. >> my grandfather started teaching sunday school as a midshipman at the naval academy.nday. it was central to his life. the church was packed. before sunrise, i was always very thankful when i got to walk in with my grandmother. as soon as we sat down on sunday school, my grandfather always began by asking if anybody had been in his church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands. my grandfather would poll the congregation and quickly find out the church was full of people from all over the country, all different backgrounds and beliefs. my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class ever assembled. before he would deliver his bible lesson my grandfather talked about his week, if he was monitoring and election he would talk about it. if there was conflict he would talk about it. if he eliminated a disease or village or country he would talk about it. my brother jeremy died, he announced that news in sunday school. i remember my brother died on sunday because it was the only time my grandfather was ever late to teach. my grandfather won the nobel

. >> my grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman in the naval academy. world war ii untilcoid covid-19. he structured his plans to be home to teach on sunday. it was central to his life. every time i went to church with him, it it was packed. the lines started before sunrise, and i was always very thankful i got to walk in with my grandmother. and as soon as we sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather would begin by asking if anyone had been in the church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands and almost no one else instead. then my grandfather polled the congregation. we would find out the church was full of people from all over the country, of all different backgrounds and beliefs. my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school clasassembled again. before he delivered his bible lesson, my grandfather talked about his week. if he monitored an election, he would talk about it. if he stopped a conflict, he would talk about it. if he eliminated a disease, from a village or a country, he would talk about it. my brother jeremy

. >> a grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman at the naval academy. we talked bible every sunday from world war 2, the covid. for all the travel. he structured his life that he was home in plains to teach him and on sunday. it was central to his life. every time with the church with him. it was packed. light started before sunrise and i was always very thankful. but i got to walk in with my grandmother. and as soon as we sat down sunday, it's going start. my grandfather always began by asking for rate that church for. my grandmother. and i raised our hands and almost no one wants then my grandfather, paul, the congregation. we quickly find out that the church was full of people from all over the country. of all different backgrounds and beliefs. my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class or something. before delivered his bible lesson. my grandfather talked about his week. you monitor an election, if you talk about. if you stop the conflict. we talk about. the feeling disease. village or country. talk about. brother, jeremy diet

navy and the army, the various -- there is a midshipman here waiting for him. various navy and army bands, and then he'll be brought along pennsylvania avenue up to the capitol. norah? >> norah: ed o'keefe, thank you. i do want to talk more about his naval career. how much time was he deployed, was he away from home, was he away from rosalynn? >> well, when he was on the submarine, they were obviously not with each other. if you look at where their children are born, you know, the three boys, they are all born at different bases, different places. one in hawaii. they were typical couple living a navy life until that 1953 moment. so she had to be kind of dutiful in her own regard as that generation of women were if their husband was in the military. we forget easily, right, the people were still joining the military regularly. you can be part of the cold war effort. this was not a light moment. then the soviet, the china revolution occurred in 1949. now china is communistic. then you have the issue of the soviet union getting atomic weapons. the cold war is on f

he that his remains be the black midshipman. to come an apple. us. and he said, i know mine are days. i've been a minority most of my life. and maybe i can help him in his adjustments. he went out of his way. to embrace those of us. >> had >> grown up all kinds of conflict. but that >> the sensitivity. the spirituality. >> that james car. truly great president. james earl was surely a child of god. not only a good >> the nuclear physicist. >> chosen by had move to assist him in developing a nuclear navy. >> but at the same time he was working nuclear navy. he was thinking of peace on earth and goodwill all men. and especially women in i've known >> president carter. for more than half of my life. >> i never cease to be surprised. >> i never cease to be an ally. i never cease to be inspired. but the little deeds of love and mercy. >> that he shared with every day of his life. it was president james carter. >> but for me, some of the law's the greatness of the united states of america. and i am truly grateful for him. because in spite of the harshness

the majority and when he went to the naval academy, he asked that his roommate be the first black midshipmanities. i've been a minority most of my life, and maybe i can help him in his adjustments. and he went out of his way to embrace those of us that grew up in all kinds of conflict, but that was the sensitivity, the spirituality that made james earl carter a truly great president. james earl carter was truly a child of god. not only a good farmer but a nuclear physicist, chosen by admiral to assist him in develop ago nuclear navy. but at the same time he was working on a nuclear navy, he was thinking of peace on earth and goodwill toward all men, and especially women and children. i've known president carter for more than half of my life, and i never cease to be surprised. i never cease to be enlightened. i never cease to be inspispiredy the little deeds of peace and mercy that he shared with us every day of his life. it was president james earl carter that for me symbolized the greatness of the united states of america, and i am truly grateful for him because inspite of the harass issue

