Right now on necn this morning, the u. S. Marketing another sobering milestone in the covid19 pandemic. More than 3 million americans have now been infected. This all comes as the World Health Organization gives yet another dire warning. It says the spike in the number of people who are going to die from the disease could be around the corner. One new england state reporting no new deaths for the first time in months. Are you feeling lucky this morning . No. Well tell you about the first casino in massachusetts that is reopening, but, of course, with some restrictions. Can i just be honest in a moment . There hasnt been a moment in 2020 where i felt, boy, i feel lucky. Today could be the day. Im susan tran. Im melody mendez. So glad youre the positive one of the two of us. Its wednesday morning, july 8th. Lets get to tim kelley, first alert weather, not feeling so lucky either. Feeling pretty busy in the weather department. We had one day off,. It was more effective. At camp david, the feeling, president carter had gotten the cia to develop these very fine profiles of the participants and he knew what made them tick and felt like they would all perform a lot better if their wives were there. Mrs. Sadat couldnt come but she was in frequent phone contact and mrs. Reagan was there and mrs. Carter there the vast majority of the time. Their being there was had a very specific purpose. They were talking about things that would affect their grandchildren and their families and having the spouses there would be a positive. I think it turned out to be that way. Connie is watching us in walnut creek, california, hello, connie. Are you there . Caller yes, i am, thank you. Mrs. Carter had strong views certainly about passage of the equal rights amendment. I am wondering, since that time, what her view is of the progress that women have made in politics, just generally in society, and has she ever made any comment about whether a woman could or should be elected president of the United States. Thanks so much. Do you know the answers to those questions . I think she thinks its overdue to have a woman as president of the United States. The carters are still involved in this fight because some parts of the Baptist Church dont allow women to be pastors or deacons and the carters have withdrawn their memberships from those churches. President carters next book is going to be about the rights of women around the world. So they are still working on those issues. I think theyre very proud. The carters appointed a lot of women to the judiciary. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Appeals Court by president carter, elevated to the Supreme Court by president clinton. And i think she recognizes theres been a lot of progress made and they were able to be part of that progress. 444 days of the Carter Administration and this country were consumed with the americans that were held hostage at the u. S. Embassy in iran. In our interview with mrs. Carter, she spoke about those days and how challenging they were. It was awful. I look back now and have memories of just waiting for the press conference in iran to say what happened that day because we had no idea what was going on. And the only way we knew what was going on was when theyd come out and announce it. And it was just, you know, thinking about and thinking, we met with the families all along and thinking about the people whose family members were there. And what it was doing to jimmys presidency. And it was awful. It was awful. And i would go out. I would go out and campaign. I had found out earlier that i could when a president goes out, hes so surrounded. But people he speaks to them and says hello and so forth, but he doesnt get close enough to people to have conversations normally like you would otherwise about what their hopes and dreams were or what they thought about what i was doing or what jimmy was doing or anything that could help them. I had learned that early when jimmy was during his presidency. But i would go out and everybody would say, tell the president to do something. And tell him to hes got to do something. I would come home and i would say, why dont you do something. And he said, what do you want me to do . You want me to mind the harbors which a lot of people were talking about. And then have them bring out one prisoner every day and hang him in public . Well, maybe thats not the best thing to do. And you know, i wanted it over. And, of course, he did, too. Everybody did. The people in the country. Every night on new tv programs started and nobody got over it at all. Could get over it. Just think about it because with that, every day, every night it was awful. Grace hail. Earlier you commented on the role of the tv media. Every night, what became nightline was america held hostage, counting down the days. Whats the role of the media and focussing the country on this situation in iran . We tend to think of our own day as the media uniquely interactive and everywhere and pervasive and in fact, there was a real kind of advance in the 70s in the coverage that the media could do and their access to footage and how quickly they could get things on the air. Real leaps forward were made. You really saw that around the iranian hostage crisis. Not only because it was being reported and what, as you said, the show that would become nightline was on the air every night talking about the crisis. Also the way the iranians themselves were able to use the media to their own advantage to publicize what was going on from their end and in some ways insert themselves into that media conversation that maybe in an earlier era the u. S. Would have been able to dominate. So thats part of the story as well. Its ironic, sad. But today, another event that cspan televised, one of many thats been happening over the past few weeks discussing the accord possible accord with the iranians over nuclear proliferation. Here it is all these years later and were still talking about relationships with that country. I wonder i know the Carter Library in center have had many conversations about the middle east. In the years ensuing has the president and those who worked