Carter's biggest legacy was his selfless devotion to others

Habitat for Humanity volunteers work side by side with people who need shelter to build a home for them. And Carter volunteered every year starting in 1984, with a hammer and nails in hand, to construct homes in the US and beyond.

"Habitat has successfully removed the stigma of charity by substituting it with a sense of partnership," Habitat for Humanity quoted Carter as saying. "The people who will live in the homes work side by side with the volunteers, so they feel very much that they are on an equal level."

This acknowledgment of "equal level" was a reflection of the deep humanity of Carter, the humble man who rose from the grassroots to defeat the only US president who was born a king. (Gerald Ford, the 38th US president, went by that name from about the age of 4, but in fact his name at birth was Leslie King Jr.)

According to Habitat for Humanity, over the course of more than 35 years, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who passed away in November 2023 at the age of 96, "worked alongside nearly 104,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,390 homes".

The memory of Carter as a sincere and caring man who personally helped build better lives for others should last as long, and provide just as much inspiration, as his legacy for playing a pivotal role in establishing the ties that have long since cemented the friendship between the US and China.