Remembering U.S. President Jimmy Carter (Updated)

This news post was updated on January 7, 2025 after the passing of President Carter.

James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States, passed away on December 29, 2024. There will be a state funeral from January 4 to 9, during which Carter will lay in state at the Carter Center in Atlanta and will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, and that will culminate in a service at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9. He will be buried in Plains, Georgia, alongside his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023.

Remembering President Carter

January 9 has been proclaimed a National Day of Mourning.

Said U.S. President Joe Biden, “President Carter was a man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history. He embodied the very best of America: A humble servant of God and the people. A heroic champion of global peace and human rights, and an honorable leader whose moral clarity and hopeful vision lifted our Nation and changed our world.”

Biden ordered that “the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions for a period of 30 days from the day of his death.” 

Carter became a global humanitarian after his presidency. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

President Carter became 100 years old on October 1. He was the longest living former President, and his post-presidency was longer than any of his predecessors.

President Carter and Gallaudet

Gallaudet University had a special relationship with President Carter, both while he was President and afterward. As patron of the university, he signed all Gallaudet diplomas awarded between 1977 and 1980. He also visited Gallaudet twice, from June 14 to June 20, 1992, and again on October 4, 2010, and stayed on campus during his first visit.

Watch a WUSA (Channel 9) video from 1992 about Carter’s visit.

In 2010, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter joined then-Gallaudet University President T. Alan Hurwitz, his wife, Vicki, and a team of volunteers to build and renovate affordable housing in the Ivy City neighborhood near the Gallaudet campus. The volunteers included seven undergraduate students and several Master’s of Arts in Interpretation students. In heavy rain, they began to build six new houses and renovate six more.

Said Hurwitz, “Vicki and I enjoyed volunteering along with students and staff to help President Jimmy Carter in his Habitat for Humanity project in Ivy City.  It was raining hard but we went on with our work. I was hammering away on a platform right next to Jimmy Carter with his lovely wife Rosalynn standing behind him. In a pre-work meeting under a canopy, he gave a short speech saying that he’s a better ex-President than President. We also had a lovely lunch sitting together at a table in the Kellogg Conference Hotel along with the volunteers. It was a lot of fun chatting with him and Rosalynn and learning about their lifelong relationship with each other. They were so much in love.”

Carter said at a news conference later in the day that “Gallaudet has been one of the finest supporters of Habitat that I have ever known, in many ways…This is not just a new thing for Gallaudet to be helpful to others.” Reaching out to families in the greater D.C. community, he said, “shows the broad expanse of [Gallaudet’s] generosity and benevolence to people in need.”

Farewell, President Carter, and thank you for a life well lived.

Learn more about Carter’s 2010 visit to Gallaudet.