On Sunday I spent a relaxing day in Atlanta. There were frequent heavy thunderstorms but these did not really affect me as I happened to be inside during the heaviest rain. My main target was the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and Library. Despite his low popularity when he left office I have always admired Carter for his principles in office and the amazing work he has done since leaving office. Not surprisingly, my visit not only reinforced my opinions but also filled in many of the details that I had never known or had forgotten. I visited the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton presidential libraries last summer and have found that the most fascinating aspect of all of them is the background detail about daily life as the President, the constraints they are working within due to politics and diplomacy and the strategies and considerations that go into making decisions. In keeping with the man himself, the Carter Center is not as grand on the outside as the other two libraries but it is just as impressive inside.
I also spent some time walking along the trail that connects the Carter Center to the Martin Luther King Junior National Historic Site and the King Center and visited both. Since it was May Day there were a couple of political protests in the area promoting the policies that Bernie Sanders has been campaigning on. The MLK National Historic Site is operated by the National Park Service and includes his birth home, his local church and a visitor’s center. In my opinion this is more interesting than the King Center itself but the reflecting pool, tombs and eternal flame at the King Center do encourage reflection on MLK’s contributions.
On Monday the original plan was to drive to Montgomery, Alabama to visit the Rosa Parks Museum and stay the night there. I knew I would have some time to “kill” so I also planned to visit the Montgomery Indoor Shooting Complex where they allow people like me, who have never fired a real gun, to shoot a variety of weapons. However, as I drove across the Georgia/Alabama border there was a sign telling me I had entered the central time zone so that created an extra hour that would need to be wasted. I therefore, decided to visit the Rosa Parks museum but then drive on to Mobile, Alabama which is where I am writing this and where I will start to follow the perimeter. The Rosa Parks museum is small but tells the story of the arrest of Rosa Parks and the subsequent Montgomery bus boycott very well and is definitely worth 90 minutes if you are in the area.
The map and video are pretty dull but, since they document the journey, are posted here.
The delay in posting this entry is because of an annoying technical problem that prevented me from connecting to the Internet from my laptop. More on that next post.
The unpretentious entrance to the Carter Center
The Oval Office recreation that is seen at all these libraries.
The inside of Ebenezer Baptist Church where both Martin Luther King Junior and his father were pastors.
The Civil Rights Walk of Fame on the grounds of the National Historic Site
The reflecting pool at the King Center
The signs commemorating Rosa Parks outside the museum in Montgomery, Alabama (unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the museum)
I can remember Herbert Hoover dying, I think when I was 9 (I was oddly interested in politics at a young age). He’d been out of office for over 30 years, but Jimmy Carter must have lived longer still post-presidency. What they seem to have in common is a largely discredited presidency followed by a fulfilled life of good work. Maybe the big jobs are over-rated.