Federal Judge Approves Wisconsin’s New Voter ID Education Plan, Dr. Carter: Milwaukee Pharmacist And Community Pillar, The Worst President Ever

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James Buchanan was considered by many historians to be the worst president ever. We talk to a historian about how this popular conclusion came to be, and whether you can really compare presidents of different times. We also meet a neighborhood druggist who is embedded in his Milwaukee community. We also talk to WPR’s state capitol reporter about the news that a federal judge approved Wisconsin’s new voter ID education plan.

Featured in this Show

  • Judge Approves New Voter ID Education Plan In Wisconsin

    A federal judge has now approved Wisconsin’s new plan for additional voter ID education leading up to Election Day in a couple weeks. Earlier this month Federal Judge James Peterson ordered the state to increase education efforts for the voter ID law, especially for a petition process for those who can’t easily get a state-issued voting ID. We get the details from a state capitol reporter.

  • Neighborhood Druggist Has Provided Medicine To Milwaukee Community For Decades

    Dr. Lester Carter, Jr. has been providing remedies to his community since the late 1960s when he purchased a neighborhood pharmacy in Milwaukee.

    He talks about his military past, his path to pharmacy school, and his longstanding commitment to dispensing relief to his loyal customers.

  • How A Couple German Phrases Helped A Milwaukee Pharmacist Build A Community

    Drive along West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee and you’ll likely pass a quiet store labeled “Carter” on the front. This is the home of a pharmacy owned by Lester Carter, and it has been a fixture on the city’s north side for nearly half a century.

    It has seen neighbors come and go, but through the last 50 years, Carter has stood at the helm.

    Lester Carter is a transplant to Wisconsin from Omaha, Nebraska. But his journey to America’s Dairyland was slightly more circuitous. Upon graduating from high school in 1949, Carter, like many young men at the time, joined the armed services. Carter enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during the Korean War. He was in charge of the sick bay of the U.S.S. Tortuga, but also was part of the crew that helped remove land mines.

    “And boy, was that a hideous job,” Carter said in an interview with WPR.

    But after he left the Navy, his time in the sick bay inspired him to stay in the medical field, and so he decided to use his experiences and head to pharmacy school. This was a good, but challenging choice for him, he said.

    “Boy, I never dreamed how tough it was. Holy mackerel,” Carter said. “Eighteen hours of inorganic chemistry, organic physics. I’m going to go nuts.”

    Carter credits a kind neighbor with helping boost his confidence in the field.

    “Fortunately,” Carter said. “There was a fellow that lived across the street from me (who) was kind enough to help tutor me. And after that, I said, ‘Boy, I think I can make it.’”

    As Carter wrapped up his schooling and his internship in Omaha, he was occasionally asked to work in the pharmacy of a close family friend who had put down roots in Milwaukee. After several years of working in Milwaukee – and in two stores, the first burned down – Carter decided to open up his own store despite not really knowing anyone in the city. His decision led him to a store at 2400 West Burleigh St., where he has been ever since.

    “The whole sale was handled with a handshake,” Carter said. “Can you imagine that in today’s world?”

    In the late 1960s, the area surrounding Carter’s pharmacy was a predominantly white, German neighborhood. And, Carter said, he definitely stood out compared to his neighbors.

    As an African-American pharmacist from Nebraska, he was worried his patrons might question his aptitude at the job. So, he asked for some advice from the man who had previously owned the store. And what he got was a crash course in the German language.

    “He said, ‘Do exactly like I tell you’,” Carter recalls. “He said, ‘When the ladies come in the morning, looking around, the German ladies, you look them directly in the eye and stand straight and tall and say, ‘Wie gehts meine Frau?’” which means “How are you ma’am?” in English.

    When Carter asked what he should say to the men who came to his store, his friend told him to switch the end of the question to, “mein Herr,” or in English, sir. And Carter said simply learning a little bit of the German language helped him make connections in the neighborhood.

    “The next morning, I said that to the ladies and then to the men,” Carter said. “And they all said, ‘You know, that guy can’t be all bad if he speaks German,’ And from then on it was nothing but love.”

    The connection with the community helped Carter go beyond a pharmacist who filled prescriptions to being the person people consulted on other medical issues. Carter sees himself as treating the whole body, not just treating certain symptoms.

    One story he tells is of a mother whose child was suffering from the contagious fungal infection known as ringworm. Unable to go to school, the mother needed to stay home from work to watch the child. These predicaments encouraged Carter to go back to his roots to create compounds that would be safe and effective for his customers. The first compound spawned nearly 12 more compounds people still purchase today.

    After being a pharmacist for more than 40 years, Carter said his connection with his customers brings him the greatest pleasure.

    “[It brings me joy] When people come back,” he said. “I still work four days a week. And (people) come back and say, ‘I’m the third generation,’ ‘The fourth generation’, and ‘You took care of my grandmother.’ And ‘When I was a baby, and I had this, and you cleared it up, now here’s my grandchild with this problem,’ and that brings satisfaction.”

    And while Carter no longer owns his store, he’s still a frequent presence at the pharmacy during the week dispensing medicine and conversation in the neighborhood where he put down roots by simply asking, “How are you?” in German.

  • Rating The Worst Presidents

    In the lead up to this year’s presidential election, our guest talks us through the POTUS rating game, the demanding nature of the job, and why he says James Buchanan was the worst president ever.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Kate Archer Kent Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Karl Christenson Producer
  • Veronica Rueckert Producer
  • Laurel White Guest
  • Dr. Leslie Carter Jr. Guest
  • Robert Strauss Guest