and i thought that stuart eizenstat made some really excellent points.he did some create some really important things in his presidency. and stuart referred to that. >> yeah. and he defended their record and said talked about the duration of that and how he's changed the presidency and listed off a lot of that, that maybe a lot of people don't remember. because you do talk people talk about the iran hostage crisis or inflation or the other measures that marked his presidency. and he spent that time talking about those moments that that also defined the carter presidency and have still shaped it, because after we heard from from gerald ford's words from his son, we also heard walter mondale as well, and jimmy carter fundamentally reshaped not only walter mondale's vice presidency, but but for jd vance sitting in there, what it's going to be like for him in the next four years, he'll have an office in the west wing. that's because of jimmy carter and that relationship between presidents and vice presidents. speaking of trump and vice president pence, just

. >> you know, tim naftali to you, ambassador stuart eizenstat was with me for just a moment. he'll be back later in the show, and he recently just sunday wrote a piece for the washington post and said that the narrative about the carter presidency and service is wrong is that he was redeemed in his post-presidency, and it's his time in office was a failure, he says. that's that's a wrong accounting of his service. what's your take? >> ambassador eizenstat has written some very important books about jimmy carter and he led really carter's domestic program, domestic programs. so he understands sort of the unexamined presidency of carter. the the fact that carter was beginning the process of making our economy more efficient, for example, um, something that was unusual for a democrat. but but jimmy carter was an unusual democrat, and i think it's really important as we watch this, uh, funeral, uh, begin this whole process. of moving the late president up to atlanta that we think about how his life encapsulated a very significant set of changes in our country. jimmy carter was bo

. ♪ host: stuart eizenstat, when did you first meet jimmy carter? stuart: in an unusual way. had worked for a year in the linden johnson white house and then for six months i was hubert humphrey's research director in the company against richard nix nixon. when he lost i went back to atlanta and made a beilein for sanders, a very wealthy, prominent lawyer and i told him i'd like to work for him. high school friend of mine, henry bours said you need to meet this man named jimmy carter who's running for a second time for georgia. but i finally agreed and it was the opposite of the sanders interview, which was a beautiful law office, mahogany, coat and tie. this was in a bare-bones office. he came wearing khakis and work boots. we met on a metal polling table with metal chairs and my initial reaction was what am i doing here? it took me about five minutes to realize that he was the real thing. here was someone from southwest georgia, a farmer but who understood urban issues. he favored mass transit for atlanta. he fared education reform. he was a moderate on civil right and i st

former top white house aide stuart eizenstat spoke of redemption for his friend. >> the test of americanhe number of years they serve, but the duration of their accomplishments. by this measure, jimmy carter was among the most consequential one-term presidents in american history. laura: there were even words from those dear to carter whom he outlived. ted mondale, reading on behalf of his late father walter mondale, honored a legacy that could now be threatened by the incoming president. >> in many ways, he laid the foundation for future presidents to come to grips with climate change. some thought he was crazy to fight so hard to pass these laws. but he was dead right. laura: there was also bipartisan praise that often eluded carter when he occupied the oval office. including a eulogy from carter's predecessor, republican president gerald ford, delivered by his son. >> by fate of a brief season, jimmy carter and i were rivals. but, for the many wonderful years that followed, friendship bonded us as no two presidents since john adams and thomas jefferson. as for myself, jimmy, i'm looki

now this is the honorable stuart eizenstat, former white house domestic affairs adviser. as john karl pointed out a short time ago, so many of jimmy carter's friends and so many of the people he served with and who he chose to serve in his cabinet to fill out his white house, he survived them by many, many years, though there are still members, obviously, of that era that time. and we will hear now from the honorable stuart eizenstat. >> jimmy carter was as close to being a renaissance man. as any president entering the oval office in modern times. he was skilled in an astonishing array of activities farmer, businessman, nuclear engineer, naval submarine officer, woodworker, painter, fly fisherman, music lover, poet, author, sunday school teacher, creator of the carter center and yes, loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather and nobel peace prize winner. behind that toothy smile was a man of steel determination, discipline and self-confidence. in 1974, when he was governor of georgia, has suggested that if he ran for president and won a few southern prima

