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| Anne Cox Chambers, Media Heiress and Ex-Ambassador, Dies at 100 | Anne Cox Chambers, Media Heiress and Ex-Ambassador, Dies at 100 |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Anne Cox Chambers, the heiress to the Cox family media empire who went door-to-door campaigning for Democratic politicians, served as ambassador to Belgium during the Carter administration and helped bankroll museums and other causes, died on Friday at her home in Atlanta. She was 100. | Anne Cox Chambers, the heiress to the Cox family media empire who went door-to-door campaigning for Democratic politicians, served as ambassador to Belgium during the Carter administration and helped bankroll museums and other causes, died on Friday at her home in Atlanta. She was 100. |
| Her death was announced by Cox Enterprises. | Her death was announced by Cox Enterprises. |
| Mrs. Chambers was the daughter of James Middleton Cox, who was a three-term governor of Ohio, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1920 (he and his running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, were drubbed in the general election by the Republican, Warren G. Harding), and the founder of Cox Enterprises. | Mrs. Chambers was the daughter of James Middleton Cox, who was a three-term governor of Ohio, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1920 (he and his running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, were drubbed in the general election by the Republican, Warren G. Harding), and the founder of Cox Enterprises. |
| That privately held business grew to include newspapers, radio stations, cable television systems and one of the world’s largest automobile-auction businesses, with annual sales of more than $21 billion in 2019 and about 55,000 employees. Mr. Cox, who was born in a log cabin, started by buying a single newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. | That privately held business grew to include newspapers, radio stations, cable television systems and one of the world’s largest automobile-auction businesses, with annual sales of more than $21 billion in 2019 and about 55,000 employees. Mr. Cox, who was born in a log cabin, started by buying a single newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. |
| For more than 30 years Mrs. Chambers and her sister, Barbara Cox Anthony, had controlling ownership of that empire. Her sister died in 2007 at 84. Forbes magazine estimated Mrs. Chambers’s wealth at $12 billion in 2013, the year she dissolved a family trust and gave most of that fortune to her children. | |
| She had homes in Atlanta, Manhattan and Provence, France. | She had homes in Atlanta, Manhattan and Provence, France. |
| The two Cox sisters guarded their privacy. In a rare interview with Fortune magazine in 1991, Mrs. Chambers said: “The more anonymous you can be, the better. Why, then you can just do whatever you want.” | The two Cox sisters guarded their privacy. In a rare interview with Fortune magazine in 1991, Mrs. Chambers said: “The more anonymous you can be, the better. Why, then you can just do whatever you want.” |
| She nonetheless left a trail. In 1970, she and her husband at the time, Robert W. Chambers, were among the largest supporters of Jimmy Carter’s victorious run for governor of Georgia, giving $26,500. They contributed $39,400 to Mr. Carter’s presidential campaign in 1976. President-elect Carter appointed her ambassador to Belgium, and she resigned her chairmanship of Cox Broadcasting Company to accept. | She nonetheless left a trail. In 1970, she and her husband at the time, Robert W. Chambers, were among the largest supporters of Jimmy Carter’s victorious run for governor of Georgia, giving $26,500. They contributed $39,400 to Mr. Carter’s presidential campaign in 1976. President-elect Carter appointed her ambassador to Belgium, and she resigned her chairmanship of Cox Broadcasting Company to accept. |
| In Europe she attended NATO military exercises in military fatigues and hunted rabbits with Arab diplomats. “I received a check each month from the United States government, and I knew that I had earned it,” she told Fortune. At the embassy in Brussels, Mrs. Chambers paid tribute to President Carter’s past as a peanut farmer by placing peanut-shaped soap in the powder rooms and handing out gifts of silver-plated, peanut-shaped containers as gifts. | In Europe she attended NATO military exercises in military fatigues and hunted rabbits with Arab diplomats. “I received a check each month from the United States government, and I knew that I had earned it,” she told Fortune. At the embassy in Brussels, Mrs. Chambers paid tribute to President Carter’s past as a peanut farmer by placing peanut-shaped soap in the powder rooms and handing out gifts of silver-plated, peanut-shaped containers as gifts. |
| In a statement released on Friday, Mr. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, said: “Ambassador Chambers was an important part of our lives for over six decades. Her life serves as a path for fairness and equality for everyone and especially for women and girls.” | In a statement released on Friday, Mr. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, said: “Ambassador Chambers was an important part of our lives for over six decades. Her life serves as a path for fairness and equality for everyone and especially for women and girls.” |
| Her involvement in politics continued after her term as ambassador ended in 1981 with the arrival of the Reagan administration. During the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta she opened up her home for fund-raising. Her outspokenness caused a stir when she said that despite a strong race for the presidential nomination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was not qualified to be on a national ticket. | Her involvement in politics continued after her term as ambassador ended in 1981 with the arrival of the Reagan administration. During the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta she opened up her home for fund-raising. Her outspokenness caused a stir when she said that despite a strong race for the presidential nomination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was not qualified to be on a national ticket. |
