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Nissan and Honda to attempt a merger that would create the world's No. 3 automaker TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda have announced plans to work toward a merger that would catapult them to a top position in an industry in the midst of tectonic shifts as it transitions away from its reliance on fossil fuels. The two companies said they signed an agreement on integrating their businesses on Monday. Smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors agreed to join the talks. News of a possible merger surfaced earlier this month. Japanese automakers face a strong challenge from their Chinese rivals and Tesla as they make inroads into markets at home and abroad. What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the automakers and the industry BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. Following is a quick look at what a combined Honda and Nissan would mean for the companies, and for the auto industry. Nordstrom to be acquired by Nordstrom family and a Mexican retail group in $6.25 billion deal Century-old department store Nordstrom has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. Nordstrom shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock, representing a 42% premium on the company’s stock as of March 18. Nordstrom’s board of directors unanimously approved the the proposed transaction, while Erik and Pete Nordstrom — part of the Nordstrom family taking over the company — recused themselves from voting. Following the close of the transaction, the Nordstrom Family will have a majority ownership stake in the company. An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump won a return to the White House in part by promising big changes in economic policy — more tax cuts, huge tariffs on imports, mass deportations of immigrants working in the United States illegally. In some ways, his victory marked a repudiation of President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship and a protest against inflation. It came despite low unemployment and steady growth under the Biden administration. What lies ahead for the economy under Trump? Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics spoke recently to The Associated Press. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. American consumers feeling less confident in December, Conference Board says American consumers are feeling less confident in December, a business research group says. The Conference Board said Monday that its consumer confidence index fell back in December to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Consumers had been feeling increasingly confident in recent months. The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market tumbled more than a dozen points to 81.1. The Conference Board says a reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. The internet is rife with fake reviews. Will AI make it worse? Researchers and watchdog groups say the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce detailed and novel online reviews has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. But AI-infused text generation tools enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume, according to tech industry experts. The deceptive practice is illegal in the U.S. and becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season, when many people rely on reviews to buy gifts. A tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews says AI-generated reviews have multiplied. Romanian lawmakers narrowly approve new pro-European coalition during period of political turmoil BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers have voted narrowly in favor of a new pro-European coalition government led by incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The move on Monday could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in the 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government on Monday night. Stock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened week Stock indexes are rising in afternoon trading on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 29 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. AI will eavesdrop on world's wildest places to track and help protect endangered wildlife PUERTO JIMÉNEZ, Costa Rica (AP) — A biologist hid 350 audio monitors across Costa Rica’s tropical rainforests to spy on endangered spider monkeys in order to help protect them. But she had to go back to collect the data and feed those sounds into artificial intelligence systems that can recognize monkey calls. Now tech giant Microsoft's philanthropic arm is hoping to supercharge AI-assisted wildlife research with new solar-powered devices that can capture sounds, images and other wilderness data for a year or more without human intervention. Researchers say more AI wildlife surveillance is urgently needed to monitor the health of species at risk of extinction. Many Americans have come to rely on Chinese-made drones. Now lawmakers want to ban them WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic and technological rivalry between the U.S. and China has come to the drone market, where Chinese-made flying devices are a dominant player in America. Lawmakers in Washington are seeking to ban new sales of Chinese-made drones, arguing they could be used to spy on Americans and that the low-cost models are hurting the U.S. drone industry. But U.S. users — spanning from police officers to farmers to mappers and filmmakers — have come to rely on Chinese-made