'Severely underestimated'

For Roy, Carter was a president "severely underestimated" and he needs to be reevaluated.

"I was in the United States when he became president, and I saw how his initial popularity decreased, and he was badly damaged by the Iran hostage situation," Roy said. "But the reality is that in his first two years really, he concluded more important international agreements than most presidents do in eight years."

Roy also gave credit to Carter for appointing Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve, who finally did what many economists said was impossible — curbing the raging inflation in the US that had reached 15 percent.

"Most people would say he was a failed president, and I would disagree with that position. I think he was a very effective president in certain ways but that he was not able to retain strong public support," Roy said.

When Carter retired, he devoted his entire time to doing good deeds through The Carter Center.

For Sharon Woodcock, wife of Leonard Woodcock, her memory of Carter always begins with his smile and warm words.

"He was pleased for Leonard when learning of our marriage plans. He took the time to write me a personal note of congratulations and best wishes for many years to come. Many months later, I met him in person and was greeted with a hug and broad smile," Woodcock told China Daily.

Carter's legacy also could be how he personally used the power and platform of his position in office and afterward, according to Woodcock.

"I think it should be said that he used that position 'to assist and mend' rather than 'abuse and corrupt'," she said.

That includes his caring about making lives better for others — making prostheses for landmine victims, eradicating tropical diseases and assisting with housing for the needy.

Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, started The Carter Center in 1982 as "a place to help people who want to resolve disputes". It is also an institution devoted to public health initiatives.

One of the programs is to eradicate Guinea worm disease. He once told Kai Bird, the author of The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter, that he hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm.

"Last year there were only 13 cases of Guinea worm disease in humans. He may have succeeded," Bird wrote in an article in 2023.

When Carter's team led the international effort to end Guinea worm disease in 1986, about 3.5 million human cases occurred annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia, according to The Carter Center.

In Beijing, The Carter Center planned and helped design a large prosthesis factory. It also carried out a five-year project to provide special education teaching skills at schools in China, training hundreds of instructors for teachers to address the needs of many Chinese suffering from disabilities.

Carter last visited China in September 2014, when he spent 10 days traveling to Beijing, Xi'an, Qingdao and Shanghai, to meet business and political leaders and university students.

"The year 2014 was the 35th anniversary of normalized relations between our countries, 110 years after Deng was born, and 65 years after my first visit to China and the foundation of the People's Republic of China," was how he recalled the trip in an almost poignant way.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com