on and in his cabinet look back and say we should have done Something Different here . Well, on iran specifically, i think president carter felt vindicated because the hostages got out alive. You know there was a choice between using military force, which would have been more popular with the public as mrs. Carters comments suggested, but a high likelihood that a lot of hostages would have been killed or use punishing economic sanctions and then they eventually all get out alive. Were replaying that same kind of debate today. Obviously, with camp david, camp david was an early step and president carter would have liked more time to expand to deal with the other issues between the arabs and israel. But he didnt have time to do that. So i think that he would have liked more time to work on that issue. I think he turned out on iran, i think the hostages look back and think the route he took was the best for protecting their safety. David is in chicago. Youre on the air. Caller good evening. A general question about the relationship between the reagans and the carters and specifically, i thought i remembered hearing president carter once state that president and mrs. Reagan never invited the carters back either for a state dinner in eight years or they werent invited back for the unveiling of their official white house portraits. Is that true . I dont know. I would be a little surprised by that because president reagan came out to the opening of the Carter Library in 1986 and gave a very gracious speech. So at least to that extent, you know, expresident s do and president reagan met with president carter before he sent him off to represent the United States at the sadat funeral. So there may not have been a lot of contact but there certainly was some. We talked earlier about the 1980 campaign. The carters faced a challenge in the primary from senator ted kennedy. What were some of the issues in addition to the iranian hostage crisis that were framing the debate . Mrs. Carter talked about going out to campaigning. What was she face with the public . Well, one of the main things she was facing was a pretty fractured Democratic Party. There were divisions within the party. A kind of traditional base in the Labor Movement that the carters had really never been particularly strong on that front or super connected with the large union movement. The liberal wing of the party, obviously, represented by ted kennedy, not particularly happy with the carters. In some ways, the carters were they were the candidates that sort of threaded through the middle of all of these factions within the Democratic Party. And so the economic decline of the second half of the 70s would be one thing that she would be facing out there on the campaign trail. It was a really interesting time in our national life. The economy didnt necessarily go down for everybody, but for industrial workers, working class americans it was a really, really tough time. So that would have been something she would have faced. Where did the carters go after losing the white house . They moved back to plains. To sort of plan the rest of their life. They were pretty young to be out of the white house. And eventually, they came up with the idea of the Carter Center, still a part of emory university. And from there, they were able to launch a whole new career working on some of the same issues. But to continue to have a very big impact both in this country and around the world. Rosalynn carter in this interview talks about her their postwhite house legacy and its important you say their, because they were very much partners in all of this. Lets listen to how she thinks their years after the white house have been framed and what theyd like to be remembered for. And, remember, as of right now, jimmy carter is the longest serving expresident in history. Theres a lot of years since they left the white house when theyve stayed involved in issues. Lets watch. I hope my legacy continues more than just first lady because Carter Center has been an integral part of our life waging peace, fighting disease and building hope. And i hope that i have contributed something to Mental Health issues and help improve a little bit people, the lives of People Living with mental illnesses. But i also hope, i mean, i have had great opportunities for so long now and to go to africa or one of those countries, we have programs in 77 countries, we go to africa two or three times a year and to go those villages and now things are coming to fruition. Weve been working on all these years. Weve almost eradicated guinea worm. To go to a village where theres no longer guinea worm, it is a celebration. I mean, one of the good things about the Carter Center is we dont give money to the government. We send people in to teach the to help people in that country how to do something. And we work with the people in the villages and the Health Department does, too. And we work with them. And they do. Just to go to a village and explain to them about guinea worm if you can get the chief to approve, thats what you have to do. But if they see that hear about it from another country, they are so happy youre there. But just to see, to go back when its gone from a village or almost gone, and the hope it gives to them that most of the time its the first thing they have ever seen that was successful. And its just so wonderful. Just to see the hope on their faces. That something good is happening. I didnt mean to get emotional. Will you comment more about their approach to their postpresidency. Their postwhite house years . These are pretty epic stories when you look at them closely because when the carters started working on guinea worm in the 1980s, there were 3. 