President Joe Biden said on Monday that former President Jimmy Carter has asked him to give a eulogy after he passes away.
Several dozen people heard Biden’s speech as he discussed advancements in cancer research during a DNC fundraiser in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
“He asked me to do his eulogy,” Biden said, before appearing to catch himself and adding, “excuse me, I shouldn’t say that.”
“I spent time with Jimmy Carter, and it’s finally caught up with him. But they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated because they found a breakthrough,” the president said.
Over the years, Carter has experienced several health problems, including a cancer diagnosis. He revealed in 2015 that he had been given a liver and brain cancer diagnosis and that he had started radiation treatment. Later in the year, he declared himself cancer-free. He got surgery in 2019 after experiencing health problems as a result of several unfortunate falls.
The Carter Center said last month that the former president has chosen to start receiving hospice care at his Plains, Georgia, home. “After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the center said.
At 98 years old, Carter is the longest-living US president. According to the White House, he and Biden have known one another since 1976. That year, Biden, who was a senator at the time, supported Carter’s presidential campaign for the first time outside of Georgia.
The election was won by Carter. Before being defeated by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election, he served as the 39th president during the chaotic late 1970s. Carter fought to push health and democratic programs all over the world in the years that followed, and in 2002, he was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
