Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

Since losing the presidency in 1980, former President Carter has attended nearly every US presidential inauguration.

The only one he missed was President Joe Biden’s in 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He will be honored at President-elect Donald Trump’s ceremony on 20 January with US federal building flags flying at half-staff for 30 days.

Notably, Jimmy Carter’s passing lays bare the gerontocratic nature of modern US politics.

The two oldest living US presidents are now President Biden and President-elect Trump.

After Trump is sworn in, the two will achieve another record – they will become the oldest US presidents ever to serve.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

If you're just joining us, tributes have been pouring in from across the US and the world for former US President Jimmy Carter, who died at his home in Georgia at the age of 100.

• Just a short while ago, US President Joe Biden gave brief remarks in the US Virgin Islands, praising Carter - a long-time friend - for his "decency" and "human values".
• His Majesty King Charles called Carter a "committed public servant" who dedicated his life to "promoting peace and human rights"
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Carter "redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights"
• Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said Carter would be remembered for his "compassion, kindness, empathy, and hard work"
• President-elect Donald Trump said Carter was "truly a good man" who "worked hard to make America a better place"
• Former US President, Barack Obama, hailed Carter for "advocating for the public good - the consequences be damned"

Details of Carter's state funeral in Washington DC have yet to be revealed.

Stay with us for more updates.

Image source, Getty Images

President Biden has just finished his remarks in St Croix, ending with praise for Carter's "decency".

"Can you imagine Jimmy Carter referring to someone by the way they look, or the way they talk? I can't," Biden said.

"One of the reasons why we're looked to by the rest of the world is that the bulk of our nation, we've laid out what are values are," he added. "The rest of the world looks to us."

"He was worth looking to," Biden said as the remarks ended.

Biden has taken some questions from reporters about Carter.

He says one of the things he admires most about Carter was that he "never gave up hope".

There's a lots of "negativism" out there, Biden says to a reporter while answering the question.

"Folks, there's nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together," Biden repeats, a common slogan of his.

Praising his long-time friend, President Biden has referred to Carter as a "man of a bygone era" with values that could be an example for Americans and people all around the world.

While Biden noted that Carter was a US Navy veteran, Governor of Georgia and US President, he said that at his core, "he never stopped being a Sunday school teacher".

"He's a man not only of our times, but for all times," he said. "We can never let those human values slip away."

"We’d all do well to try be a little more like Jimmy Carter," Biden added.

Biden says he is not the only one who lost a friend, millions of people all over the world feel they lost a friend as well.

Biden says Carter lived a life by "his deeds".

Biden also spoke at length about the Carter and Biden families both dealing with the trauma of cancer.

Carter lost his father, brother and sisters to this "terrible" disease, Biden says from the podium. Biden's son Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46.

And Biden notes Carter believed that a solution was possible, that the US could work towards a cure.

US President Joe Biden has just started speaking. You can click watch live at the top of this page to listen in.

Speaking from St Croix in the US Virgin Islands, Biden begins his remarks by saying that this is a "sad day".

"America and the world, in my view, lost a remarkable leader," Biden said, adding that he was a "remarkable friend" over the course of more than 50 years.

Biden said that he was the first lawmaker to endorse him for president in 1976.

"Millions of people around the world feel they lost a friend as well, even though they never met him," he said.

While we are waiting for US President Joe Biden to begin his speech, let's take a look at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's tribute to the late Jimmy Carter.

He praises the former US president's legacy of "compassion, kindness, empathy, and hard work".

"He was always thoughtful and generous with his advice to me," Trudeau said.

His father Pierre Trudeau's time as prime minister partially overlapped with Carter's presidency.

"My deepest condolences to the Carter family, his many loved ones, and the American people who are mourning a former President and a lifelong humanitarian."

In a few minutes, we're expecting to hear from US President Joe Biden on the passing of former President Jimmy Carter.

Biden and First Lady Jill issued a statement earlier today, praising former president Carter. You can read that here.

We will bring you all of the updates from Biden's speech, and you can also click watch live at the top of this page to listen along.

His Majesty King Charles has issued a statement on the passing of former US President Jimmy Carter.

Here it is in full:

“It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of former President Carter.

He was a committed public servant, and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights. His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977.

My thoughts and prayers are with President Carter’s family and the American people at this time.”

Image source, Getty Images

Carter had said he intended to stay alive long enough to vote for Kamala Harris in last month's presidential election - and he did, casting his ballot shortly after turning 100.

The vice-president and fellow Democrat writes warmly of him in a statement she recently released, saying she "had the privilege of knowing President Carter for years".

