As a young man, Sanders gave up his role as a quarterback at UGA to go off to fight a war, now 60 years gone. He learned to fly a bomber, which he named in honor of his home state. He dated a Hollywood starlet. He became a lawyer, then a lawmaker, then a governor — all by the age of 37 — then went on to become a leading business figure.
As a state representative, Sanders beat a segregationist political machine, bringing a moderate Democrat’s voice and vision to Atlanta. As a state senator, he urged then-Gov. Ernest Vandiver to desegregate Georgia’s public schools. As a governor, he oversaw a period of unprecedented growth, underscored by the growing demands of an increasingly urbanized state. Schools and airports flourised during his tenure. Big-time sports — the Atlanta Braves and Falcons — came to Atlanta while he was in office.
"Georgia is a different place today," Sanders said in a 2006 interview, when he was nearing 81. "In some ways, it's better; in some ways, it's not. It's certainly bigger."
As a businessman, he and two partners took about $300 and launched a law firm that now employs about 600 attorneys and has offices from Atlanta to Hong Kong.
Sanders spent his final working years looking at the Atlanta skyline from his 52nd-floor office. On clear days, he could easily see Stone Mountain. But he had a harder time discerning his legacy.
“Georgia is a different place today,” Sanders said in a 2006 interview, when he was nearing 81. “In some ways, it’s better; in some ways, it’s not. It’s certainly bigger.”
Georgia, better and worse, owes much to Sanders.
A reformer, Sanders helped bring a progressive government to Georgia, which had been dominated by lawmakers from rural areas. He sought to create a New South.
Sanders was born May 15, 1925, in Augusta, the eldest of two sons. His father, Carl T. Sanders, was a salesman and later a member of the Richmond County Commission. His mother, Roberta Sanders, worked at a dime store.