5 million cases around the globe. And this is a very debilitating disease. The worm grows within the body and people cant go to school or work in the fields. And the last official number i saw was 542 cases, and i think its actually a little bit lower than that. Its just now in four countries, i think, maly, chad, ethiopia and sudan. So this is a remarkable achievement. Its going to be the second disease after smallpox to be eliminated from the face of the earth. She didnt mention election monitoring, but theyve now monitored elections, i believe in 37 countries. And many of those countries more than once. And countries like indonesia, liberia, theyve helped nurture them as theyve gone through several election cycles. And then liberia is a perfect example. Theyve not only moved to democracy where they elected the first woman president in an african country but they had no Mental Health care so the Carter Center organized a program where they trained Mental Health nurses. Now with the cadre of nurses theyve developed, most of the country is now covered with basic professional help. So when you start, im just scratching the surface. When you start to see all these Different Things going on around the world because they can open that door as expresident and exfirst lady, and its still going on. It hasnt stopped. President carter was in nepal last week for their elections there. And he is now 89 years old . Correct. And the first lady is 86, i believe . Lauren is in elizabethtown, north carolina. Hi, lauren. You are on. Caller hi. Good evening. I was wanting to know the relationship that ms. Carter had with the late betty ford. Well, they became very good friends. And they worked on the e. R. A. Together as weve mentioned. And they communicated a lot. Worked on projects together and as i mentioned earlier, mrs. Carter gave a very nice eulogy at betty fords funeral. So the ford family and Carter Family became very good friends. Of course, betty ford, because of her candor, had sort of taken a step forward for first ladies as well. And i think that made it a little easier for later first ladies to speak out and say what they actually thought. And the carters concentrated on humanitarian issues and globally. But i am wondering about the relationship with the Democratic Party after leaving the white house after a trouncing in the 1980 election. How welcomed were they by the National Party and what was their role . You know, immediately after that kind of defeat, those arent the people youll send out on the campaign trail or raising money, so the Democratic Party wasnt super embracing of the carters after that defeat. But it seems that it came around in time. The whole Democratic Party ended up across the 80s going in a more moderate direction. Really pulling back from some of its move away from its more liberal wing and thats represented in the presidency of bill clinton. And so in some ways, again, the carters were just a little bit maybe ahead of their time. The Democratic Party seems to have ended up coming around to a lot of the issues that maybe some democrats arent thrilled with them about at the time. Does Rosalynn Carter feel that her husband has received the credit he deserves for his accomplishments as president . No. Does any first lady ever, i might add . No. I think if you look at what president carter did, you take panama canal treaty, for instance, that was something that was not at all popular at the time, but has opened up a whole range of positive developments in latin america. And mrs. Carter would often caution him, be careful politically a little bit here because you do want to get a second term. But they didnt want to wait for the second term so they sort of moved ahead and knocked off a pretty long list of accomplishments. But they did so as, again, i think grace mentioned this earlier. When you are doing this with high interest rates. We talk in iran about the hostages. But the other thing that happened with iran was the cutoff in oil supplies from the middle east which then raises oil prices, which raises inflation, which raises interest rates. So iran was this double whammy. Not only did we have the hostages in captivity, but we had this inflationary economy which no incumbent president wants to have in their election year. And really the severe downturn in the economy since the depression in recent history. In the time after world war ii until 2008. I meant before recent times. David welsh on facebook wants to know, where are the carter children now, and what are they doing . Did any pursue politics . Jack, the oldest son, did run for the u. S. Senate in nevada a couple cycles ago and he lives in nevada. His son, who is the oldest carter grandchild, jason is running for the state of georgia. Chip lives in the atlanta area. Jeff and amy both live in the atlanta area. So three of them are sort of close to home and jack is out in nevada. Could you also comment about the grandson who made news during the last president ial campaign by unearthing the romney video. Changed the direction of that campaign. This is a child who was in the inaugural parade, but he was in his mothers womb. He is chips son and he is a master of the internet. And uncovered candidate romneys speech about what the 47 , was it . So he sort of got in the news as a member of the Carter Family. Do we know his grandparents reaction to what happened in that campaign as a result of it . I think they were pleased. We have one more video about six minutes left in our program. And this is plains. And the carters life there after the white house. Lets watch. After the white house, mrs. Carter took great interest in downtown plains. One of her projects was to help restore and refurbish the plains inn and antique mall. Each room in the inn is dedicated to a decade in president and mrs. Carters life from 1920 to 1980. Another one of mrs. Carters additions to downtown plains is a Rosalynn Carter butterfly garden established april 2013. Mrs. Carter established her garden to bring awareness to conserving butterflies, their habitats and for her love of nature. This is a Baptist Church where president carter and mrs. Carter attend pretty much every sunday theyre in town. This is where president carter still teaches sunday school and ms. Rosalynn is a deacon here at the church. I think plains is home. You know, i mean, everybody has some place they call home. And for the carters, plains, georgia is home. They could have traveled anywhere after the white house and pretty much settled anywhere. But they wanted to come home. And i think that speaks volumes of the way they think