SAINT CROIX, United States (AFP) — Jimmy Carter “lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds”, President Joe Biden said yesterday in televised remarks addressing the death of the former US leader.

Biden’s tribute, like many that came in from US and global leaders, focused on Carter’s character, with the outgoing president describing his predecessor as seeming to be from a “bygone era”.

“Just look at his life, his life’s work,” Biden said, speaking from the US Virgin Islands, where he was on vacation. “He worked to eradicate disease, not just at home, but around the world.

“He forged peace, advanced civil rights, human rights, promoted free and fair elections around the world. He built housing for the homeless with his own hands.”

Carter died Sunday afternoon at the age of 100, after nearly two years in hospice care. He rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, and went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in his active post-presidential life.

His non-profit Carter Center, founded in 1982, pursued diplomacy, election observations, and public health work around the world.

Known for his toothy smile, Carter said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his single-term presidency.

“The rest of the world looks to us… and he was worth looking to,” Biden said.