Biden cites Carter’s character as spur for early endorsement for White House
Joe Biden has given a short public address paying tribute to Jimmy Carter, with both official praise and personal anecdote.
The US president said that Carter told him in the past that he was the first official figure to endorse Carter for the presidency, back in 1976 when Biden was the Democratic US senator for Delaware. Carter was a one-term Democratic president, 1977 to 1981, before he lost to Ronald Reagan and had to leave the White House at the age of just 56.
Biden said of Carter’s passing yesterday: “It’s a sad day but it brings back an incredible amount of good memories. Today, America – and the world, in my view – lost a remarkable leader. He was a statesman and a humanitarian and Jill [first lady Jill Biden] and I have lost a dear friend.”
Biden said it “dawned on him” that he and Carter “have been hanging out for 50 years” and he recalled that the former president used to tease him affectionately.
Biden said he came out to endorse Carter for president so early because of the Georgia politician’s character.
Here’s the video of Biden’s address.
Key events
Edward Helmore
After his death was announced on Sunday, musicians remembered Jimmy Carter in posts on social media.
“President Jimmy Carter was a truly extraordinary man and a rare politician who always stood up and spoke out for idealism, compassion and human rights and particularly for the rights of women and those who suffered real oppression,” wrote Peter Gabriel, a longtime friend to Carter.
“Rest easy, Mr President. I’m sad for us, and happy for you. Your and Mrs. Rosalynn’s legacy of love will live forever,” wrote the country singer Trisha Yearwood. Yearwood and her husband, fellow country singer Garth Brooks, helped lead the 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity.
In a statement, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) quoted Carter as having said: “Country music is heard everywhere. It is the deepest expression of all that is uniquely American.” He had written those sentiments in regards to the 15th annual ACM awards in 1980.
Heart’s vocalist Nancy Wilson called Carter “an incredible bridge between policy and our humanity”. And the actor Jamie Lee Curtis wrote a brief tribute on Instagram that said: “Thank you for teaching us all how to be humans Mr. President.”
The rapper Killer Mike, who was born in Carter’s home state of Georgia, posted to X: “I am honored to say I have known a ‘Good Man’ who truly made a difference in a wicked world.”
Edward Helmore
Jimmy Carter will likely be remembered for his contributions to the arts – beyond being a three-time Grammy winner – more than any other US president, and one who is nominated again in 2025 for an audiobook, Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration.
Carter was well known for his association with musicians, particularly the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels, and Willie Nelson, who later confirmed he had smoked marijuana on the roof of the White House with the late former president’s son, Chip Carter.
Jimmy Carter won an endorsement from the Allman Brothers in 1975, three months before the Iowa caucuses. His 1976 presidential run, he later said, was helped by the band, which raised $64,000 for his indebted campaign, allowing Carter to double that with matching government funds.
“Gregg Allman and the Allman Brothers just about put me in the White House,” Carter said in 2015.
Flags are flying at half staff on federal buildings and grounds across the country in tribute to Jimmy Carter.
According to the flag code, the US flag should be flown at half-mast for the next 30 days at “all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels” across the country and its territories in Carter’s memory.
Joe Biden has also established 9 January as a national day of mourning.
Jason Carter, grandson of Jimmy Carter, has posted a moving cartoon on X depicting the late former president reuniting with his wife, Rosalynn, who passed away in 2023.
Wall Street to close to honor Carter
US stock exchanges will close on Thursday 9 January in observation of a national day of mourning in honor of Jimmy Carter.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq announced the closures on Monday, Reuters reported, in a customary gesture to honor deceased US presidents.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has recommended an early close on 9 January for the US bond market at 2pm ET.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Jimmy Carter will be remembered for brokering peace between Israel and Egypt which has offered “hope for future generations”.
A statement posted by the Israeli leader’s office on X reads:
We will always remember President Carter’s role in forging the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty signed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, a peace treaty that has held for nearly half a century and offers hope for future generations.