ambassador stuart eizenstat, thank you so much for being with us. thank you. we really appreciate it. and we'll be right back. >> i heard you found someone special. >> yeah. is that dog food in the fridge? >> it's not dog food. it's fresh meat. real veggies for peter. >> that's peter. should have known. you do make a pretty cute couple. >> the thompson's new front door looks sharp. >> right. we need to wave her down to tell her that. no, no. for a young homeowner turning into their parents, the neighborhood is their life. >> i wonder who's visiting the burkes. >> it's not their car. hey, guys. who's winning now? >> most of the neighborhood uses progressive for their cars and house. >> she didn't ask. >> oh. >> progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. here he comes. like clockwork. >> when you're looking for answers, it's good to have help. because the right information at the right time may make all the difference. at humana, we know that's especially true when you're looking for a

ambassador to the european union stuart eizenstat.e also served as chief, white house domestic policy adviser to president jimmy carter. mr. ambassador, thank you so much for joining us this morning, casey. >> thank you for having me. >> i'd like to start just with your reflections. there about the former president. and i was actually struck by that one person in plains, georgia, who talked about the integrity of former president carter. and and, you know, you wrote about this. and let me just read a little bit of what you said, quote, conventional wisdom holds that jimmy carter was a failure as president, redeemed only by his philanthropy and efforts to promote democracy in his post-presidential years. this is palpably wrong. why is carter's presidency remembered so harshly? it is due in part to his unorthodox approach to the presidency. he believed he could park politics at the oval office door and procure. another term by concentrating on doing the right thing, forgetting that a president must be a politician in chief. talk a littl

. >> we will hear next from stuart eizenstat, chief domestic policy adviser to president carter. ♪♪ ♪rist believe for those in peril on the sea. o christ, the winds and waves submissive heard, who walked upon the foaming deep, and calm amid the rage did sleep; o hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea. o holy spirit, who did brood upon the waters dark and rude, and bid their angry tumult cease, and give for wild confusion peace; o hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea. ♪ o trinity of love and pow'r, your children shield in danger's hour; from rock and tempest, fire, and foe, protect them where-so-e'er they go; thus, evermore shall rise to thee glad hymns of praise from land , thee hymns of praise, thee hymns of praise from land and sea. , from land and sea. >> jimmy carter was as close to being a renaissance man as any president entering the oval office in modern times. he was skilled in an astonishing array of activities. farmer. businessman. nuclear engineer. naval officer. woodworker. painter. music lover. poet. author. sunday school teacher. c

we heard from a funeral, from jason carter, from stuart eizenstat.n. >> five minutes until the end of show. and joining me now is the one and only chris matthews, former speech writer and msnbc host of course joining us now. >> it is >> it is an honor to be part of history and to witness part of it but you were inside witnessing it firsthand, so tell me about it. >> it was so great to hear held the chief when we walked in because that was not something carter wanted to play. he did not want the imperial presidency. amazing grace i heard for the first time in a black church in jersey the last week of the campaign and i thought it was so beautiful because the black community stuck with carter when other people and other places politically. the loyalty there. i thought young's speech was so great today. >> yes, it was. >> carter had an african a american student room with him. carter had grown up in a white minority community in planes. >> his father was a segregationist but when he went to annapolis, he stood up for the only black shipman and when he b

stuart eizenstat you. you spent decades working with jimmy carter. you were his chief domestic policy adviser at the white house. you saw that beautiful, very moving, powerful memorial service at the carter center right now. what was your reaction? >> it was very meaningful that the morehouse college glee club was the one that spoke. and i want to make a bold statement. i don't think there is any modern white person in the 20th or 21st century who's so embodied the understanding of black aspirations and black struggles as he. he grew up in a county, sumter county, that was 60% black. his playmates, but not his schoolmates because of segregation, were black. he was virtually raised by a second family who was black. and when i went with him on the campaign trail in 1976, and we would go into black churches in newark and in cleveland, and it came time for the chorus and those churches to sing. he was right up there singing with them. i used to actually have tears in my eyes to think that these people had such a deep belief in god, even though they were

i mean, stuart eizenstat and jim fallows are with us, but hamilton jordan, jody powell, um, so many of the cabinet members have have predeceased him. but i believe the lying in state will start at about 830 this evening and go till late tonight. and then tomorrow as well. >> and i think i think it's 7 p.m., 7 p.m., 7 p.m. lying in state will people will be able to come up here to capitol hill and honor the 39th president and several of the supreme court justices are already actually have arrived. we've already started to see that they'll get a they obviously get an earlier access to to see him lying in state as he's initially brought here after this lengthy walk that jamie just noted here for this procession. i mean, people have already started to gather, wolf. we can see we're on the opposite entrance of where the actual procession will come into the capitol based on what it looks like from here. but we can see them preparing. they're already waiting outside for for his arrival to happen. um, we saw busses of the diplomatic corps coming in earlier to arrive. so you can see just everyo

