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On Dec. 29, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100 and on Monday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a memo with a directive authorizing flags be flown at half-staff within the State of Alabama for 30 days in honor of Carter.

Carter, a native of Plains, Ga., served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy before taking over his family’s peanut farm following the death of his father. Carter moved into the political world in 1962 when he was elected to the Georgia State Senate and then he became the Governor of Georgia in 1970. He went on to be elected as the 39th President of the United States in 1977, serving for one term.

Following his presidency, Carter remained in the public eye with a number of diplomatic efforts throughout the world on behalf of America, along with many humanitarian and philanthropic activities. Some of those diplomatic efforts included meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the 1980s and leading a peace mission to North Korea in 1994. Carter was responsible for outlining a treaty with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung. Carter continued these diplomatic efforts throughout his life.

“After leaving the White House in 1981, Carter forged the longest post presidency of any American chief executive,” Gov. Ivey said in her memo. “He was well known for his advocacy of international human rights through the Carter Center, and his hands-on assistance to disadvantaged persons through his years of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Jimmy Carter not only lived the longest of any former U.S. President, but his life also brought greater dignity to the presidency.”

Earlier this year, Carter became the first United States President to reach 100 years old. According to Ivey, the flags on the Alabama State Capitol Complex and throughout the state may be flown at half-staff for 30 days from Dec. 29, the date of Carter’s death.