| “I think it’s too soon for us to have a black president, but even if it weren’t, I don’t think he should be it,” she told Vanity Fair. “He’s sleazy.” The nomination went to Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, who lost to Vice President George Bush. | “I think it’s too soon for us to have a black president, but even if it weren’t, I don’t think he should be it,” she told Vanity Fair. “He’s sleazy.” The nomination went to Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, who lost to Vice President George Bush. |
| Some of her politicking was of the shoe-leather, door-to-door variety. In Mr. Carter’s 1976 campaign, she was part of the “peanut brigade” of volunteers that traveled to contested states. She did the same thing in later elections, including 2004, when she was 84, supporting Senator John Kerry’s bid to unseat President George W. Bush. She opposed the tax breaks — a substantial one in her case — that Mr. Bush had given rich people like her. | Some of her politicking was of the shoe-leather, door-to-door variety. In Mr. Carter’s 1976 campaign, she was part of the “peanut brigade” of volunteers that traveled to contested states. She did the same thing in later elections, including 2004, when she was 84, supporting Senator John Kerry’s bid to unseat President George W. Bush. She opposed the tax breaks — a substantial one in her case — that Mr. Bush had given rich people like her. |
| “It’s tainted money,” she said. “I don’t want it.” | “It’s tainted money,” she said. “I don’t want it.” |
| In a 2011 interview with Atlanta magazine, which noted that she had a cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama in her living room, she credited her father for her lifelong affiliation with the Democratic Party. “I remember someone asked Daddy if he would ever think of voting for a Republican,” she said, “and he said, ‘Sure I would, if I ever found one worth voting for.’” | In a 2011 interview with Atlanta magazine, which noted that she had a cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama in her living room, she credited her father for her lifelong affiliation with the Democratic Party. “I remember someone asked Daddy if he would ever think of voting for a Republican,” she said, “and he said, ‘Sure I would, if I ever found one worth voting for.’” |
| Anne Beau Cox was born on Dec. 1, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio. Her mother, Margaretta Parker (Blair) Cox, used the baby as a way to avoid talking about politics when appearing in New York the next year, during her husband’s presidential campaign. (“But please excuse me from talking politics,” she would say. “Anne is very well, thank you. Baby Anne was born last winter.”) | Anne Beau Cox was born on Dec. 1, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio. Her mother, Margaretta Parker (Blair) Cox, used the baby as a way to avoid talking about politics when appearing in New York the next year, during her husband’s presidential campaign. (“But please excuse me from talking politics,” she would say. “Anne is very well, thank you. Baby Anne was born last winter.”) |
| Anne attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn., spent a year in Paris and graduated from Finch College in Manhattan, which closed in 1976. She liked to say that she first went to Atlanta to attend the premiere of “Gone With the Wind,” on Dec. 15, 1939, and never left. | Anne attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn., spent a year in Paris and graduated from Finch College in Manhattan, which closed in 1976. She liked to say that she first went to Atlanta to attend the premiere of “Gone With the Wind,” on Dec. 15, 1939, and never left. |
| She married Louis G. Johnson six months after the premiere. That marriage ended in divorce, as did a second marriage, in 1955, to Robert William Chambers. | She married Louis G. Johnson six months after the premiere. That marriage ended in divorce, as did a second marriage, in 1955, to Robert William Chambers. |
| She is survived by two daughters from her first marriage, Katharine Rayner and Margaretta Taylor; a son, James Cox Chambers, from her second marriage; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One grandson, Alex Taylor, is the president and chief executive of Cox Enterprises. | She is survived by two daughters from her first marriage, Katharine Rayner and Margaretta Taylor; a son, James Cox Chambers, from her second marriage; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One grandson, Alex Taylor, is the president and chief executive of Cox Enterprises. |
| Mrs. Chambers had transferred nearly all of her 49 percent stake in Cox Enterprises to the three children after the family trust was dissolved, making all of them billionaires, according to Bloomberg. | Mrs. Chambers had transferred nearly all of her 49 percent stake in Cox Enterprises to the three children after the family trust was dissolved, making all of them billionaires, according to Bloomberg. |
| Mrs. Chambers was one of the first women to sit on the boards of Coca-Cola, Fulton National Bank in Atlanta and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, one of many local and national beneficiaries of her philanthropy, named a wing after her in 2005. | Mrs. Chambers was one of the first women to sit on the boards of Coca-Cola, Fulton National Bank in Atlanta and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, one of many local and national beneficiaries of her philanthropy, named a wing after her in 2005. |