Federal employee unions and good-government groups are remembering former President Jimmy Carter as the first president in modern history to oversee a major overhaul of the civil service system.

Many hope he is not the last president in recent memory to do so.

Following Carter’s death on Sunday, at the age of 100, many organizations paid tribute to his administration’s legacy to the federal workforce.

While the Carter administration helped shape the modern civil service, those familiar with the inner workings of the federal bureaucracy believe the time has come for Congress and the incoming Trump administration to build on some of the civil service reform efforts that began nearly 50 years ago.

Among its contributions, Carter signed the Civil Service Reform Act in October 1978, which created the Senior Executive Service and guaranteed collective bargaining rights for non-postal federal employees and set whistleblower protections.

While Congress made the legislation possible, the Carter administration led much of the brainstorming of ideas behind it. Carter created the President’s Personnel Management Project when he first took office in 1977.

The project produced more than 100 recommendations. Many of those recommendations came out of town hall meetings with federal employees, as well as White House outreach to the public.

Following the Nixon administration and Watergate scandal that led to his resignation, Carter promised in his 1978 State of the Union speech that his administration would restore merit principles, give federal managers more flexibility and provide “better rewards for better performance.”

“Even the best organized government will only be as effective as the people who carry out its policies,” Carter said. “For this reason, I consider civil service reform to be absolutely vital. Worked out with the civil servants themselves, this reorganization plan will restore the merit principle to a system which has grown into a bureaucratic maze.”

Stuart Eizenstat, who worked with Carter on the campaign trail and became his chief domestic policy adviser, told Federal News Network in 2018 that the president’s interest in the civil service started during the aftermath of Watergate and on the campaign trail, where he and his advisers discussed a wide range of good government and ethics reform ideas.

“His view of the permanent civil service was that they needed to have more flexibility, more incentives, more encouragement [and] that there was a lot of dead wood,” Eizenstat said. “But he also respected the collective bargaining units.”

Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said the Civil Service Reform Act “was only possible with Carter’s personal commitment to the integrity of civil service.”

“From modernizing the federal personnel system to laying out prohibited personnel practices to establishing the senior executive service, Carter accomplished much in his term to improve the civil service. The need for further reform continues today, carrying on Carter’s work to build a more effective and modern government and a stronger democracy,” Stier said.

The National Treasury Employees Union said in a statement that Carter’s “dedication to public service and humanitarian work has left an indelible mark on our nation.”

“In today’s political climate, this landmark reform establishes that federal employees are hired and promoted based on talent, not cronyism, and stands as one of our nation’s most important guardrails against the threat of partisan loyalty. We will remember President Carter for his selflessness and lifelong service to our country,” NTEU wrote.

Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a statement that Carter “lived a remarkable life of service, compassion, and strength.”

The Carter administration envisioned the Senior Executive Service as a corps of government leaders who were expected to bring their management skills and expertise to multiple agencies and often moving to a different part of the country with each new assignment.

Federal News Network, however, has reported that agencies are struggling to attract new, young members to the SES, with some prospective members saying the benefits often don’t outweigh the risks.

Marcus Hill, president of the Senior Executives Association (SEA), which represents more than 8,000 SES members and other federal executives, said the creation of the SES “sought to bridge the gap between political appointees and career civil servants, ensuring a more effective, flexible, and accountable federal workforce.”

“President Carter’s commitment to good government and civil service reform, exemplified by the establishment of the SES. His leadership from the White House on this issue also emphasized the importance of a performance-based system, with a focus on merit and leadership qualities rather than political loyalty alone,” Hill said.

Ahead of the start of a new administration and a new session of Congress, Hill said SEA “stands ready to work with new leaders across the aisle to thoughtfully modernize the civil service and improve government for all Americans.”

In addition to civil service reform, Carter also signed two pieces of legislation that created the Department of Education and Energy.

“President Carter organized vital federal education programs under one roof when he established the U.S. Department of Education, elevating equal access to education to the presidential cabinet level, where it belongs,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “Everything we do here at the department to raise the bar for America’s students is part of President Jimmy Carter’s lasting legacy.”

Carter, during his 1978 address, also proposed abolishing almost 500 federal advisory commissions and boards and reducing the amount of paperwork required for the public to obtain benefits and services from government agencies.

“I know that the American people are still sick and tired of federal paperwork and red tape. Bit by bit we are chopping down the thicket of unnecessary federal regulations by which government too often interferes in our personal lives and our personal business.”

President-elect Donald Trump has touted his own record of eliminating federal regulations. During his first term, he signed an executive order requiring agencies to repeal two existing regulations for every new one they planned to enact.

Trump recently told reporters he plans to mandate agencies repeal 10 current regulations before implementing new ones.

Federal agencies will be closed on Thursday, Jan. 9, the date of Carter’s state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

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