Gov. Janet Mills has ordered U.S. and state flags be lowered to half-staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter.
Carted died Sunday at age 100, nearly two years after he entered hospice care in Plains, Georgia.
He rose from the peanut fields of Georgia to the White House with the goal of helping the country heal from Watergate and the Vietnam War. But Carter left Washington deeply unpopular after one term.
His image was rehabilitated after his presidency because of Carter’s diplomatic and humanitarian work.
“President Carter led a remarkable life centered around service to others. As a peanut farmer, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, Governor of Georgia, President of the United States, respected statesman and humanitarian, and a humble Sunday School teacher, President Carter spent his life working to make our world a better place. He was the moral conscience of a nation whose words and deeds demonstrated that the human capacity for kindness and goodness is limitless. America has lost a true model of servant leadership. On behalf of the people of Maine, I extend my deepest sympathies to the Carter family,” Mills said in a statement.
Flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on Jan. 28. A state funeral will be held for Carter on Jan. 9.
Carter follows his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, who died at age 96 in November 2023. He has the distinction of being the oldest former president, outliving his predecessors and two of his successors. He also outlived his vice president, Walter Mondale, who died at age 93 in April 2021.
