Boston — The death of the longest-lived American president is bringing attention to his legacy of compassion and decency.
Flags at Massachusetts state buildings were ordered at half-staff through January 28th in honor of Jimmy Carter.
The 39th president of the United States made an impression during a visit to Clinton, Mass., back in 1977 during a push to connect with Americans in small towns.
Boston University presidential historian Tom Whalen said Massachusetts ultimately played a role in Carter’s landslide loss in 1980 after a single, tumultuous term.
“Unfortunately, for Jimmy Carter, the tie-in to Massachusetts is basically the ending of his political career,” said Whalen.
Whalen said Senator Ted Kennedy split the democratic party in 1980 and left Carter scrambling to hold on to the nomination.
“He was able to but at great costs,” explained Whalen. “By the time the fall election rolled along, Carter did not have the full support of the Democratic Party, and it arguably cost him the election.”
According to Whalen, Carter cemented an impression as the first president to push forward on renewable energy and for his deregulation of the trucking and airline industries.
“For the first time, regular, every day middle Americans could afford to fly across the country on an airplane,” he said.
Carter was famous for his work with Habitat for Humanity outside of his political career.
The non-profit’s Cape Cod branch posted a statement about his unwavering dedication that said, “He was a rare politician who didn’t just ‘talk the talk,’ he wholeheartedly ‘walked the walk’ as a Habitat volunteer and cheerleader. Incredibly, President Carter and his late wife, Rosalyn, had been stalwart supporters of Habitat since 1984.”
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