Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president who struggled with a bad economy and a hostage crisis but went on to a long and admired post-White House career, will be honored at a state funeral in Washington on Thursday.

One local couple was among a group of Carter’s Florida campaign veterans who paid their respects while his body lay in state in Atlanta.

The late President’s priorities were remarkably prescient, and his personal qualities offered a dismaying contrast to so much of the present state of American politics.