President Joe Biden mourned the death of former President Jimmy Carter in an address to the nation Sunday evening in St. Croix, where he is spending his final New Year as president.

Carter died on Sunday at the age of 100, months after becoming the first U.S. president to reach the milestone. He had been receiving hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023.

Biden called Carter “a statesman and humanitarian” and said he and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, had lost “a dear friend.”

Biden, who said he was the first national figure to support Carter when he ran for president in 1976, praised the former president’s character. Biden said his memories of Carter were limited to “decency, decency, decency” and Carter’s belief that everyone “deserves a chance.”

“Can you imagine Jimmy Carter walking past someone who needs something and just moving on? Can you imagine labeling someone based on how they look or the way they talk? I can’t,” Biden said.

Biden, who lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015, said the disease created a bond between the two leaders. Carter survived a cancer diagnosis in 2015, introducing the world to immunotherapy and giving new hope to cancer patients.

“Jimmy Carter was as courageous in his battle with cancer as he was in everything in his life,” Biden said.

Biden recalled Carter’s support for his family after his son’s death.

“Our son Beau died. When he died, Jimmy and Rosalynn were there to help us heal. Jimmy knew all too well the devastating effects of the disease. He lost his father, his brother, his sister to this terrible disease. When Jimmy was diagnosed, we did our best to comfort him,” Biden said, adding that the two leaders believed the U.S. could “end cancer as we know it.” , if they made the necessary investments.

Biden also recalled Carter’s relationship with Rosalynn, his wife of 77 years. She died on November 19, 2023 at the age of 96.

“It is a love affair that lasts forever. I will miss them both very much. It comforts me when our children say they are reunited. They will remain in our hearts forever, but they are together again,” Biden said.

The four living Former US presidents and lawmakers from both sides mourned Carter’s death on Sunday. World leaders also expressed their condolences to Carter, whose intervention in brokering the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt won him the Nobel Peace Prize.

“But what I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter is that millions of people around the world feel like they have also lost a friend, even though they never met him. “That’s because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words but by his actions,” Biden said.

Biden reflected on Carter’s work as president and after he left office, saying, “His compassion and moral clarity have lifted people around the world and changed lives.”

“Look at his life, his life’s work. He worked to eradicate disease, not just at home but around the world. He forged peace, promoted civil rights and human rights, and promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built apartments and houses for the homeless,” Biden said.

It was the second time this year that Biden honored Carter. In September, he recognized Carter in a video message ahead of his 100th birthday on CBS, calling him “a moral force for our nation and the world.”

Carter, an incoming one-term president, did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Later that year, the Bidens visited the Carters in Georgia, where “we sat and talked about the old times,” Biden said at the time.