mrs. Carter described her husband’s wonderful credentials for president and how she would see him soon in Chicago after being separated for months on different parts of the campaign trail. My story about her visit accurately relayed her public remarks, and included a more precise picture of her Jimmy. I made no mention of her taking me to the woodshed.

We never spoke again. She moved into the White House, but I will never forget Rosalynn Carter or the lessons she taught me. I made other mistakes in 30 years writing for newspapers, but was never again corrected so precisely and politely.

Joseph W. Knaapen, a Door County native, was a news reporter and editor for the Door County Advocate from 1988 to 2008. He lives in Brussels.