drones, especially those by DJI Technology, for their work or lives. Florida has banned Chinese drones in state-funded programs, but also appropriated $25 million to help offset replacement costs.Horizon Science Academy of Lorain, 760 Tower Blvd. in Lorain, recently transformed its cafeteria into the cozy and inviting “StarBooks” Reading Cafe, where second-grade students eagerly showcased their reading progress to special guests, including parents and loved ones, according to a news release. The event was spearheaded by second-grade teacher Grace Brown, whose vision brought together families and students for a celebration of literacy, the release said. The joy on the children’s faces was undeniable as they confidently shared their developing reading skills, according to the release. Students practiced their literacy skills leading up to the much anticipated event. Each child proudly selected books to read aloud, and demonstrated their growth and enthusiasm for learning, according to the release. Guests were treated to delightful stories paired with cafe-style snacks, creating a warm and engaging atmosphere, the release said. The event was designed to achieve more than just a pleasant morning; it sought to strengthen the connection between home and school, according to the release. Parents learned practical strategies to support literacy at home, while students saw firsthand the value their families place on education., the release said. The sense of pride and accomplishment radiating from the young readers highlighted the importance of fostering a love for books and learning at an early age, according to the release. StarBooks Reading Cafe exemplifies Horizon Science Academy’s commitment to building a supportive community that values academic success, strong relationships and lifelong literacy. For more information about upcoming events and initiatives, visit www.horizonlorain.org . Horizon Science Academy of Lorain provides a college-prep curriculum to students in grades K-12 with a high-quality academic and social environment focused on rigorous instruction and high student expectations, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math. Concept Schools is a nonprofit charter management organization that provides a high-quality, STEM-focused and college-preparatory education through a network of charter schools while offering exceptional programs, comprehensive services and opportunities to partner in education, the release said. For more information on Concept, visit www.conceptschools.org .Israeli attorney general orders probe into report that alleged Netanyahu’s wife harassed opponents
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RIPLEY, W.Va. (WV News) -- When Movin’ in May began in 2022, the organizers had modest goals. “The was when people were still coming off of Covid,” Keith King, one of the leaders of the healthy living campaign, said. “We just wanted folks to get off the couch, get a little more active and try something new.” The first summer offered several activities, such as yoga, hiking, and bicycling. The popularity of that first Movin’ in May encouraged more options, like pickleball, in 2023. In 2024, even more choices were available. “We added water volleyball, expanded into the schools and saw even more people participate,” King said. Movin’ in May is kicking off a “Resolve to Reboot 2025” promotion on Saturday, January 4, at Epworth United Methodist Church. Realizing that group activities promote mental well-being and socialization, King said a January event could help with the "winter blues." All activities in this "Movin’ in the New Year" are free and targeted for beginners but are open to any skill level. “We want everyone to try and see which activities they like,” King said. “It’s going to be a relaxed and encouraging time. We hope you’ll find something that interests you. Plus, we will have informational programs and tables. WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital plans simple screenings for things like body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and blood glucose. Look at the schedule and see what you’d like to try and come on over.” Plans for the 2025 summer Movin’ in May are already being discussed. King said that disc golf and "beach" volleyball at Cedar Lakes are just two new activities being added. The "Reboot" will be from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the church located at 299 North Church Street in Ripley. Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. Call 304-532-1760 for information. Participants can stay for the day or only attend the activity that interests them. Hourly door prizes will be drawn, with a grand prize around 3 p.m. Winners have to be present. The "Reboot" schedule: 11:30 a.m. - Noon Registration Noon - 12:30 p.m. Cardio Workout (J-Fit Jen Scritchfield) 12:30-1:00 p.m. Warrior Combat (Brittani Mobley) 1:00 p.m. Dietary Presentation (WVU Dietician Jamie Sexton) 1:00-1:30 p.m. Zumba (Missy Wolfe) 1:30-2:00 p.m. POUND-Rockout-Workout (Crystal Wyer) 2:00 p.m. Presentation (WVU Medicine JGH Providers) 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Yoga (Jewels Whitley and Christine Coleman) 3:30 p.m. Hiking at Cedar Lakes (Rod McDonald) 3:30 p.m. Run/Walk – (Steve Sisson) 3:30-4:30 p.m. Beginner Pickleball (Kerynn Sovic) 4:30-5:30 p.m. Open Yoga