. >> my grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman at the naval academy. he taught the bible every sunday from world war two to covid. for all my grandfather's travels, he structured his life so that he was home in plains to teach at maranatha on sunday. it was central to his life. every time i went to church with him, it was packed. the line started before sunrise, and i was always very thankful that i got to walk in with my grandmother. and as soon as we sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather always began by asking if anybody had been in his church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands and almost no one. instead, and then my grandfather would poll the congregation, and we quickly found out that the church was full of people from all over the country of all different backgrounds and beliefs. and my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class ever assembled again before he delivered his bible lesson. my grandfather talked about his week. if he monit you talk about it. if he eliminated a disease from a village or a co

and when he went to the naval academy, he asked that his roommate be the first black midshipman to comee been a minority most of my life, and maybe i can help him in his adjustments. and he went out of his way to embrace those of us who had grown up in all kinds of conflict. but that was the sensitivity, the spirituality, that made james earl carter a truly great president. james earl carter was truly a child of god. not only a good farmer, but a nuclear physicist, chosen by admiral rick over, to assist him in developing a nuclear navy. but at the same time he was working on a nuclear navy, he was thinking of peace on earth and good will toward all men, and especially women and children. i've known president carter for more than half of my life. and i never cease to be surprised. i never cease to be enlightened. i never cease to be inspired. by the little deeds of love and mercy that he shared with us every day of his life. it was president james earl carter that for me symbolized the greatness of the united states of america. and i am truly grateful for him because in spite of the hars

teaching sunday school as a midshipman in the naval act add movement he taught the bible every sundayrld war ii to covid. he structured his life so he was home in plains to teach at to teach sunday school. the line started before sun rise and i was always very thankful that i got to walk in with my grandmother. as soon as we sat down sunday school would start. my grandfather always began by asking if anybody had been to this church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands and almost no one else did. then my grandfather would poll the congregation and quickly find out that the church was full of people from all over the country. of all different backgrounds and beliefs. my grandfather would address the most di verse sunday school class ever assembled again. before he delivered his bible lesson, my grandfather talked about his week. he monitored an election he would talk about it. if he talked about a conflict. if he eliminated disease from a village or country, he would talk about it. when my brother, jeremy, died he announced that news in sunday school. in fact, i remember that m

and then going to be a nuclear engineer, trained in annapolis, and speaking up for the one black midshipman his intellectual and emotional change was so profound. >> well, that had to do, i think, with -- he really had three parents. so his father was a white supremacist, no getting around that. his mother, miss lillian, who was famous when he was president for going on johnny carson and cracking everybody up, she was the only person who had anything nice to say about abraham lincoln in all of southwest georgia. she was a liberal who took care of black patients for free as a nurse, and then he really had a third parent, a woman named rachel clark, an illiterate black woman farmhand, who gave him much of his love of nature. he became, arguably, our greatest environmental president, doubling the size of the national park system, signing 15 important pieces of environmental legislation, talking for the first time anywhere in the world, any leader talking about global warming. i think people know about the solar panels on the roof of the white house. so much of that love of nature came from rac

fact that from the time he was a boy and had black play mates to him defending the first black midshipman at the naval academy from abuse from his efforts to integrate the church in plains, georgia, unsuccessful efforts, carter was always on the liberal or you might say more moderate end of these questions. nobody ever remembered him saying anything racially offensive. even though almost everybody in that era used the n word on a daily basis. not jimmy carter. having said that, having said that, he had a choice to make about whether to be in politics or be in the civil rights movement. and this is something that i discussed with him on a number of occasions. by the way, that home you're seeing there, that's the boyhood home. it was built from a sears catalog kit, arts and craft, and that tennis court, which jimmy carter's father built and jimmy carter eventually became a very good tennis player, red clay of georgia on that court. but, the racial journey that he went on had these bumps in the road. and he did make a decision at one point that he wanted to get into political office so that

by carter in 1980, here, carter's remains about transferred from the hearse, two formations of midshipmane academy where carter graduated in 1947. then the funeral procession moved to the capitol on food ode to presidential tradition carter started walking from the capitol to the white house on inauguration day to be closer to the people. carter's casket was taken at the capitol steps with his 11 grandchildren serving as honorary pallbearers, finally placed inside the capitol rotunda sitting on top the same cata few lincoln was placed on in 1865. the family making a special request to set the podium in front of the statue of president gerald ford an ode to the deep friendship carter shared with his 3red says sore. >> we meet in special hall to honor an extraordinary man. a man who modeled the virtues of service and citizenship as well as any other american. >> mike johnson, john thune and vice president kamala harris representing the executive branch. >> jimmy carter was that all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty, and grace. >> and, bret, right now the