about plains. They love it here. The person who is our interpreter there is National Park service. Could you talk about the preservation of plains by the federal government through the National Park service and what one would find if they visit there . Yes, the National Park service runs the historic site. Its got several parts to it. Theres the carter boyhood home which is kind of a working farm now. Its a fairly large farm and you can walk through the house there and have interpretation. Then his Old High School or their Old High School has become kind of a museum and you can walk through there. Their home that they live in now is being deeded to the National Park service. So its well worth a trip to south georgia. You can go through warm springs and learn about fdr when you get there you can attend sunday school, stay in the plains inn and visit the historic site. You are off the beaten path. Plains is not terribly close to an interstate. For people who are president ial and history junkies its a trip well worth making. And the carters, i understand, have chosen plains rather than the Carter Center for their final burial place . Thats correct. Theres only two president s im aware of in the post world war ii who have gone back to their own hometown, the trumans went back to independence and the carters went to the plains and they will be buried on the family compound there. Keith is in greenup, illinois. Youre on. Hello. My question was if im remembering correctly, ive seen News Coverage of when the carters have kind of intermingled with the clintons with this habitat of humanity. And im just curious, do they currently do anything with the obamas . Do the carters do anything with the obamas . I think, sure, they have some interaction. We had a picture there earlier of them together at the white house. President carter sort of marches to his own drumbeat and, you know, he has views that are very strong about the middle east and other things. But, you know, the expresident s do hang out. Theres a book called the president s club that came out a year or two ago which gives you a behind the scenes look at how the president s interact and theres a lot of facets to it. Sometimes people work together. Sometimes they dont. As we close out here, do rosalynn and jimmy still travel and take on new causes . Well, they have this basic set of causes of which they travel extensively. And they are going to like the poorest countries of the world. The chads and the malis make india and other countries look very wealthy. So they still do travel a lot. But they focus on the causes they have to produce the result that they are trying to achieve. So Mental Health, election monitoring, peace negotiations, river blindness. These are sets of things theyve been working on for a long time. And they are achieving a lot of success. As we close out here, Gary Robinson wants to know what is the publics perception of the carters as time has passed since their presidency and will it improve more over time. As a historian, can you anticipate the future . Not our greatest strength as historians to anticipate the future. I will say that its been a very successful postpresidency. In many ways theyve reinvented that job in many ways and it doesnt seem like its going to stop here in their later years. But as a historian looking back on their time in the white house, has Public Perception of that changed in the ensuing decades . I think perhaps the jury is still out. I mean, its not seen as the most successful presidency of the postwar era, but at the same time, trying to change some of the directions of events promote some of the issues he was promoting like Energy Conservation and energy independence, the spread of democracy in various parts of the world. Those are important issues today. What about her legacy as first lady . She generally has ranked in the top five or top ten depending on which poll you use. Eleanor roosevelt is always at the top and below that theres some fluctuation. Hes not rated as high as she is, however, he was rated as one of the top three president s on the environment. Theres a libertarian book out that ranks him in the top ten which is interesting coming from that source. I think the jury is still out. Papers are still being declassified. People are still getting the broader perspective and hopefully people keep having these discussions. How much of her papers did she preserve for the public . Shes got a lot. She took very extensive notes and diaries. And theres a lot of private comments in there, and, in general, those are still havent been available to historians. So she is a great documenter. Shes a good historian herself. Her memoir of the white house years is something i always recommend to people. You can still get copies. In fact, i have one here. First lady from plains, and it is one of five books that mrs. Carter has authored or coauthored in her years since the white house. Thats it for our time. And i want to say thank you if to our partners at the White House Historical association for their continuing help in producing the series. And well also have a list of many of the others who made this particular installment possible. And thanks to our two guests for their information. And your conversation with our audience tonight. Thanks for your time. Thanks for having me. If you enjoyed watching first ladies pick up a copy of the book first ladies influence and image featuring profiles of the nations first ladies with interviews of top historians, available in paperback, hard cover or as an ebook. Tonight, on American History tv, beginning at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, a look at the lives of nancy reagan and barbara bush, cspan in cooperation with the White House Historical association, produced a series on the first ladies coming their private lives and the public roles they played. First ladies, influence and image features individual biographies of the women who served in the role of first lady in 44 administrations. Watch American History tv tonight and over the weekend on cspan 3. Next, in an interview with cspan former first lady Rosalynn Carter talked about the