Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States, and whose global humanitarian work after office—many argue—made him one of America’s most-beloved former leaders, has died. He was 100. Carter was the oldest and longest-living president in the nation’s history—a life that took him from a peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, to the highest peaks of political life, and subsequently across the globe during an extraordinary four-decades-long post-presidential career as a peacekeeper and humanitarian fiercely devoted to the struggle for human rights worldwide. He had been in hospice for more than a year prior to his death—an extraordinarily lengthy stay under end-of-life care, experts said.
In September, Michael Dukakis, distinguished professor emeritus of political science at Northeastern University and Massachusetts’ longest-serving governor, spoke to Northeastern Global News about Carter’s legacy and leadership. Dukakis, who for the first two years of Carter’s presidency (1977-1981) was completing his first term as governor, says he had “a very solid relationship” with the former commander in chief—one that still stands out in memory. “He was just a pleasure to work with, and I can’t emphasize that enough,” Dukakis says.
