Our Statement on the Death of President Carter | by Barack Obama | Dec. 2024

Our Statement on the Death of President Carter | by Barack Obama | Dec. 2024

Barack Obama

For decades, on some Sunday mornings, you could walk into the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, and see hundreds of tourists from around the world crowded into the pews. And before them stood President Jimmy Carter, asking with a wink if there were any visitors that morning – preparing to teach Sunday school, as he had done for most of his adult life.

Some who came to hear him were no doubt because of what President Carter accomplished in his four years in the White House: the Camp David Accords he negotiated that reshaped the Middle East; the work he did to diversify the federal judiciary, including nominating a pioneering women’s rights activist and lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal bench; The environmental reforms he introduced made him one of the first world leaders to recognize the problem of climate change.

Others were probably because of what President Carter accomplished in the longest and most effective post-presidency period in American history – overseeing more than 100 elections around the world; helped virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, an infection that had plagued Africa for centuries; to be the only former president to receive a Nobel Peace Prize; and, with his beloved Rosalynn, built or repaired thousands of homes in more than a dozen countries through Habitat for Humanity.

But I’m willing to bet that many people in that church Sunday morning were there at least in part because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.

Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters he would always tell the truth. And that’s what he did – he stood up for the common good, consequences be damned. He believed that some things were more important than re-election – things like integrity, respect and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter, no matter how deeply he believed, believed that we are all created in God’s image.

Whenever I had the opportunity to spend time with President Carter, I realized that he professed more than just these values. He embodied her. And in doing so, he taught us all what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice and service. In his Nobel Prize speech, President Carter said: “God gives us the ability to choose.” We can choose to relieve suffering. We can choose to work together for peace.” He has made this choice again and again over the course of his 100 years, and the world has become a better place because of it.

Things will be a little quieter at Maranatha Baptist Church on Sundays, but President Carter will never be far away – he is buried next to Rosalynn next to a willow tree at the end of the road, and his memory calls us all to look out for our better angels. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to the Carter family and to all who loved and learned from this remarkable man.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *