Political leaders from around the nation are paying tribute to former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100.
“Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian,’’ President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement. “Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.”
The president, who was a Delaware senator during Carter’s time in the White House, said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter to be held at an indeterminate date in Washington. The Carter Center said that in addition to the service in Washington, there will be a public observance in Atlanta. Carter will be buried in his hometown of Plains, Ga.
President-elect Donald Trump expressed his condolences to the Carter family and said the nation owes the 39th president a debt of gratitude.
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans,” Trump wrote on social media.
“While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for,” the president-elect said in a subsequent post.
Many of those paying tribute to Carter lauded his legacy of service after he left the White House as well as his achievements as president.
“James Earl Carter, Jr., was a man of deeply held convictions. He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country,’’ former President George W. Bush said in a statement. “President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations.”
Bush’s father, the late President George H.W. Bush, was on the 1980 Republican ticket with Ronald Reagan that denied Carter a second term in office.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recalled meeting Carter in 1975 and said they were early backers of his 1976 presidential campaign. He “worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,’’ the Clintons said in a statement, citing the late president’s commitment to civil rights as a Georgia governor and state senator, his conservation efforts as president and his post-presidential work promoting democracy and building homes for Habitat for Humanity..
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama called Carter a “remarkable man” and said he “taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service.”
Carter had a complicated relationship with Congress during his rocky singular term as president. But current congressional leaders were effusive in hailing his legacy of service.
“May his memory be a blessing and an enduring reminder of what it means to truly serve,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said on social media.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on social media that Carter’s story “was one of humble beginnings, and his life is a testament to the boundless opportunities available in this great nation.”
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi referenced Carter’s deep faith and how it shaped his commitment to be a force for good in the world.
“At the heart of President Carter’s public service was his fervent commitment to honoring the spark of divinity within every person,’’ the California Democrat said on social media. “He always defended that spark: whether teaching Sunday school in his beloved Maranatha Baptist Church, brokering the landmark Camp David Accords to pave the way to peace or building homes with Habitat for Humanity.”
“As President, his work to restore integrity to the political arena during a difficult chapter in our history was a testament to his firm faith in the sanctity of the public good, which he always placed above his own,” Pelosi added.
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