"I will always remember his kindness, wisdom, and profound grace," she continues, noting she attended Rosalynn Carter's memorial service last year. "His life and legacy continue to inspire me — and will inspire generations to come. Our world is a better place because of President Carter."

Harris praises his work in office and also after leaving the White House, saying "he protected our air and water, promoted transparency in government, and brokered an historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel at Camp David".

"He reminded our nation and the world that there is strength in decency and compassion," she writes.

Image source, Getty Images

Former US President Barack Obama has put out a statement on Carter. Both men received the Nobel Peace Prize - Obama when he first took office and Carter 22 years after he left.

Obama describes how "hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews" of the church where Carter taught Sunday school, because of Carter's accomplishments in the White House.

After listing the Camp David Accords, Carter's work to diversify the federal judiciary and his environmental reforms while in office, Obama says others came to the church services "because of what President Carter accomplished in the longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history".

"But I’m willing to bet that many people in that church on Sunday morning were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency," Obama then writes.

"Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned."

Obama reflects on spending time with Carter and says that "he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service".

"Maranatha Baptist Church will be a little quieter on Sundays, but President Carter will never be far away – buried alongside Rosalynn next to a willow tree down the road, his memory calling all of us to heed our better angels," Obama writes.

The BBC's Americast podcast takes a look back at life of former US President Jimmy Carter, as presenter Justin Webb speaks to Jonathan Alter, the author of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life.

Have a listen here or on the BBC Sounds mobile app

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has just paid tribute to former US President Jimmy Carter.

He says Carter “redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad”.

The challenges from Carter's presidency linger 40 years onpublished at 22:58 Greenwich Mean Time 29 December 2024

22:58 GMT 29 December 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Forty-three years elapsed between the time Jimmy Carter left the presidency and the day he died.

Four decades seems like a long time - a record for a former US president - yet many of the challenges facing America in 2024 are not that different from the ones Carter faced, and at times succumbed to, in the late 1970s.

The US during the Carter years faced a crisis of confidence. Americans were grappling with economic turmoil at home and a range of challenges to US power abroad.

Fast forward four decades, and the players and issues are strikingly familiar - the economy and the environment, Russia, Afghanistan and the Middle East. Years have passed, the leaders have changed, but the challenges linger.

Carter celebrated the power of US diplomacy by brokering the Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1978, but the glow of success was fleeting.

The limits of American power were painfully apparent during the Iranian hostage crisis a year later, after US embassy staff in Tehran were taken prisoner. It took more than 12 months of intense efforts - diplomatic and military - to free them.

The sense of American helplessness contributed to Carter's election loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980, with the prisoners' eventual release coming just hours after Carter left office.

Image source, Reuters

House Speaker Mike Johnson says Americans' thoughts and Congress's prayers "are lifted up on behalf of the Carter family".

In a statement, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington says: "President Carter’s story was one of humble beginnings, and his life is a testament to the boundless opportunities available in this great nation.

"Because of his work in brokering the Camp David Accords and his advocacy with Habitat for Humanity, the world is a more peaceful place, and more Americans have a place to call home.

"No one can deny that President Carter led an extraordinary life of service to his country. May he rest in peace.”

The American flag at the White House is flying at half-staff, a sign the nation is in mourning.

When a president dies, flags outside all federal buildings are flown at half-staff for 30 days. This means that across Washington, flags will still be at half-staff on 20 January, the day President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office.

A president whose true legacy was better understood after the White Housepublished at 22:42 Greenwich Mean Time 29 December 2024

22:42 GMT 29 December 2024

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

Jimmy Carter was a one term president whose honesty wasn’t always wanted by the American people.

Following the Watergate scandal he promised the public he’d never lie to them.

He was straightforward about the country’s problems at home and abroad - inflation, energy crisis, the Iran hostage crisis.

He infamously gave a spiritual speech in which he talked about excess and not being defined by possessions.

His honest, but gloomy, outlook was a contrast to the more upbeat Ronald Regan - who easily beat him in 1980.

But there were huge wins that were more appreciated once Carter entered post-presidency.

He probably won’t be in the first rank of Presidents – but his long lived life means historians are able to fully assess his legacy both inside and outside the White House.

There are many full circle moments here for President Biden - who as the oldest living President, will get to oversee the state funeral for President Carter, the longest lived president.

Biden was the first sitting US senator to endorse Carter in his 1976 run for president. And now with Carter’s death, Biden becomes the oldest surviving US president.

Image source, Getty Images

Another former president has paid tribute to Jimmy Carter.

George W Bush describes Carter as "a man of deeply held convictions".

"He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country. President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency," he says in a statement.

"His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations."

"We join our fellow citizens in giving thanks for Jimmy Carter and in prayer for his family."