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Washington joined in mourning on Sunday after news of former President Jimmy Carter’s death was announced by Chip Carter, his son.
The nation’s 39th president was renowned for his committment to public service in the years after his exit from political life, and earned a strong reputation for helping America’s neediest families in his post-presidential years. After news of his passing was reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tributes began to swiftly pour in for the 100-year-old statesman.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Democrat on Capitol Hill, said: “President Carter personified the true meaning of leadership through service, through compassion, and through integrity.”
His Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell wrote: “President Carter served during times of tension and uncertainty, both at home and abroad. But his calm spirit and deep faith seemed unshakeable. Jimmy Carter served as our commander-in-chief for four years, but he served as the beloved, unassuming Sunday school teacher at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia for forty. And his humble devotion leaves us little doubt which of those two important roles he prized the most.”
“President Carter lived a truly American dream. A devoutly religious peanut farmer from small-town Georgia volunteered to serve his country in uniform. He found himself manning cutting-edge submarines hundreds of feet beneath the ocean. He returned home and saved the family farm before feeling drawn to a different sort of public service. And less than 15 years after his first campaign for the state Senate, his fellow Americans elected him leader of the free world.
Senator-elect Andy Kim of New Jersey, one of their newest colleagues, wrote: “President Jimmy Carter gave us a pure and lasting example of a public servant. His life and legacy will forever be a lesson on the power in one person’s will to do good. I’m sending love to the Carter family today as we honor his life and untiring, humble mission to help others.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of the Democrats said in a statement: “President Jimmy Carter was a statesman and humanitarian. As our country’s 39th President, he fought for the dignity of working families and the health of our planet – standing up for environmental justice and the universal right to clean air and water. Always a peacemaker, he was a force for democracy in all corners of the world.”
“In the decades after he left office, he and First Lady Rosalynn Carter continued to serve the most vulnerable among us. Their work at the Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity, and many other organizations saved lives, advanced human rights, and promoted opportunity and stability for those in need,” she continued. “President Carter’s service of compassion and humility leaves a legacy that will be admired for generations to come.”
Brendan Boyle, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania, tweeted that Carter was a “humble public servant”.
“May [he] rest in peace,” added Boyle.
This is a breaking news report. More to follow…
