Dec. 29 (UPI) — Tributes from across the aisle and around the world have begun pouring in for the late U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Carter, the longest-living president in U.S. history, died Sunday at his home in Georgia, according to his sone. He was 100.
“A remarkable person who was the epitome of the phrase ‘public service,'” the British journalist and commentator Piers Morgan said on social media. “I had the honor of interviewing him 3 times, and he was one of the wisest, smartest, most compassionate, modest, and human world leaders I’ve ever met. A great man.”
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang called him a “role model on so many levels” and “truly altruistic.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg lauded Carter both personally and professionally in a social media post.
“President Jimmy Carter’s leadership, intellect, and moral example ennobled our country, during and ever since his presidency,” Buttigieg posted on X.
“Today, we mourn the loss of one of our most humble and devoted public servants, President Jimmy Carter,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, wrote on X. “President Carter personified the true meaning of leadership through service, through compassion, and through integrity.”
Praise came from both sides of the political aisle for Carter, who was well liked by his allies, but by his political opponents, too.
“A devoutly religious peanut farmer from small-town Georgia volunteered to serve his country in uniform,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said in a statement.
“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.”
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp praised Carter’s legacy, and noted the former president’s roots and his legacy in the state.
“As the only American president thus far to come from Georgia, he showed the world the impact our state and its people have on the country,” Kemp said. “And as a son of Plains, he always valued Georgians and the virtues of our state, choosing to return to his rural home after his time in public office.”
Another prominent and long serving Republican Senator, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, looked back on his time working with Carter.
“Pres Jimmy Carter was a man rooted in his faith The country grieves as we celebrate his life I had the honor of speaking at conf he hosted in Atlanta in 08 at his invitation We were bit by different political bug but hv much in common incl love of the Lord,” Grassley posted on X.
This is a developing story. Check back for further updates.