President Jimmy Carter was remembered today during a service at the Washington National Cathedral. Eulogizing someone and trying to encapsulate their whole life in just a few minutes is challenging. And to do so for someone who was 100 years old and contributed so much to our country and our world seems even more daunting. Yet, from his grandson, Jason Carter, to eulogies written by President Gerald Ford, z’l, and delivered by his son, Steve Ford, and Vice President Walter Mondale, z’l, read by his son Ted, and by President Joe Biden, each were able to capture the humble, spiritual, and determined nature of President Carter, z’l.
Throughout each eulogy, each recalled how humble and caring President Carter was. How the home he and his beloved, Roslalynn, z’l, built and lived in for almost their entire 77 years together, was unassuming, simple, and filled with the most precious of gifts, love. President Carter was a deeply religious individual who took the words of the Prophet Micah to heart. He lived a life in which he would, “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”
Throughout the service, it was shared how integrity and honesty were the cornerstones of his Presidency and how he lived his life. When he asked Walter Mondale to be his running mate, Mondale had only two requests: “I wanted to make a real contribution and I didn’t want to be embarrassed, as many of my predecessors have. He agreed, welcomed my full participation and directed his staff to treat me as they would him.”
President Biden expressed how Carter believed “everyone should be treated with dignity and respect,” underscoring the imperative to “give hate no safe harbor” and to stand against “abuse in power.”
Jason Carter, his grandson, described President Carter’s political life as “not just ahead of its time” but “prophetic.” President Carter was an early advocate for ending racial discrimination and mass incarceration, environmental conservation, and renewable energy. Jason noted, “Fifty years ago he was a climate warrior who pushed for a world where we conserved energy, limited emissions and traded our reliance on fossil fuels for expanded renewable sources.”
President Carter had a deep connection with the Jewish community as he was the first President to participate in a public Chanukiah lighting in 1979; he established the Commission on the Holocaust in 1978 which was charged with establishing a Holocaust memorial that would later build the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC; and brokering the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1979.
We know that in politics, we do not always agree with leaders or parties, and while these eulogies and memorials are only a snapshot of a person’s life and work, there is something so profound in each memorial that continued to be shared; President Jimmy Carter worked hard at living a life of integrity, truth, and compassion. He, and no person, is perfect, and one can find fault in any person. Yet, today, as our country remembers President Jimmy Carter, may we honor his life quest, to seek justice, show mercy and compassion to all, and be partners with God in building a stronger community, country, and world.
May President Jimmy Carter’s memory be a blessing and all the mourners be strengthened by his memory.
