Former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday after over a year in hospice care.
The Georgia native passed in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, at the age of 100.
President-elect Donald Trump shared a message on Truth Social in honor of Carter’s memory shortly following the news.
“I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter. 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.
“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.
“Melania and I are thinking warmly of the Carter Family and their loved ones during this difficult time. We urge everyone to keep them in their hearts and prayers.”
Carter served a single term as president from 1977 to 1981, surprising the nation with an unlikely campaign to obtain the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and a victory over incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford.
Carter’s presidency featured a mass pardon for Americans who fled the Vietnam-era draft, as well as the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.
Carter presided over high inflation and a hostage crisis involving Iran’s Islamist regime in the final years of his tenure — problems that brought about his re-election defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan.
Some consider Carter’s legacy following his presidency as just as significant as his time in the White House.
Carter personally negotiated an agreement with North Korea in 1994, a development that may have prevented the authoritarian regime from seeking a nuclear weapon.
Carter’s series of post-presidency negotiations ultimately merited him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, with the prize’s administrators hailing his peacemaking legacy.
The former president’s Carter Center also worked to reduce the tolls of disease in poor countries.
The Navy veteran and former governor of Georgia passed former President George H.W. Bush to set the record for the longest-living former president.
Carter was a devout Christian who testified to his faith in Christ throughout his life. He taught Sunday school at his church, Maranatha Baptist Church, for decades.
“It’s incompatible for any Christian not to believe in life after death,” Carter had said of a 2015 cancer diagnosis.
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