ATLANTA – Flags flew at half-staff across the nation Monday, a day after former President Jimmy Carter died at age 100 at his home in Plains.
Gov. Brian Kemp issued two executive orders following the passing of the longest living ex-president, one ordering all U.S. and Georgia flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings and grounds for 30 days and the other declaring a state of emergency in Carter’s home county of Sumter through Jan. 12 to bring all state resources to bear for the influx of visitors expected to attend funeral services.
President Joe Biden ordered an official state funeral for fellow Democrat Carter to be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9, a national day of mourning, while Congress extended an invitation to the Carter family to have the former president lie in state inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
“Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend,” Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement late Sunday. “But what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.”
Carter was born in Plains in 1924 to James and Bessie Carter, owners of a local peanut farm and warehouse. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland and went on to serve seven years as a naval officer, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
After his father’s death, Carter resigned from the Navy and came home to manage the family business. From there, he ran for the state Senate, serving two terms before being elected Georgia’s 76th governor in 1970.
He won the presidency in 1976, running as a Washington outsider in a post-Watergate era that found voters tired of the scandal and corruption that had led to the resignation of then-President Richard Nixon in 1974.
After a single term marked by inflation at home and the Iranian hostage crisis overseas, voters turned to Ronald Reagan in 1980, sending Carter back to Georgia.
But the nation’s only president from the Peach State thus far was nowhere near done with his career. He founded the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta in 1982, which continues to promote international human rights and global health initiatives.
Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts as a humanitarian and philanthropist.
Carter entered home-hospice care last February, several months after traveling to Atlanta to attend former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s funeral.
Georgia Republicans and Democrats alike praised Carter Sunday for his contributions to the nation both during and after his presidency.
“President Carter was an exemplary statesman who was respected by many and served our nation with skill and experience,” GOP Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said. “President Carter’s legacy will live on in the numerous nonprofits, charities, and organizations Rosalynn, his family and he started.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., called Carter one of his heroes.
“His leadership was driven by love, his life’s project grounded in compassion and a commitment to human dignity,” Warnock said. “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.”
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, who also chairs the Georgia Democratic Party, named her son, Carter, after the former president.
“Throughout his extraordinary life, President Jimmy Carter was a force for peace, human rights, and a voice for marginalized communities,” Williams said. “The once peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., became a Nobel Peace Prize winner, reminding us that everyday people have the power to change the world.”