Anyone in my life knows of my deep, unabashed obsession with fellow Georgian and former President Jimmy Carter. In fact, I even managed to convince a few Emerson students that he was my grandfather. His genial face smiles upon me each day on a poster next to my dorm room bed. I have a Funko POP! of him and a picture of Carter at The Allman Brothers Band concert as my lockscreen—the devotion is real.

In spite of my admiration of him, I will be the first to admit he was not a perfect president. However, he remained steadfast to his virtuous principles of compassion and an intrinsic value for human decency. He never dropped a missile or a bomb or started a war in his four years in office. He is a humanitarian through and through.

His commitment to his faith and family has been regarded with such high esteem from people of all backgrounds and ideologies. Carter’s requirement for anyone who wants to meet him is simply that they attend one of his sermons—a man who abides by his promise to spread his faith however he can. I was so fortunate to have had the opportunity to sit in on one of these sermons at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, a small Southern town just three hours south of my home. It’s a fairly dilapidated, musty, antiquated building of humble origins, just like Carter. And yet a former United States President preaches there twice a month.

Arriving at the church, I was incredibly humbled by, well, the humility of it all. From the modest nature of the church community who invited everyone to a potluck afterwards, to his niece frantically apologizing for the plumbing issues in the building, I couldn’t help but be touched by how genuine this man and his community was. There was no charade of perfection, or display of wealth and status. Aside from the Secret Service agents who accompanied him and his wife Rosalynn, there was no indication that this gentle, feeble man was once the person who held one of the highest political positions in the country.

There was this buzz and clamor all throughout the sanctuary as guests eagerly awaited Carter’s arrival, until a little door creaked open and, following two Secret Service agents, out walked President Carter himself. His small, frail frame was supported by his walker as he shuffled his way to the podium with a grin on his face and his signature bolo tie around his neck. Everyone was silently in awe until he cheerfully said, “Howdy, folks!” to welcome the crowd. Then, everyone erupted into greetings and laughter in a warm moment of unison where we marvelled over how extraordinary this opportunity was.

At one point in Carter’s sermon, a woman asked about his thoughts on the LGBTQ+ community, to which he gleefully replied that he was an ardent supporter of all types of love. The woman and her wife began to tear up and it dawned on me right then just how valuable that validation is from a global superpower, specifically when it comes from a peanut farmer from South Georgia.

What’s interesting to me is that on paper, Carter deviates from the typical role model most Generation Z, left-leaning college students would have: he is a straight, cisgender, white, southern, Christian man who has served in politics. And yet, the man is globally adored and cherished by people of all ages, even Gen Zs. Jimmy Carter serves as a reminder to lots of folks that goodness may come in the most unassuming, unexpected forms, a quality of his that I find to be his secret weapon. An authentic congeniality such as Carter’s is a rare treasure to behold in this hellish landscape we call life, but particularly in politics. For me, it has provided a much-needed sense of hope and faith in mankind that I find myself continually leaning on.

While I dream of one day sipping some sweet tea with Jimmy and Rosalynn as we build their (probably) 10,000th Habitat For Humanity home, I recognize that time is fleeting and his legacy is coming to a close. The day he leaves will be one of deep mourning for a man who embodies goodness with such ease that is hard to come by. But quietly and sorrowfully, I will still celebrate him because his imprint will continue to live on within every individual who has been touched by his acts of charity and benevolence.

A Love Letter to Jimmy Carter