Dec. 29 (UPI) — President Joe Biden said “the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian,” honoring former president Jimmy Carter who died Sunday at the age of 100.
“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,” Biden said during a Sunday news conference after Carter’s passing.
“He used to kid me about it,” Biden recalled during the news conference, referring to Carter’s underdog run for the presidency. “I was the first national figure to endorse him in 1976 when he ran for president. There was an overwhelming reason for it; his character, his decency, the honor he communicates.”
Reaction has been pouring in from all over the world, including in the United States, from people in small towns and big cities, and from those who were his allies and adversaries on both sides of the political aisle in Washington, D.C.
Carter was propelled into the national political spotlight after an unlikely win in the nascent Iowa Caucuses in 1976, which, at that point in time, were largely an unknown event. His raw, down to Earth appeal to farmers and average Americans while campaigning in the caucuses gave the upstart Georgia peanut farmer, also the state’s governor at the time, the media attention, traction, financial jumpstart and momentum he needed, which the underdog rode all the way to the White House.
Biden went on to call Carter an example of “simple decency,” and that the former president lived a life measured by his deeds rather than his words.
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe,” Biden continued during the news conference while on vacation in St. Croix.
President elect Donald Trump also weighed in on Carter’s passing on social media. “I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter,” Trump said. “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 added that he and his wife Melania “are thinking warmly” about Carter and his family, that the Trumps are praying for the Carters, and urged Americans to do the same.
“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 continued. “For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Vice president Kamala Harris Vice called Carter’s life “a testament to the power of service,” as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Governor of Georgia and as President of the United States.
Carter was the 39th and longest-living president in U.S. history. The Carter Center said in a statement that he died at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by family. He had been receiving hospice care for nearly two years. His wife, Rosalynn, died in November, 2023. Jimmy Carter attended her funeral.
