Kamala Harris Honors Jimmy Carter In Eulogy, Calls His Life a ‘Lesson’
39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter refused to rest without casting a presidential vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. To return the favor, Harris eulogized Carter at his memorial service in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, January 7. The former Commander in Chief died on December 29, 2024, two months after voting for Harris. He was 100 years old.
As reported by People, Harris gave a heartfelt speech at Carter’s memorial, sharing that she was in middle school when Carter was elected in 1976 but that her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, “admired” him.
"How much she admired his strength of character, his honesty, his integrity, his work ethic and determination, his intelligence and his generosity of spirit,” Harris said about her mother, who died in 2009 following a cancer battle.
“We have heard much today and in recent days about President Carter’s impact in the four decades after he left the White House,” Harris continued. “Jimmy Carter established a new model for what it means to be a former president and leaves an extraordinary post-presidential legacy.”
In addition to mentioning his accomplishments, including The Carter Center and establishing the Department of Education, Harris also listed his achievements in bringing diversity to the White House. As Harris explained, from 1977 to 1981, Carter “appointed more Black Americans to the federal bench than all of his predecessors combined, and appointed five times as many women.”
Harris concluded that Carter steadfastly “retained a fundamental decency and humility.”
“James Earl Carter Jr. loved our country. He lived his faith, he served the people, and he left the world better than he found it," she said. “And in the end, Jimmy Carter’s work and those works speak for him louder than any tribute we can offer. May his life be a lesson for the ages and a beacon for the future.”
Eulogizing Carter along with Harris were House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. At the same time, President Joe Biden will deliver a speech at Carter’s formal funeral on Thursday, January 9.
