‘The greatest former president’: Suburban admirers reflect on Carter’s legacy
Chicago-area admirers of Jimmy Carter are paying tribute to the former president and humanitarian, who died Sunday.
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 Communications Director Erin Holmes met Carter in 2014, when the former president spoke at a Publicity Club of Chicago awards ceremony.
Then a spokesperson for Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and a member of the club, Holmes chatted briefly with Carter during a VIP gathering. Holmes recalled telling Carter how he was featured in the baby book her mother created as the man who was president when she was born.
“He chuckled,” said Holmes, of Buffalo Grove.
Holmes fondly remembers how Carter clutched her hand during their conversation. And when she told him about her work, he seemed genuinely interested, Holmes said.
“He struck me as spry and happy to be there and joyful to talk to people,” Holmes said.
Former Addison resident Keith Nelms recalled meeting Carter when the then-president was running for reelection in 1980. Carter stopped in Addison for a gathering at the home of supporter Hubert J. “Bud” Loftus, who would go on to serve in the state House.
Nelms remembers seeing the presidential motorcade and shaking Carter’s hand.
“(It’s) a memory I will always treasure,” Nelms, who now lives in Pennsylvania, wrote on Facebook.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a Chicago Democrat whose 5th District includes much of the Northwest suburbs, praised Carter for championing environmental issues and helping to orchestrate the Camp David Accords that led to lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.
But Carter’s greatest accomplishments, Quigley said, came after he left office.
“While his electoral defeat may have crushed a lesser man, President Carter only redoubled his efforts to serve the public, becoming in the process the greatest former president our nation has ever known,” Quigley said in a prepared statement. “His work, alongside former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at the Carter Center, with Habitat for Humanity, and his successful two-decade-long effort to eradicate the Guinea worm made him the epitome of a public servant.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville also praised Carter.
“His leadership forged a vision for America that centered around promoting human rights, morality, and international peace and stability,” Foster said in a statement shared on social media. “The moral position of our nation is far stronger thanks to his time in office.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Schakowsky of Evanston said Carter “represented the best of us.”
“Whether it be his work with Habitat for Humanity or his time teaching Sunday School, President Carter exemplified what it means to be a leader,” Schakowsky said in a social media post. “Let’s honor his legacy by showing kindness to all people.”