Jimmy Carter tributes as Newcastle remembers 'an extraodinary leader and a friend'

Ahead of the former US president’s state funeral in Washington DC, a small memorial service was held outside Newcastle Civic Centre in recognition of his famous links to the North East.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died on December 29 at the age of 100, became the first sitting president to visit Newcastle when he came in May 1977 during what was his first overseas trip in office.

Thursday’s ceremony outside the council headquarters was held just metres away from the spot where Mr Carter was welcomed by a crowd of 20,000 people and greeted them with the  classic Geordie phrase “howay the lads”.

Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour called him an “extraordinary global leader and a friend of our city” who had left a “lasting impression of his warmth, humility, and commitment to peace – qualities many a world leader could do with prioritising in our modern world”.

Recalling being left in awe as a child when the Georgia-born former peanut farmer and naval officer actually spoke to her as she joined the huge crowd of Tynesiders who came to catch a glimpse of him on that day almost 50 years ago, Coun Kilgour said: “The historic visit marked the beginning of a special relationship between Newcastle and Atlanta in Georgia, his home state, fostering years of cultural, academic, and business connections.

“It was a moment in history I am proud to have been present for as I joined my parents among the crowds waiting to catch a glimpse of the world’s most powerful person. Just a child at the time, it was something of a shock, as well as a treasured memory, that he took the time to speak to me personally even if I was a little too shy to engage.”

Mr Carter’s 1977 visit also included a trip to Washington Old Hall, the manor house which is the ancestral home of the family of America’s first president, George Washington. He and his wife Rosalynn, who died in 2023, launched the Friendship Force exchange programme that same year in an effort to build relationships around the world – with the first exchange involving 762 travellers between Newcastle and Atlanta.

Six years after his presidency had ended, Mr Carter returned to Newcastle in 1987 and stayed with a local family.  During Thursday’s ceremony, a wreath was laid at the commemorative stone which marks his original visit and the civic centre’s bills chimed 39 times in recognition of his position as the 39th president.

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The US flag was lowered to half mast outside the civic centre and a bugler played US national anthem and Taps, the bugle call traditionally sounded at American military funerals.

The lord mayor of Newcastle, Rob Higgins, said that Mr Carter’s visit to Newcastle was “an extremely proud moment in the history of our city and forged links that we treasure to this day”.

He added: “Jimmy charmed everyone with the warmth of his personality and his wonderful sense of humour, declaring himself also to be a Geordie.”