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WESTFIELD — Organizers preparing for the 70th annual Westfield River Wildwater Race are launching a fundraising drive to cover the more than $30,000 in cash they need to run the event. Race Chairman Harry Rock said that while participant fees cover about half the cost of the race, cash donations and in-kind services are needed to continue the longest running canoe race in the country. He is confident the April 19 race will persevere. “We discovered last year that the fees charged participants was not enough to run the races,” he said. “We nearly had to cancel the race if not for the generosity of some supporters and businesses who stepped up at the last minute.” “This year we are starting early and looking to our supporters to step up again,” he said. Rock said organizers are creating a guide for donations. Any amount given up to $100 falls under the “Starting Line” level, while a “Rapids” designation covers any donation between $100 and $249, followed by a “Kayak” for donations of $250 to $499. The guide continues with the “Canoe” level at $500 to $999, with “Paddlers” in the $1,000 to $2,499 range, where Rock himself has contributed. “White Water” donors contribute between $2,500 and $4,999 and “Finish Line” donors are in the $5,000 and up category. So far, JL Raymaakers & Sons Inc. and Roar Inc. have again taken the lead in contributing as the first Finish Line contributors. Last year, John Raymaaker, a longtime paddler in the races, stepped up when he heard about the potential cancelation and put up $4,000 in cash, then challenged his fellow business people to get on board. They did. Champion racer Travis Wheeler started a GoFundMe page that raised over $4,000. Indian Motorcycle of Springfield added to that, as did Pioneer Valley Waste, the Wild and Scenic Westfield River committee, Westfield Bank and others. As a result of the giving, the 69th running of the Westfield River Wildwater Race was launched on time. Rock, joined by the race director, Kathryn Koegan, adopted new operational procedures to better accommodate racers’ needs. A tiered registration system will offer early registrants a discounted fee, with prices increasing as race time nears. Start times, too, will depend upon registration times. Those who register early will have the earliest launches. John Raymaaker led off the Westfield River Wildwater Race Classic Race event in April wearing a special shirt for the occasion. (Dave Canton / The Republican) Dave Canton Rock is meeting with officials in each of the communities the race passes through, smoothing over relations. “We have met with the select boards of both Russell and Huntington, great meetings with the boards, and we are pressing forward,” Rock said. “The Westfield River dominates this area. We want to know how the Westfield River Wildwater Race can increase community involvement with the race and make it better for the people who live along the race course and the towns we are in.” The race is believed to have started as a bet in the early 1950s at the Whippernon Country Club bar, formerly on Route 20 in Russell. The first race in 1953 saw nine canoes shove off on the west branch of the river at Wildcat Springs Restaurant in Chester and run 10 miles to the Whippernon. Seven canoes finished and the prize was two cases of beer. In 1965, the course was changed to its present runs, with the novice race starting at the Huntington Department of Public Works yards on Route 112 and traveling eight miles to the paper mills at Woronoco. The expert race stars at the base of the Knightville Dam and runs five miles to the rest area off Route 20 in Huntington near the Huntington Health Center. Since that first bar bet, the Westfield River Wildwater Race has seen a lot of history and a lot of evolution as tastes and technology changed how people interact with the river. Jeff DeFeo first ran the race as a lark in 1974, the year he graduated from high school. “I was lucky we didn’t get killed because we knew practically nothing,” he said Saturday. “We weren’t dressed right, and it was really cold. We ended up swimming the first four or five times we were in the race, until we figured it out.” DeFeo has participated in the race every year since and went on to become the race co-chairman in 1983. With his paddling partner, Jurgen Igel, he ran the race for 30 years. But even back then, entry fees did not cover all of the costs. “We did tag sales and golf tournaments and a couple of dances in the off-season just to keep the funding up,” he said. Later, the race attracted several corporate sponsors and their giving took pressure off, something DeFeo said needs to happen again. “We did all our own timing, all our own registration. Now they are paying for things we never had to do. They are paying way more for police,” he said. Julie Marcoulier has seen a lot of the history of the race first hand, and made some herself. After 30 consecutive races, she is the longest standing female paddler. “In 1994, John DeFeo, Jeff’s brother, took me on as a paddler and taught me and my husband how to read the river and how to use different strokes,” she said. “We ran the novice race that year.” Marcoulier was instrumental in getting more women into the races as teams. “I was coaching girls’ cross country at the Gateway High School from 2000 to 2013 and I took four or five of my runners down the river to try to get them interested,” she said. Now, her favorite partner on the river is her daughter, Jesse Marcoulier-Gladu. “For the past eight or 10 years, my daughter and I have been racing in the expert competition,” Marcoulier said. “I started with Kathy Enger as my partner and we ran a female team. Then my daughter came up and we have been racing together for the past at least 10 years.”
