UPDATED, with further Biden remarks: President Joe Biden paid tribute to his “nice good friend” and predecessor within the White Home, Jimmy Carter, as a person of “easy decency” who “lived a life measured not by phrases, however by his deeds.”
In remarks in St. Croix within the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place Biden is on trip, the president additionally recalled the help that Carter and his spouse, Rosalynn, gave to him after his son, Beau, died of most cancers.
“Jimmy knew the ravages of the illness too nicely,” Biden stated. “He misplaced his father, his brother, his sisters, to this horrible illness. So when Jimmy was identified, we did our greatest to consolation him.” Carter’s mind most cancers, identified in 2015, went into remission.
“In right this moment’s world, somebody may [look] at Jimmy Carter and see a person of a bygone period with honesty and character. Religion and humility mattered. However I don’t consider it’s a bygone period. I see a person not solely of our time, however for all instances, somebody who embodies probably the most elementary human values we are able to by no means let slip away.”
Like Carter, Biden is leaving workplace after one time period. A reporter requested the president what impressed him concerning the thirty ninth president, whose post-presidential humanitarian work helped earn him the Nobel Peace Prize.
“By no means quit hope. By no means quit hope,” Biden stated. “I imply it from the underside of my coronary heart. A lot adverse this month.”
“I believe that what Jimmy Carter is an instance of is simply easy decency, easy decency, and I believe that’s what the remainder of the world seems to America for,” Biden stated.
In an earlier assertion, Biden stated that he will probably be ordering an official state funeral for the previous president, however that particulars had been nonetheless being organized with Carter’s household.
Historically, throughout such ceremonies, the previous president lies in state on the Capitol Rotunda, adopted by a funeral at Washington Nationwide Cathedral. The flag on the White Home additionally was lowered to half employees this night.
“At the moment, America and the world misplaced a unprecedented chief, statesman and humanitarian,” Biden stated in his assertion.
“Over six a long time, we had the dignity of calling Jimmy Carter an expensive good friend. However, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, although, is that thousands and thousands of individuals all through America and the world who by no means met him considered him as an expensive good friend as nicely.”
Biden stated final yr that Carter had requested him to ship his eulogy. Biden was the primary sitting U.S. senator to endorse Carter’s presidential bid in 1975, when his run for the White Home was nonetheless thought of a protracted shot bid.
“Along with his compassion and ethical readability, he labored to eradicate illness, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and truthful elections, home the homeless, and at all times advocate for the least amongst us. He saved, lifted, and adjusted the lives of individuals all throughout the globe,” Biden stated.
“He was a person of nice character and braveness, hope and optimism. We are going to at all times cherish seeing him and Rosalynn collectively. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership and their humble management is the definition of patriotism.”
Biden and First Girl Jill Biden visited Carter and Rosalynn Carter at their residence in Plains in 2021. “We sat and talked concerning the previous days,” Biden stated, per the AP. Rosalynn Carter died final yr. The Carters had been married for 77 years.
“We are going to miss them each dearly, however take solace realizing they’re reunited as soon as once more and can stay perpetually in our hearts,” Biden stated in his assertion.
“To your complete Carter household, we ship our gratitude for sharing them with America and the world. To their employees – from the earliest days to the ultimate ones – we’ve little doubt that you’ll proceed to do the nice works that keep it up their legacy.
“And to the entire younger individuals on this nation and for anybody searching for what it means to dwell a lifetime of objective and which means – the nice life – examine Jimmy Carter, a person of precept, religion, and humility. He confirmed that we’re nice nation as a result of we’re an excellent individuals – respectable and honorable, brave and compassionate, humble and robust.”
The Carters had been current on the final state funeral, held in 2018 for former President George H.W. Bush.
