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President Joe Biden sent a heartfelt birthday message to Jimmy Carter the day before the former president turned 100.
“Put simply, Mr President, I admire you so darn much,” Biden wrote on Monday.
Carter, the longest-lived president in the country’s history, hit the milestone on Tuesday. The 39th president has recently started “talking about politics again” after Kamala Harris took over the Democratic ticket and he plans to vote for her, according to his eldest grandson Jason.
“Your hopeful vision of our country, your commitment to a better world, and your unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continues to be a guiding light for all of us,” Biden wrote in a touching message.
Biden called Carter “one of the most influential statesmen in our history,” pointing to his commitment to “resolving conflicts, advancing democracy, preventing disease, and so much more,” like his work at the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity.
Biden continued: “It’s transforming the lives of people not only at home but around the world.”
The Democrat praised Carter as always being a “moral force for our nation and the world...That’s why I supported you so early,” alluding to his 1976 endorsement for Carter. “You’re a voice of courage, conviction, compassion, and most of all, a beloved friend of Jill and me and our family,” Biden added.
The president also remarked on how this will be the first year that his beloved wife, Rosalynn Carter, will not be there to celebrate with him. “It’s bittersweet, but we also know she’s always with you. She’s in your heart; she’ll never go away,” the president wrote.
The former first lady died in November 2023 at the age of 96, just two days after entering hospice care. Jimmy Carter has been in hospice care since February 2023. The former president has long defied the odds as the average length of stay in hospice care is 97 days and the median is 18 days, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization data from 2020.
Jason Carter shared an update on the former president’s health in June. Carter is no longer awake every day and “experiencing the world as best he can as he continues through this process” after losing his wife.
As of late, the fierce Democrat seems reinvigorated by politics — namely the prospect of defeating Donald Trump in November.
In August, Carter reportedly told his son Chip: “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris.” Early voting begins in his home state of Georgia on October 15.
