Over the past week, Senator Reverend Warnock remembered one of Georgia’s favorite sons, President Jimmy Carter
WATCH: Remembering Jimmy Carter: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks to Channel 2 about their friendship
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) remembered his friend and former President Jimmy Carter. The humanitarian and former president was laid to rest on Thursday after lying in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. The Georgia native was the longest-living President who lived to 100 years old; he leaves behind an honorable legacy of humanitarian work and a shining example of a lifetime of service.
“[Jimmy Carter’s Presidency] captured my whole family’s imagination. I remember how happy and elated my parents were when this peanut farmer from Georgia, in whom they pinned their hopes, won the presidency,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “And to think that all these decades later, I would get a chance to know him personally, to have dinner with him and his family as I have, to seek his counsel and support, and then to pray with him in the months when he was in hospice, to visit with him, to read scripture, to pray with him, Christian brother to Christian brother, is a deep honor. And it’s something that continues to bless my life and inspire my approach to leadership.”
See the below coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock honoring the life and legacy of President Carter:
Senator Warnock on WSB TV Atlanta
January 7, 2025
“Jimmy Carter is one of my favorite people. He is an American hero and I’m so proud that he’s from our great state of Georgia.
“[Jimmy Carter’s Presidency] captured my whole family’s imagination. I remember how happy and elated my parents were when this peanut farmer from Georgia, in whom they pinned their hopes, won the presidency. And to think that all these decades later, I would get a chance to know him personally, to have dinner with him and his family as I have, to seek his counsel and support, and then to pray with him in the months when he was in hospice, to visit with him, to read scripture, to pray with him, Christian brother to Christian brother, is a deep honor. And it’s something that continues to bless my life and inspire my approach to leadership.
“[President Carter] went to the governor’s mansion, he came back to Plains. Prior to that, he went to the Navy, came back to Plains, went to the White House, it all led back to him to Plains. He never forgot where he came from and so that’s a lesson that I try to take in my approach as a kid who grew up in public housing on the west side of Savannah. I am mindful that I don’t forget those ordinary folks who center what all of this is about… the reason for seeking office is to serve the people who’ve given me this sacred trust, and Jimmy Carter had that, and he was so deeply committed that he worked like he was up for election in the decades when he wasn’t, right? He showed other presidents how to be an ex-president and that’s because he understood that leadership, service is not about an office. It’s really about an orientation. It’s a lifelong commitment and nobody embodied it in the late 20th century—the early 21st century more clearly than Jimmy Carter and he leaves that light and legacy for all of us to follow.”
Senator Warnock on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki
January 6, 2025
“Jimmy Carter was an extraordinary human being and a humanitarian. He was a patriot in the best sense of the word. Someone who demonstrates… what it means to make your faith come alive in public service. He did that in office and when he left office because he understood leadership is not about an office, it’s about an orientation.
“He never lost the depth of that commitment and kept finding ways to get in with another great Georgian, Congressman John Lewis called good trouble, all over the world.
“[President Carter] was a Matthew 25 Christian, as am I. He demonstrates that you can be clear about your particular faith identity without being oppressive towards folks who have other faith traditions or come from no particular faith tradition at all. That’s the covenant we have with one another as the American people. Jimmy Carter embodied it so well and he was a great missionary, if you will, for the best of the American spirit as he fought for democracies across the world. He worked to eradicate diseases, almost single-handedly got rid of the Guinea worm and changed the lives of people all over the world.
“We’re are saying farewell but in a sense, he is for the ages. His legacy shall never die.”
Senator Warnock on 11 Alive Atlanta
January 7, 2025
“President Carter is one of my heroes, and I’m so proud of this leading light coming out of Georgia. He’s the first president that I really remember as a kid and I never thought as a kid growing up in public housing that one day I’d get to know him personally.
“He would worship with us virtually on our online service every Sunday. His grandson is a member of my church. I’ve been deeply honored to walk with his family even to this very moment.
“Here’s somebody who really demonstrates to me what it means to make your faith come alive in public service. I often say I am not someone who used to be a pastor, but a pastor in the Senate. My work here, in a real sense, is an extension of my lifelong commitment to ministry, and I think that’s why I feel a real resonance with Jimmy Carter because he’s an example of what that might look like.
“[President Carter is] somebody who, as a Sunday school teacher, read Matthew 25: I was hungry and he fed me. I was in prison, I was sick, and you visited me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. And Jimmy Carter literally took those lessons and applied them to public policy. First as a president, where he centered human rights in American diplomacy… but then long after leaving the White House, continuing to fight for the most poor and marginalized members of the family. For me, that’s what faith is all about.”
Senator Warnock on WTOC Savannah
January 7, 2025
“Leadership is not about an office, it’s about an orientation. Which is why long after leaving the Presidency he continued to be a world leader.”
Senator Warnock on WXTX Columbus
January 7, 2025
“I think he’d want to be remembered as somebody who kept the faith. As somebody who put the interests of the country above his own political ambitions, long live his memory and may we all continue to be inspired by his light.”
Senator Warnock on V-103’s Big Tigger
January 9, 2025
“I think [President Carter] would want us to spend this time [ahead of his funeral] reflecting on what we can do for each other, how we can serve others.
“You know, this man literally, single-handedly showed other presidents what It means to be a former president, you know, he really created the mold for that well into his 90s. He’s a former president who literally got his hands dirty helping to build the houses of the poor even as they built their own lives. And it is because his project was humanity.
“I paid a visit to him about a year and a half ago. He had gone into hospice care and we didn’t know how much longer he would be with us and so I wanted to visit with him… One of the things I remember is going into President Carter’s study, I had spent the whole time in prayer and reading scripture with him and Mrs. Carter and [his grandson] Jason took me to the President’s study and There was this rickety chair in his office where he sat to write all those books. I mean, really, it was rickety, it was tattered. It made me think of my own granddaddy’s house and I could hear my grandmother saying, what are you gonna get rid of this chair? And it occurred to me that this was the former leader of the free world and he has such a humility and modesty of spirit…Jimmy Carter understood that it’s not where you sit in the world, it’s about the depth of your compassion and commitment to others.
So, I’m inspired by the capaciousness of his heart, the grandeur of his moral vision.
His clarity that all of us are connected and as Doctor King, another great Georgian said, we’re tied together in the same old garment of destiny, whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Jimmy Carter understood it.
Senator Warnock on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
January 9, 2025
“The world’s most famous Sunday school teacher was at heart a man of faith, and it was faith that drove him in the public service. It’s something that inspires me to this very day.
“His project was humanity, and politics was just a tool in the tool kit. So it didn’t matter whether he was in the Oval Office or working with Habitat for Humanity, literally getting his hands dirty as an ex-president.
“He spent his life, all 100 years, serving other people.
“His faith was not a weapon, as we see so often in politics today. It was a bridge, and he inspires us to this very day.”
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