Sunday, December 29, 2024–5:45 p.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Georgians are remembering former President Jimmy Carter, who has passed away at the age of 100.
Carter was elected president in 1976.
Before that, he served as Georgia’s Governor from 1971 to 1975.
Current Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued a statement Sunday, which read:
“As the only American President thus far to come from Georgia, he showed the world the impact our state and its people have on the country. As a son of Plains, he always valued Georgians and the virtues of our state, choosing to return to his rural home after his time in public office.”
After leaving the presidency, Carter remained active through his work with the Carter Center and most notably with Habitat for Humanity. He was involved in a number of diplomatic efforts, helped raise funds for the recovery following Hurricane Katrina, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his humanitarian efforts. He is one of only four presidents to receive a Nobel—the others being Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Barack Obama.
Georgia U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock issued a statement on Sunday:
“President Carter was one of my heroes. His leadership was driven by love, his life’s project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity. For those of us who have the privilege of representing our communities in elected office, Jimmy Carter is a shining example of what it means to make your faith come alive through the noble work of public service.”
“I’m honored to have had the opportunity to know President Carter—the first president I remember from my childhood, and someone with whom I developed a meaningful friendship. He brought his family to worship at my church. At a family dinner, I remember the President and his amazing wife, Rosalyn, holding my daughter, then just two months old, as if she were their own granddaughter. They were among my favorite people.”
“President Carter taught us through his example that it’s not the office you hold but the orientation you have that gives you the ability to serve effectively. A moral powerhouse, he moved us closer toward our highest ideals while in the governor’s mansion and the White House, but perhaps even more so after leaving the presidency. A former president, he got his hands dirty, literally building people’s homes while helping them build their lives. President Carter was a Matthew 25 Christian. He believed, as I do, that the true test of your faith is the depth of your commitment to the most marginalized members of the human family. I believe he passed that test and has now graduated into immortality. Democracies around the world are stronger and children across the globe are alive today because of President Carter’s work—what a legacy to leave.”
“Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.”
As president, Carter’s most notable accomplishment was his brokering of the Camp David Peace Accords, which ended years of war between Egypt and Israel. That treaty still stands today.
Carter was preceded in death by Rosalyn Carter, his wife of 77 years on October 19, 2023.
In his farewell address to the nation on January 14, 1981, Carter focused on human rights, a cause he would champion for the rest of his life, and liberty.
“The fundamental force that unites us is not kinship, or place of origin, or religious preference. The love of liberty is a common blood that flows in our American veins.”
He concluded:
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to express to you the gratitude I feel. Thank you, fellow citizens, and farewell.”