Zell: The Governor Who Gave Ga Hope

Zell Miller's entire life has been one of hope. Only seventeen days old when his father died, Zell was raised by his mother in Young Harris, Georgia. Watching his mother build their house stone by stone, he learned the ethics of love and hard work and commitment. Most of all, he learned of hope, the hope for a better today and a better tomorrow. His training in the Marine Corps and his time as a professor of history prepared him for a life in public service. Miller served sixteen years as lt. governor before becoming Georgia's 79th governor. On July 13, 1992, despite a severe strep infection, he delivered an unforgettable keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. With people on the floor holding signs that read "Give 'em hell, Zell", Miller brought hope to millions with his rhetorical gifts. As governor, he has brought hope to children all over the state in the Pre-Kindergarten program, installed a lottery designed to fund education, particularly the far-reaching HOPE scholarship program, addressed the crime issue, and administered a budget that led to cooking his own breakfast. He's led the tenth largest state in the nation, administered a budget larger than most Fortune 500 companies, counseled the leader of the free world, met with U.S.S.R. foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze in Moscow, had breakfast with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, and delivered a critically acclaimed speech to thirty million viewers, but inside he is that mountain kid who was never more comfortable than when he was where he could go to a window and see those familiar mountains. This is the story of a man who loves Georgia, so much so that he has given his life to serving his state. It is the story of the man who gave Georgia HOPE.