ABC News
@ABCNews·19.3M subscribers·117.3K videos
Jimmy Carter's sweet friendship with young poet Mattie Stepanek
Posted
December 30, 2024
Views
11,790
Likes
257
Comments
21
Engagement
2.36%
December 30, 2024
11,790
257
21
2.36%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
2:49Now PlayingWeeks after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, with the U.S. still in the throes of loss and fear, "Good Morning America" had a special guest on the broadcast: An 11-year-old poet named Mattie Stepanek.
Stepanek had a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
Stepanek, who loved writing poetry and delivering inspirational messages, had openly praised the work of former Pres. Jimmy Carter, who he said was his hero.
"He's a humble peacemaker," Stepanek said. "He didn't do a peacekeeping mission and go brag about it."
On Dec. 4, 2001, Stepanek appeared on "Good Morning America" to discuss one of his poetry books. Then-anchor Charlie Gibson surprised the young boy by bringing out his hero: Jimmy Carter.
Mattie died in 2004 at the age of 13.
Read more about their remarkable friendship
–––
Subscribe to ABC News on YouTube
ABC News is your daily source of breaking national and world news, exclusive interviews and 24/7 live streaming coverage.
Download the ABC News app for the latest headlines and alerts
Watch 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events on ABC News Live
Watch full episodes of World News Tonight with David Muir here
Read ABC News reports online
ABC News is the home to the #1 evening newscast “World News Tonight with David Muir," “Good Morning America,” “20/20,” “Nightline,” “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, “ABC News Live Prime” with Linsey Davis, plus the daily news podcast “Start Here.”
Connect with ABC News on social media:
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
