Jimmy Carter “lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds,” President Joe Biden said in televised remarks addressing the death of the former US leader.
Mr Biden’s tribute, like many that came in from US and global leaders, focused on Mr Carter’s character, with the outgoing president describing his predecessor as seeming to be from a “bygone era.”
“Just look at his life, his life’s work,” Mr Biden said, speaking from the US Virgin Islands, where he was on vacation. “He worked to eradicate disease, not just at home, but around the world.
“He forged peace, advanced civil rights, human rights, and promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing for the homeless with his own hands,” he added.
Mr Carter died yesterday afternoon at the age of 100, after nearly two years in hospice care. He rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, and went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in his active post-presidential life.
Mr Carter was swept from office in 1981 in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor.
Along the way, he earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president – a status he readily acknowledged.
His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East.
His nonprofit Carter Center, founded in 1982, pursued diplomacy, election observations and public health work around the world.
The Carter Center confirmed that Mr Carter passed away yesterday afternoon in Plains, Georgia.
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son.
“My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs,” he said.
“We’d all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”
Known for his toothy smile, Mr Carter said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his single-term presidency.
“The rest of the world looks to us… and he was worth looking to,” Mr Biden said.
The remarks came as Mr Biden is preparing to move out of the White House, with Republican rival Donald Trump set to take office in January after beating Mr Biden’s vice president Kamala Harris in a caustic and bruising campaign.
“Some look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era with honesty and character, faith and humility,” the 82-year-old Mr Biden said.
“But I don’t believe it’s a bygone era. I see a man not only of our times, but for all times, someone who embodied the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away,” he added.
“We’d all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”
Mr Carter was the oldest living ex-US leader and the nation’s longest-lived president – an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer.
But the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the odds to enjoy a long and fruitful post-presidency, after four years in the Oval Office often seen as disappointing.
His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on 19 November 2023, at age 96.
Mr Carter is survived by the couple’s four children, three sons and a daughter.