Chris McGreal
In May 1989, the former US president Jimmy Carter walked into the lobby of a hotel in Panama and made it known he was determined to be heard in spite of attempts by the country’s military ruler, Gen Manuel Noriega, to shut him up.
Carter was still widely held in contempt in his own country, where his reputation as a one-term president was crucified in the late 70s by interminable gas lines, Iran’s taunting seizure of American hostages and a general perception that he lacked the mettle to lead the free world.
In time, he won renewed respect through the myriad works of his Carter Center and its considerable efforts to eradicate diseases, mediate conflicts and press brutal regimes to reform.
Driven by a deep religious faith and missionary zeal, which others could find grating, he set about doing what he could not as president – changing the world. Part of that was to establish his centre as a credible judge of the fairness of elections as authoritarian regimes crumbled with the end of the cold war.
Panama was his first.
Read the full story: From Panama to Palestine, Jimmy Carter refused to let his moral voice be silenced
Ramon Antonio Vargas
The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, mistakenly offered his condolences to Jimmy Carter’s dead wife shortly after the Democratic former president died on Sunday.
Abbott’s statement sent “prayers and deepest condolences” to former first lady Rosalynn Carter and the rest of her family shortly after her husband’s death at the age of 100, as the Dallas news station WFAA reported. But Rosalynn Carter had died more than a year earlier – on 19 November 2023, at age 96.
The Democratic party of Collins county, Texas, seized on the blunder and wrote on X: “Did anyone in the governor’s office proof the condolence note?”
A couple of hours passed before Abbott’s office distributed an amended statement about Jimmy Carter’s death that removed the reference to his late wife of 77 years, as the Houston Press noted.
The revised statement read: “Cecilia and I send our prayers and deepest condolences to the entire family.”
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, joined foreign leaders in paying tribute to Jimmy Carter on Monday, hailing the former US president’s “defence of democracies and his dedication to peace”.
Carter “was one of the leaders most committed to justice and human rights and will always be remembered for his defence of democracies and his dedication to peace”, Sánchez wrote in a post on X.
Interim summary
Hello readers, thank you for following all the news developments and responses with us as they come in, the day after the death of America’s longest-lived president, Jimmy Carter. We’ll keep you abreast of reactions and analysis, both historical and contemporary, as the US loses a figure whose presidency was short but legacy is long and very relevant right up to today – and beyond.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The US government has ordered, by tradition, that American flags will fly at half-staff, or half-mast, on all federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels across the country and overseas territories for 30 days, as a mark of respect upon the death of Carter. This means flags will not be flying at their customary position atop the flagpole when Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, taking over the White House for the Republicans from Democrat Joe Biden.
Pope Francis has said he is saddened to learn of former US president Jimmy Carter’s death and offered “heartfelt condolences” and prayers to all those mourning his passing. He praised Carter’s commitment “to the cause of reconciliation and peace between peoples, the defense of human rights and the welfare of the poor and those in need”.
Biden has given a short public address paying tribute to Carter, with both official praise and personal anecdote. In the video, the US president said: “It’s a sad day but it brings back an incredible amount of good memories. Today, America – and the world, in my view – lost a remarkable leader. He was a statesman and a humanitarian and Jill [first lady Jill Biden] and I have lost a dear friend.”
The state funeral for Carter will be held in Washington DC on Thursday 9 January. The date has also been declared a national day of mourning in the United States. There will be a public service in Atlanta, the capital of Carter’s home state, and then the former president will be buried in a private service in Plains, his home town in Georgia, where he died yesterday.
World leaders, former US presidents and other prominent figures in US political life have sent messages and tributes to the US to mark Carter’s passing.
US flags to fly at half staff for 30 days
The US government has ordered, by tradition, that American flags will fly at half-staff, or half-mast, on all federal buildings across the country as a mark of respect upon the death of Jimmy Carter, who died yesterday.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs requires that after the death of a US president or former president, the Stars and Stripes will fly in its lower position on “all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels” across the US and its territories worldwide.
The tradition is carried out for 30 days, which means flags will be at half staff when president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated in Washington DC on 20 January and Joe Biden leaves the White House as president for the last time.
