Opinion: Jennifer McClellan on Jimmy Carter's life of service, integrity and global impact

When I was 7 years old, I wrote President Jimmy Carter a letter. He was the first president I could remember, and whenever I saw him on the news, he seemed very kind. So, I invited him to dinner at our home in Matoaca, Virginia, confident that he would say yes. I just knew he would come.

Weeks went by. Months went by. No response came. Maybe he was too busy trying to get the United States diplomats and citizens released who were held hostage in Iran, I thought. Or maybe he was busy running for re-election with a primary challenge from Sen. Edward Kennedy.  

As time went on, the letter became a vague memory. 

Thirty-four years later, looking through my father’s papers after he died, I discovered the letter in a file cabinet. That explained why I never got a response.  

Whenever I share this story with anyone who knew Jimmy Carter, I always get the same reaction: “He would have responded.” 

Forty-five years after writing that letter, I stood in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as a Member of Congress as he lay in state with a deep appreciation for the kindness and compassion I picked up on as a little girl, but the totality of his life and legacy as a servant leader. Two days later, I joined the nation in saying farewell during his state funeral in Washington’s National Cathedral. 

As I listened to the eulogies and tributes, I was struck by how much of my work – first as a state legislator and now in Congress – builds on his legacy. 

Over 50 years before I became the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress, Carter declared at his inauguration as Georgia's 76th governor "the time for racial discrimination is over." He proceeded to address the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in Georgia by working to end racial discrimination in education and housing, increasing the number of women and minorities working in state government, and appointing several Black judges. He even hung a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inside the Georgia State Capitol. 

As President, Carter centered human rights, including women’s rights, in his domestic and foreign policy. He drastically expanded women’s representation in the federal judiciary, appointing 41 women to the bench during his presidency. With the help of his beloved wife, Rosalynn, Jimmy Carter played an integral role in elevating the work of the First Lady by establishing the very first Office of the First Lady in the East Wing and paving the way for the impactful work of all subsequent first ladies. He championed the Equal Rights Amendment to explicitly prohibit gender-based discrimination in the U.S. Constitution. 

In 2021, I built on his legacy by leading the charge as a state senator to make Virginia the 38th and final state to ratify the ERA. Now as a member of Congress, I continue to build on his legacy and the intergenerational and interracial movement to publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. 

Over 40 years before I carried the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Solar Freedom Act in the Virginia General Assembly, President Carter was a climate action and environmental champion. Carter established the Department of Energy and allocated robust federal funding to support energy research and development. His administration ushered in sweeping environmental reforms and issued executive orders to protect our nation’s natural resources. He worked to shift America’s dependence away from fossil fuels, signing into law legislation to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and address the impact of toxic waste on the American environment. He even put solar panels on the White House. 

After leaving the White House, President Carter continued to live his life in service to our nation, working to advance the priorities he held dear. He established The Carter Center, a nongovernmental organization focused on improving lives worldwide by preventing disease, resolving conflicts, and advancing democracy. The Carters also led the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity for more than three decades, building, renovating, or repairing nearly 5,000 homes in 14 countries around the world. 

A farmer, naval officer, state legislator, governor, president, Sunday school teacher and private citizen, President Carter lived his faith, embodying the notion of a servant leader who loved his neighbor--and even his enemies. And as I left Washington National Cathedral grateful for the legacy that President Carter leaves behind, I was more convinced than ever that he would have responded to my letter. 

Rep. Jennifer McClellan is the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress. In the 119th Congress, she sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She also serves as a leadership member in the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition and chairs the Reproductive Freedom erCaucus’s Abortion Rights and Access Task Force. Prior to her election to Congress, she served in the Virginia General Assemby from 2006 to 2023.