WASHINGTON, D.C. – Before being elected to Congress more than 40 years ago, Ohio’s Marcy Captur worked as a domestic policy adviser in President Jimmy Carter’s administration.
“Time moves so fast,” Kaptur said in an interview with Spectrum News, reflecting on the final days of Carter’s life.
When Carter became the 39th president 46 years ago, Kaptur’s life changed forever. She worked as an urban planner in downtown Chicago before taking a job advising government in Washington for three years.
“The president wanted to help poor communities in America, and he was very particular about that. So I was selected, interviewed, and got the job,” Captur said. spoke.
She calls it a “spiritual experience” and marks it with a photo that hangs in her Toledo office. The photo shows Carter as president, several Ohio congressmen, and Friar Geno Baroni, a priest and social activist who became Carter’s assistant secretary of housing. We worked closely with Kaptur on our efforts to support forgotten communities.
Ms. Capture is not in the photo, but Ms. Baroni signed the photo with the message, “Marcy – thank you for making all of this possible.”
Kaptur is now the longest-serving woman in Congress’ history. She was first elected in 1982 and credits Mr. Carter with inspiring her to pursue a career in politics.
“It was extremely important. It was extremely important,” Captur said. “That was the opening of a door that changed my life.”
She said Mr. Carter remained rooted in his rural Georgia roots even as he faced the international challenges that consumed his presidency.
Kaptur also praised Carter for creating the Department of Energy. The Department of Energy is an agency she knows well as the top Democrat on the House committee that funds the department.
She said she vividly remembers sitting in on a White House meeting between Mr. Carter and Adm. Hyman Rickover, who oversaw the Navy’s nuclear reactors.
“President Carter was a very intelligent engineer,” Capture said. “And he was a red, white and blue patriot. He was very patriotic, but he never wore it like some people who always wear it on their sleeves. That’s how he lived his life. That was who he was.”
Captur said Carter’s decision to spend his long post-presidency primarily on humanitarian work at home and abroad was, in her words, “patient” and “noble.”
“There are only a few times in my life when I can say I’ve had a president that I truly respect,” said Kaptur, 76. “And he was a very productive American citizen, both during his time in office and after he left office.”
