Remembering the Legacy of President Jimmy Carter

President Joe Biden paid tribute to former President Jimmy Carter on Sunday, calling him a statesman and humanitarian who lived life “measured not by his words but by his deeds.”

“Some look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era, when honesty and character and faith and humility — it mattered. But I don’t believe it as a bygone era. I see a man not only of our times, but for all times,” Biden said, speaking at a podium in St. Croix. “Someone who embodied the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away. Although sometimes it seems like it is. We may never see his like again. We’d all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”

President Biden’s Tribute

The president addressed Carter’s death while on holiday vacation in St. Croix, an act that speaks to their decades long friendship and political allyship, connected by their deep-rooted respect for one another. Biden has long expressed an admiration for Carter, a sentiment that was palpable in the president’s statement Sunday evening.

Biden spoke for roughly 10 minutes, lingering to take questions about his memories of the late president, including when he became the first senator to endorse his 1976 campaign and the support the Carters gave him when he lost his son Beau to cancer. And when he was asked what incoming President Donald Trump could take away from Carter, Biden said it’s “decency.”

“Everybody deserves a shot. Everybody. Can you imagine Jimmy Carter walking by someone who needed something and just keep walking? Can you imagine Jimmy Carter referring to someone by the way they look or the way they talk? I can’t,” Biden said.

“One of the reasons why we’re looked to by the rest of the world for the bulk of our nationhood, we’ve laid out what our values are,” he continued. “The rest of the world looks to us. And he was worth looking to.”

Tributes from World Leaders

The former president’s death on Sunday prompted an outpouring of tributes from fellow presidents and political leaders all over the world.

Carter entered the White House in 1977 as a new kind of president, a peanut farmer who capitalized on being an outsider. He aimed to reform the political culture. But the 39th president gained widespread acclaim for the charitable endeavors he took on after leaving the White House. He wrote more than two dozen books, built homes for Habitat for Humanity and monitored elections, among other acts.

President-elect Donald Trump, who frequently and derisively compared Carter’s presidency to that of Biden while on the campaign trail, said Carter did “everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.”

“Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, also released a statement honoring Carter.

“From his service in the @USNavy, as Governor of Georgia and as the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter lived out his Christian faith and values with integrity and devotion,” Pence said on X.

Former President Bill Clinton recalled presenting Carter and his wife Rosslaynn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.

“From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia; to his efforts as President to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David; to his post-presidential efforts at the Carter Center supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity—he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” Clinton said in a statement with and former first lady and secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Carter “a great man, a great role model and a great humanitarian” in a post on X.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer honored Carter’s “vision and generosity.”

“My thoughts are with the Carter family and all those mourning this incredible man. May his memory be a blessing and an enduring reminder of what it means to truly serve,” Schumer said on X.

World leaders also paid homage to Carter’s legacy. “Whether supporting elections around the world and spreading healthcare solutions through the Carter Center or still building homes with Habitat for Humanity into his nineties, Jimmy Carter lives his values in the service of others to the very end,” said Keir Starmer, U.K. prime minister.

“France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on X, “My deepest condolences to the Carter family, his many loves ones, and the American people who are mourning a former President and a lifelong humanitarian.”

Carter’s death was particularly felt in his home state of Georgia, where he served as governor and lived after the end of his presidency.

“Among his lifetime of service and countless accomplishments, President Carter will be remembered for his commitment to democracy and human rights, his enduring faith, his philanthropic leadership, and his deep love of family,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on X.

Two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said that Carter was “a giant who never saw anyone as smaller than himself.”

“Jimmy Carter built homes, saved lives and tended to souls. God bless President Carter, may the family he and Mrs. Carter raised know only comfort in these days of grief,” Abrams wrote on X.

Flags are expected to be flown at half-staff at Trump’s inauguration in January in honor of Carter’s death.