WASHINGTON, DC — At the 1976 Democratic National Convention, President Carter made a promise to our nation that “the people run the government, not the other way around.” With unshakable integrity, he carried that promise through every stage in his life.

Today, Young Democrats across the nation join in mourning the loss of President Jimmy Carter—a proud son of Georgia, a Governor, a Naval Lieutenant, a peanut farmer, and a champion of civil rights. As President, he established the Department of Education, federally protected over 100 million acres of land and water, and brokered historic peace deals (including SALT II, the Camp David Accords, and the Panama Canal treaties).

President Carter's humility was perhaps his most remarkable trait. He treated every person he encountered— whether a world leader or a volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity build site— with the same respect, kindness, and dignity. He reminded us that the true measure of a person is not in the power they wield but in how they treat others once they've gained it.

Today, it can be easy for us to feel disheartened by the future we face as a nation. Yet as President Carter once reminded us in his Inaugural Address: “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”

Now more than ever, we must uphold the unchanging principles of compassion, equality, and faith in humanity that guided Jimmy Carter throughout his life. Let them inspire us as we fight to expand voting rights, civil rights, access to healthcare, environmental protections, and reproductive rights. They remind us that, no matter how difficult the journey, progress is always worth pursuing.

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