It appears that President Carter has passed. RIP

Condolences to President Carter's family and friends.

He was a truly great human being.

My immediate reaction upon hearing this news was: "Relief." It was painful to watch him in his last days, since he obviously had zero "quality of life" left. But, he "soldiered on" like the sailor that he was. Still, it was long past time for him to be set free, to rejoin his soulmate, Roslyn. At long last, this has happened. They were not separated for long, and they will never be separated again.

I feel that Carter was foremost an honorable man. He served first the Navy, then the State of Georgia, then the Country, and finally in the diplomatic service – with honor and integrity. Yes, he made a lot of mistakes along the way. He did not receive a second term. He has been variously described as "one of the best Presidents" and "one of the worst." And, to my way of thinking, that's a pretty great thing to be said about you, when people say both of these things at the same time: "you made a difference."

In the end, I think that he was an honor to the offices that he served. He didn't always do it right, but he always – and, honestly – tried.

Agree or disagree with some of his actions as president (full disclosure--I voted for him and have never regretted it), he was a good and honorable man who lived a life of service, even--and perhaps especially--after he left public office.

He was indeed! He was a great humanitarian who put the needs of others before his own. His presidency faltered during the protracted Iran hostage crisis. This was one of several events that let to Reagan's landslide in 1980.

As an aside, at the time the hostages returned, I was working on North Capitol Street in Washington, D. C., just a couple of blocks from the Capitol.

Many of us, including me, left our offices to watch the welcome back parade for the hostages.

With regard to "the hostages," I personally believed that Carter had been maneuvered into a trap – and well did he know it. It became obvious that "the release" was both politically-motivated and politically-timed. But, when you are the Commander-in-Chief, what is the best thing to do "right now?" I think that he decided to let it happen. As a consequence, he would not receive a second term. So be it. He would celebrate with the others that the hostages had been released. He would move on. And, he did.

So far as I know, he never expressed "sour grapes."

Same here, and I believe we would have been much better off today if he was re-elected. He started to take on Climate Change at the end of his term, but Reagan reversed all he started. Thus help ensuring we are on the verge of exceeding 2.5C, probably next year.

RIP Pres. Carter.

One of, if not the, final interviews he said he wanted to live long enough to vote for Harris.
Sorry Jimmy, I had to laugh at that.

Not too shabby for a simple peanut farmer but sundialsvcs said it well, he was indeed an honorable man and that carried him far. As I don't have confidence in any sort of afterlife, I'm just glad he lived his life fully on his own terms and likely had few regrets and Family that loved and appreciated him, even Billy.

Documentary that just played, if anyone wants it.

https://www.pbs.org/video/american-e...-jimmy-carter/

2.08GB
Or, the master playlist for a smaller format.

Well, it looks like they have decided to go for "the Full Monte" State Funeral ... before quietly returning home to Plains, to finally lay him to rest in the family graveyard.

I suppose that it couldn't have been any other way. (Although both houses of Congress formally asked the family for permission to conduct the State Funeral ritual.)

Of course, Habitat for Humanity wrote an excellent memorial page. (With a link to a repository of photos ...) After all, Carter was out there working on projects when he was 97 years old! After first volunteering for a local project soon after leaving office, this entity became extremely important to him for the rest of his life. He and his wife volunteered every year from 1984 to 2019. "They drove nails."

Well, in the end, they gave him a proper "State Funeral" send-off, first in Washington DC and then in Plains. The latter with a re-creation by the US Navy of the "21 aircraft 'missing man salute'," first invented for George H. W. Bush, another former Naval officer. At the interment ceremony, they gave away five folded flags to somebody: the last (from the casket itself, I think) on bended knee. And, at the very end of the televised clip, an uncovered casket stood all alone above an empty grave in the dark of night.

Rest in Peace, Jimmy. "You have finished your course."

They say that his grave lies next to Roslyn's at the shore of a pond he dug himself, in a grove that is within sight of the porch of the house. The home site will now be converted to a National Historic Park. It will be interesting to visit there. They lived in that one modest home all their lives, except when in official residences.

for some reason there at President Carters funeral one song played were Jean Sibelius's Finlandia anthem.

Apparently, President Carter loved all kinds of music. He left some requests for music that he would like to have played at his memorial service. This might well have been one of them. (I know that "Imagine," which got some press-attention lately, was one of them.)