‘A truly good man’: Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton pay tribute to Jimmy Carter
All four living former American presidents paid tribute on Sunday to the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at age 100.
The condolences came from Donald Trump, the former and future president who is set to be sworn back into the White House next month, as well as Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who praised Carter for working “tirelessly for a better, fairer world."
Carter was the longest living former commander-in-chief in U.S. history, and his relationships with several of his successors put him in a unique position as a role model for post-presidency life.
"Carter was quite ambitious on human rights, global public health, election integrity and promoting democracy around the world," said Matthew Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University. "In some ways he was a more political ex-president than many of the other ex-presidents we've had."
Here is what the former presidents said about the life and legacy of Carter, the nation's 39th president who served in the White House from January of 1977 to January of 1981.
Donald Trump
Trump said Carter tried to "improve the lives of all Americans" when he was president despite the challenges he faced.
“Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media website, Truth Social. “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.
“For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” wrote Trump, the nation's 45th president and who on January 20 will also become it's 47th president after winning a second non-consecutive term this fall.
Carter had initially defended Trump during the Republican's presidency, saying in a 2017 interview how he thought the media had been "harder on Trump than any other" White House occupant. But less than a year later, Carter expressed concern about growing racial and other divisions in the U.S. following the 2016 election won by Trump.
During a 2018 appearance on "The Late Show," television host Stephen Colbert asked Carter whether America wants "kind of a jerk as president." Carter's reply: "Apparently, from this recent election, yes."
Carter later said Trump ascended to the presidency due to Russian interference, and Trump responded by calling Carter a "nice man" but a "terrible president."
On Carter's 100th birthday in October, Trump took aim at his predecessor's time in office, as well as President Joe Biden. Trump said Biden had replaced Carter as the worst president in American history.
"Jimmy Carter is the happiest man because Jimmy Carter is considered a brilliant president by comparison," Trump said at a campaign stop in Waunakee, Wisconsin.
In a second post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said he "strongly disagreed" with Carter philosophically and politically, but that he "truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for."
"He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect," Trump wrote. "He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office."
Barack Obama
Obama, the nation's 44th president, praised Carter's "decency" while leading the country and after he left the White House.
"Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned," Obama, the country's 45th president, said in a statement. "He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion.
"Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image," added Obama, who served as president from January of 2009 until January of 2017.
Early in Obama's first term, Carter said during a TV interview that he believed the "overwhelming portion" of opposition toward the nation's first Black president was due to his race.
"And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country," Carter said in 2009.
That didn't stop Carter from airing his own disagreements with Obama.
At one point during Obama's tenure, Carter questioned the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State, specifically the use of aerial drones. Then in 2014, Carter suggested the Democratic leader was avoiding talking about race, and that it "might be an embarrassment to President Obama to single out African American people." Carter also commented about how Obama never reached out for advice, and that he didn't have his email address.
In his statement on Sunday, Obama said Carter's values led him to choices that made the world better.
"In doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service," Obama said. "In his Nobel acceptance speech, President Carter said, 'God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace.' He made that choice again and again over the course of his 100 years, and the world is better for it."
George W. Bush
Bush, the nation's 43rd president, said Carter "was a man of deeply held convictions" and offered his condolences to the Carter family.
"He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country," Bush said in a statement. "President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations.
"We join our fellow citizens in giving thanks for Jimmy Carter and in prayer for his family," Bush said.
Historians note that Carter and Bush share a deep faith and had "evangelical" style in their presidencies, which they expressed in polar opposite ways.
That contrast was widely seen in foreign policy. For example, Carter used his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 2002, which came during the lead up to the United States' invasion of Iraq, to spotlight his religious beliefs.
“I worship Jesus Christ, whom we Christians consider to be the Prince of Peace,” he said. "...We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children."
Bush had reportedly underscored how his faith was a chief engine in deciding to overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
"I do believe there is an Almighty, and I believe that a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom," he told New York Times columnist David Brooks in 2007.
That same year Carter had blasted the Bush administration's foreign policy decisions, saying that "as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." Bush pushed back at the time, saying in response to Carter that going to war was necessary.
“We’re at war with an enemy that is relentless and determined," Bush said. "And it’s essential that the decisions I make protect the American people as best as we can."
Bill Clinton
“Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life,” Clinton, the country's 42nd president, said in a statement on Sunday. “Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others— until the very end.”
Clinton's 1992 White House victory marked the first time a Democrat won a presidential election since Carter in 1976. According to Clinton's presidential library, Clinton at the time said he and Carter were, "as different as daylight and dark."
Carter had refused to endorse Clinton during the 1992 Democratic primaries, saying "people are looking for somebody who is honest and tells the truth."
But during Clinton's White House tenure, the president looked to Carter for help on international matters, such as cooling relations with North Korean President Kim Il Sung, who was attempting to militarize plutonium fuel rods.
In 1999, Clinton awarded Carter and his wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Clinton in his statement also praised Carter for working “tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” highlighting his work on civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia, as well as his efforts as president to protect natural resources and promote energy conservation, return the Panama Canal to Panama and to secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former presidents react to Jimmy Carter's death