let's bring in now ambassador stuart eizenstat. he joins us now.nn contributor and carter's former chief, white house domestic policy adviser. mr. ambassador, good morning to you. and as we watch the national park service and those who work there at the boyhood farm, what goes through your mind about how these moments and those early experiences informed his views and choices as president? >> so thank you, victor. the arc of his life goes from that farm that we're going to see, which had no insulation, no electricity, no indoor plumbing. they got their water from a windmill driven well and their connection to the outside world was a battery, battery powered radio. and the fact that he could come from that background to the white house is remarkable. but also, he lived in a county that was 60% black. his childhood playmates, with the encouragement of miss lily and his mother, were black. and so he understood in ways that other democratic candidates didn't. when he ran for president. and that was his policy director at that time. they were talking ab

as funeral services begin in washington, former adviser stuart eizenstat tells me what he thinks everyone

stuart eizenstat you were jimmy carter's chief white house domestic policy adviser. did you really anticipate that what we're about to see today, tomorrow, and during the course of this week, this enormous outpouring of love and appreciation for jimmy carter would, in fact, take place? >> i did, i did. i first met him in 1969. i had finished a year in the johnson white house and six months on hubert humphrey's presidential campaign came back to atlanta. and then a high school friend of mine, henry bauer, said, you've got to see this state senator. he's going to be the next governor, i think. and i had never heard of him. i went, in fact, to see the former governor, carl sanders, who was the odds on favorite. i went to see governor carter, a then state senator. carter, and he came into a plain room with a folding table and two metal chairs and work boots and khakis. and i said to myself, what am i getting into? why? why do i want to work for this guy? but it didn't take very long, wolf, to see that he understood urban problems as a south georgia person, he favored mas

. >> reporter: stuart eizenstat started working with carter when he ran for governor in 1970.r, jimmy carter grew up without electricity or running water just outside plains, georgia. still, carter would win admission to the naval academy and in annapolis, he started dating rosalynn smith. they married in 1946. she would become his most trusted advisor. >> they were married over 70 years. they had a love affair. >> reporter: carter had to abandon his naval career to take overet family peanut business when his father died. the kardas karlters moved back to plains and raised three sons and a daughter. this is you? >> yeah. >> reporter: this is little chip? chip carter is the second born son. he recalls that against all odds, his father captured the democratic nomination and with minnesota senator walter mondale as his runnen mate won the election. >> i, jimmy carter, do swear -- >> reporter: he says he helped arrange one of the most famous images of the carter inaugural. >> dad's secret service agent said we might want to do this. >> tradition shattering walk down pennsylvania a

and stuart eizenstat mentioned earlier, he he cut the white house staff down. he didn't want senior staff to have car services. and also, if you think about jimmy carter after the white house, one of the most enduring images that i think most americans have of jimmy carter and rosalynn carter had to do with, did i lose a microphone here? uh, there we go. the, uh, habitat for humanity. uh, president carter and rosalynn carter worked with habitat for humanity for, i think, about 35 years. they helped to build, repair, renovate, about, uh, i think it's 4500 houses in 14 countries with more than 100,000 volunteers. and the reason for doing that was because of the importance of affordable housing, something that jimmy carter cared about. and so from habitat to humanity to going back to his home in plains, georgia, where he lived, this very simple life, two very different men. >> and what's so beautiful is that as right now, as the nation is preparing to pay tribute to them, there are still families living in those homes and enjoying the fruits of that labor. and wha

jimmy carter will be honored at a state funeral today in washington joining us right now is stuart eizenstat to the deputy union and served in the clinton administration he is eulogizing president carter this morning. thank you for joining us this morning. i was hoping you could take us back to when you first met president jimmy carter >> thank you it's nice to be on your program. i watch it very frequently i actually first met him in 1969 when i had gotten back from the white house of lbj where i came and then was on humphrey's presidential campaign in '68 i met him in a very inauspicious ways he was in office in a building called the hert building with the only furniture being a table and twofolding chairs. he came in with work boots and khaki pants. i said to myself what am i doing here has this guy got any chance of being governor it took me two meetings to convince me he could bridge the rural gap from georgia who understood urban problems. he understood mass transit and modelled on civil rights and want ed to reorganize the government i was his policy director then and his campaign fro