WASHINGTON — Members of Congress filed into the U.S. Capitol rotunda Tuesday to pay their respects to late President Jimmy Carter.

The Democrat died at his Georgia home in late December after nearly two years in hospice care.  

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, was among the attendees. He said it’s important for a divided country to look at Carter’s example.

"His example of trying to get things done, doing things for the right reason, trying to help as many people as he could in such a wonderful and human way; I think he has an incredible legacy," McGarvey said.

In an online post, Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, a U.S. Military Academy graduate, said of Carter, the U.S. Naval Academy graduate, “He was always a gentleman, even when discussing Army – Navy football.”

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, called Carter “a man of service, humility and dedication to others.”

Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., highlighted Carter’s commitment to housing and his work with Habitat for Humanity.

“His work brought him to Kentucky numerous times, and there are still homes in central and eastern Kentucky that are held up by nails that President Carter himself nailed in to provide those families a safe Kentucky home,” Beshear said in an update from Frankfort Tuesday afternoon.

In a nod to Carter’s peanut farming roots, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement, “Jimmy Carter’s character and commitment, just like his crops, were fruits of all-American soil. 

Carter was 100 years old.