Former Georgia governor and US Senator Zell Miller to retire from public life because of Parkinson's Disease (Atlanta: tenant)

[Born 2 Roll]

Former Georgia governor and US Senator Zell Miller is retiring from public life because of his battle with Parkinson's Disease.

I missed the initial news of this five days ago but thought that I would post it anyways just simply because of how important a figure Zell Miller is in Georgia history, including metro Atlanta.

Miller, who is 85 years old, did many things as governor that have helped set the stage for the continued robust growth and prosperity of the Atlanta metropolitan area and the state of Georgia as a whole.

Along with serving as governor of Georgia during the lead-up to Atlanta's berth as host of the 1996 Summer Olympic games, some of the most important things that Miller accomplished were the establishment of both the Georgia Lottery and the HOPE Scholarship (which is funded by the Georgia Lottery). As governor, Miller also pushed (though unsuccessfully) to remove the Confederate battle emblem off of the Georgia state flag before the 1996 Summer Olympic games.

Though the Georgia Lottery and the HOPE Scholarship have since grown in popularity, the move by Miller to push to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Georgia state flag was highly unpopular at the time with many Georgia voters and nearly resulted in defeat when he ran for re-election in 1994.

Nonetheless, Miller was narrowly re-elected to a second term as governor of Georgia in 1994 and ended his second term as governor as probably the state's most popular governor ever with an approval rating that was reported to be at about 85%.

Even though he was unsuccessful in his attempts to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Georgia state flag, Miller's attempts to remove the Confederate stars-and-bars from the Georgia state flag in the early 1990's set the stage for the Confederate battle emblem to successfully be removed from the Georgia state flag eight years later in 2001 during the term of Miller's successor as governor, Roy Barnes.

Before being elected governor of Georgia in 1990, Miller served as lieutenant governor of Georgia for 16 years from 1975-1991. Before being elected lieutenant governor in 1974, Miller served multiple roles in Georgia state government, including as the executive secretary/chief of staff for former Georgia governor Lester Maddox, a state senator and as a member of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Outside of state government, Miller served as a teacher, a professor at Young Harris College and mayor of his hometown of Young Harris in the North Georgia mountains.

In all, Zell Miller served as Governor and presided over Georgia government during a time of almost unparalleled growth and prosperity for the state of Georgia (...almost unparalleled growth and prosperity propelled directly by Atlanta's breakthrough onto the international stage with its berth as host of the 1996 Summer Olympics) while setting the stage for continued future growth and prosperity in metro Atlanta and the state with groundbreaking moves on education and changing the Georgia state flag.

Though his time as a US Senator was not as well-received, because of what he accomplished as governor (especially in regards to improving education and starting the push to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Georgia state flag...two moves that have contributed greatly to the continued growth, prosperity and viability of the Atlanta metro area/region and the state of Georgia as a whole), Zell Miller is one of my favorite Georgia governors.

"ZELL MILLER RETIRING: Former Georgia governor, U.S. Senator Zell Miller to retire from public life" (WSB-TV Channel 2, Atlanta)
ZELL MILLER RETIRING: Former Georgia governor, U.S. senator Zell Miller to retire from public life | WSB-TV

"Family: Zell Miller's public life has come to an end" (Atlanta Journal Constitution/Political Insider)
Family: Zell Miller’s public life has come to an end

[Southern man]

I liked Gov. Miller. He always seemed to be one of the nice guys.

[Carolina Knight]

I like and respect Miller. He has served Georgia well.