Even after he was no longer fit to teach, Carter regularly attended services, his wheelchair positioned next to the front pew as his lead agent sat behind him in a folding chair.

“One Sunday in particular, the sermon was talking about making the world a better place,” Don Witham recalled. “And [the former president] very quietly, put down his head and said, ‘I’ve tried,’ to himself. And I reached forward with both my hands and put them on his shoulders, and I said, ‘And sir, you’ve succeeded.’”