In the early 2000s, Taieri MP Ingrid Leary met Mr Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, several times through a Rosalynn Carter fellowship funded through the Carter Center.
On one occasion, she had dinner with the couple and was given a tour of Mr Carter’s presidential library and museum.
He was "incredibly astute and sharp as a tack".
"I got a real sense of the excitement of the American dream of democracy, that anybody could run for office and anybody could become a president, regardless of money or background or education.
"There was that real feeling of egalitarianism in the story."
Mrs Carter had described staying in farm yards across the US during her husband’s presidential campaign.
"It was very grassroots," Ms Leary said.
"We could see that the Carters as a family had really devoted their whole lives to bettering the human experience."
"He continued to write and communicate about those topics that he was passionate about and never seemed to falter with his statements or his intellect."
Every year, she received a Christmas card from the couple, often of paintings Mr Carter had done or photographs of communities the pair worked with.