. >> my grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman in the naval academy. got to walk in with my grandmother. as soon as he sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather always begin by asking if anybody had been in his church before. my grandmother and i raise our hands and almost no one instead. i then my grandfather called the congregation and we quickly would fight of the church was full of people from all over the country, of all different backgrounds and beliefs. in my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class ever assembled, again. before he delivered his bible lesson, my grandfather talked about his week. if you stop the conflict, he would talk about it. if he eliminated disease from a village or a country, he would talk about it. when my brother jeremy died, he announced the news in sunday school. in fact, i remember that my brother died on a sunday because those old-time my grandfather was never late to teach. my grandfather won the nobel peace prize, the sunday school class learned first. but he stated the most serious

. >> my grandfather started teaching sunday school when he was a midshipman at the naval academy. he taught the bible every sunday from world war two to covid for all my grandfather's travels, he structured his life so that he was home in plains to teach at maranatha on sunday. it was central to his life. every time i went to church with him, it was packed. the line started before sunrise and i was always very thankful that i got to walk in with my grandmother. and as soon as we sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather always began by asking if anybody had been in his church before. my grandmother and i raised our hands on almost no one. instead, and then my grandfather would pull the congregation, and we quickly found out that the church was full of people from all over the country of all different backgrounds and beliefs. and my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class ever assembled. again. before he delivered his bible lesson. my grandfather talked about his week. if he monitored an election, he'd talk about it. if he stopped a conflict, he'd t

. >> my grandfather started taking a midshipman in the naval academy.in plains to teach at maranatha on sunday. it was central to his life. every time we went to church with him, it was packed. the line started before sunrise, and i was on the very -- i was always very thankful that i got to walk in with my grandfather. as soon as we sat down, sunday school would start. my grandfather always begin by asking if anybody had been in his church before. my grandmother and i raise our hands and almost no one instead. and then my grandfather polled the congregation and we quickly would fight of the church was full of people from all over the country, of all different backgrounds and beliefs. and my grandfather would address the most diverse sunday school class ever assembled, again. before he would deliver his bible lesson, my grandfather talked about his week. if you monitored an election, he would talk about it. if you stopped a conflict, he would talk about it. if he eliminated a disease from a village or a country, he would talk about it. when my brother j

it began when he joined the navy as a midshipman, and his public service, of course, continued after he left the white house. his complex full life will be on display to be understood and to be celebrated this week. and so we will be talking about his post-presidency. indeed, president carter wanted people to talk about his post-presidency, but we will also be returning to the time before he came to the white house. and we will see as we discuss this and think about it over the next few days, the richness of this man's life and what he did for this country yeah. >> and kate, i mean, jimmy and rosalynn carter were both just a national treasure. it was almost a package deal with the two of them. was this a couple that was genuinely driven by the need to help people? and what kind of example does that set? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, when i asked them what their greatest achievement was, rosalynn said it was nearly eradicating guinea worm disease. you know, there used to be, um, thousands of cases. now there are less than two dozen. and this is a horrific disease. and so their work with

when roosevelt died, i was a midshipman and i cried because i had the prospect of harry truman beinganding officer, my commanding chief. later when i was in submarines, i began to appreciate what harry truman stood for and what he did. i think he was honest to a t. i doubt if he ever used a $0.03 stamp if he didn't pay for it. he was under tremendous pressure from the same people that tried to prevent president johnson putting in place the civil rights act. he was under pressure of dick russell and strom thurmond and many others. i won't name them. truman, already unpopular. he went out of office the most unpopular president in history. ordained as commander in chief and all racial discrimination in military forces was over. that day. and he was condemned severely by all his generals and admirals and overwhelmingly in the congress and by many other people in america. but he did it. and so my life on the submarine was changed by that decision, and it affected my whole future. then after truman left office, there wasn't much progress made on civil rights. it was eight years later befor

but when you become a midshipman, you enter the u.s. military.and as kyberd knows much better than me. jimmy carter entered the naval academy in 1943. and so this is the end of an era in presidential history. this is our last president who had world war ii experience. he is the last of the greatest generation. um, and he's also the last president who was a veteran of the korean war. he was certainly on duty during the korean war. i don't know if he was stationed in the pacific. i think he was in the atlantic. but in any case, there is an enormous amount of history represented by this visit to the naval memorial. it's it's not just because jimmy carter liked the national archives, which was across the street. it's also because i don't think you can understand jimmy carter without keeping in mind what he learned in the military and what he learned late, uh, learned from captain hyman rickover. um, jimmy carter is always remembered as a peanut farmer. yes, true. jimmy carter was also an engineer. he was also a nuclear engineer. he was a submariner.