New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): Hindu devotees in India and across the world are eagerly waiting for the once-in-twelve-year Mahakumbh beginning January 13, 2025, in the ancient city of Prayagraj. Over 40 crore people are expected to attend the Mahakumbh which is held once every 12 years. the Uttar Pradesh government is making extensive preparations to ensure that Mahakumbh 2025 in Prayagraj is a grand, safe, and spiritually enriching event. Also Read | WhatsApp New Features: Meta-Owned Platform Testing New Features Including Meta AI Shortcut, Scan Documents, Search Image on Web and More; Check Details. The Mahakumbh is boosting local trade with a surge in demand for Mahakumbh-themed products like diaries, calendars, jute bags, and stationery. As per a statement from the Ministry of Culture, sales of such items have increased by up to 25 per cent due to meticulous branding. Also Read | WTC Final Qualification Scenario: How Can Team India Qualify for ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 Summit Clash After Pakistan's Defeat During SA vs PAK 1st Test 2024. This 45-day festival, from January 13 to February 26 will showcase India's rich cultural heritage and spiritual traditions. The host Uttar Pradesh has set up a temporary city-like setup. Mahakumbh Nagar is being transformed into a temporary city with thousands of tents and shelters, including super deluxe accommodations like the IRCTC's 'Mahakumbh Gram' luxury tent city which will offer deluxe tents and villas with modern amenities. Renovation works of 92 roads and beautification of 17 major roads are nearing completion, as per the government statement. Construction of 30 pontoon bridges is underway; 28 are already operational. A total of 800 multi-language signages (Hindi, English, and other languages) are being installed to guide visitors. Over 400 have been completed, with the rest to be ready by December 31. Special provisions have been made for international visitors with multilingual signages and cultural programs showcasing India's diversity. Through these comprehensive efforts, Mahakumbh 2025 aims to be not just a religious gathering but a global celebration of spirituality, culture, safety, sustainability, and modernity. Over 2,69,000 checkered plates have been laid for pathways. Mobile toilets and robust waste management systems will ensure hygiene. Technology is being used to assist pilgrims. Among others, an AI-powered chatbot, equipped with multi-lingual capability, has been placed to assist pilgrims and visitors. This is an innovative experiment of its kind, with technology at its core. The AI chatbot will answer questions related to Kumbh in various languages. The AI chatbot is integrated with the 'Bhasini App' to give answers in various languages. The Kumbh Mela organiser has also set up a call centre to guide visitors. AI-enabled cameras are also being installed for security and amenities for visitors. The main bathing festival, known as the "Shahi Snan" (royal baths), will take place on January 14 (Makar Sankranti), January 29 (Mauni Amavasya), and February 3 (Basant Panchami) when the attendees' number is likely to be highest. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took stock of the preparations recently. He toured the under-construction tent city. He emphasised the importance of making arrangements for food and other things on time considering the cold weather. The Chief Minister also highlighted that separate wards for men and women are being set up and that shift duties for personnel should be strictly followed. Additionally, he instructed that ambulance response times be minimised during emergencies. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)By BILL BARROW, Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter’s in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter’s path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That’s a very narrow way of assessing them,” Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn’t suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he’d be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter’s tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter’s lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor’s race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama’s segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival’s endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King’s daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters’ early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan’s presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan’s Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
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