Achsah Nesmith, who wrote speeches for President Jimmy Carter, has died at age 84

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

A trailblazing Southern woman who worked as a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter after covering the civil rights movement as a newspaper reporter has died. Achsah Nesmith wrote Martin Luther King Jr.’s front-page obituary for The Atlanta Constitution following his 1968 assassination and covered Carter’s first campaign for Georgia governor, which he lost. After Carter won the presidency in 1976, Nesmith became a White House speechwriter. She worked for Carter during all four years of his presidency. Nesmith, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, died March 5 at age 84. Her daughter Susannah Nesmith says she was inspiring because “she did things that people told her she couldn’t do.”