AFSCME President Lee Saunders on Thursday said former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29, was “a man who embodied public service.”
In a press release issued on the National Day of Mourning honoring Carter’s life and legacy, Saunders said the former president, who served from 1977 to 1981, dedicated his life to “doing everything he could to protect and lift up his fellow man.”
“He served his country in the Navy. He advanced civil rights in Georgia as the state’s governor and later as president. He set a moral standard in the White House, proving the country’s highest office can be a beacon for human rights across the globe. And he never stopped working to improve the lives of others, building homes through Habitat for Humanity even in his twilight years,” Saunders also said.
Carter was the 39th president of the United States, serving a single term and losing reelection to Ronald Reagan. He began his political career as a Georgia state senator and served as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. During his post-presidency – the longest of any U.S. president in history – he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights across the globe, work that led to his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter was honored on Thursday during a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden delivered a eulogy in which he praised the former president’s character.
“Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me, and through his life taught me, that strength of character is more than title or the power we hold,” he said. “It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect.”
As public service workers, AFSCME members are inspired by Carter’s legacy.
“We will continue to do everything we can to strengthen and empower our communities, in his memory,” Saunders also said.