Observers cannot but be drawn to contrasts between politicians and their personalities.
This week, as Americans mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter, aged 100, the differences between him and President-elect Donald Trump are blindingly obvious.
It was Mr Carter, in the aftermath of the Watergate break-in, the cover-up and the Nixon years, who claimed he would not "tell a lie". As far as politicians go, he went reasonably close.
The truth and Mr Trump, however, are only distant cousins at the best of times. When he speaks, the fact-checkers run out of fingers in the first five minutes.
Modest Mr Carter reversed the presidential trend towards imperial power and pomp, taking his oath of office as plain "Jimmy" Carter. He later returned to life in his modest home in Plains, Georgia, nothing like the 126-room Trump Florida residence of Mar-a-Lago.
Mr Carter continued to take Sunday School and was hands-on with his Habitat for Humanity home building into his 90s.
He graduated from the Naval Academy and served in the submarine service, while Mr Trump's heel spurs famously allowed him to spurn military service and the Vietnam-era draft.
Both were outsiders for their party's nomination before strong runs.
Both were also Washington DC outsiders.
Both struggled as presidents to achieve what they wanted, lacking the personality and political subtleties.
Mr Carter made his reputation after leaving office aged 56.
His Carter Foundation has worked in more than 80 countries on human rights, election monitoring and disease control. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Mr Carter, the first president to recognise climate issues, had solar panels placed on the White House. Mr Trump backs the oil and gas industry.
Mr Carter lived and breathed his Baptist faith. He was a Democrat who strongly advocated civil rights. Mr Trump has won heavy support from the evangelical right.
Views are mixed on Mr Carter's presidency. He was soundly beaten by Ronald Reagan in 1980 after stagflation and economic woes hurt the American people.
The Iranian hostage crisis dragged on for hundreds of days, reinforcing a perception that he was ineffective and weak.
Ironically, the hostages were released on President Reagan's inauguration day.
Some argue he was simply unlucky because his term coincided with matters beyond his control.
However, his nomination of Paul Vocker as chairman of the Federal Reserve is credited for a long-term decrease in inflation.
In the short-term, though, Mr Vocker's hiked interest rates pushed the economy into damaging recession, coinciding with re-election year.
Meanwhile, as the Iranian Revolution proceeded, the price of oil leapt from April 1979 to November 1980 by more than 130%.
Mr Carter is credited with long-term competitive deregulation measures, notably for airlines, that President Reagan was able to build on.
Others point to his failure to inspire, his sometimes preachy tone and his limited political nous when dealing with Congress.
His promotion and involvement in the Camp David Accords was a personal triumph. These were the springboard for long-term peace between Israel and Egypt.
Mr Carter married Rosalynn, a woman from down the road in Plains. She was not quite 19 and he was only 21.
Mrs Carter came to sit in on Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the president.
She also represented the president in meetings with domestic and foreign leaders and once as his envoy to Latin America. She was an advocate for women's rights and mental health.
They were married for 77 years until her death aged 96 in 2023. Again, the contrast to Mr Trump and his wives is stark.
The United States is about to embark on Mr Trump's second term.
It is also a time when Americans can reflect on a previous president, one who served only one term but one who embodied many admirable personal traits.
