At Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, memories of former President Jimmy Carter have peppered the patchwork of political and cultural paraphernalia adorning its walls for decades. In 1970, the Georgia native and peanut-farmer-turned-statesman launched his campaign for governor at the dive bar, where he remains immortalized within a collage of cracked paintings, faded photographs, weathered sports pennants and dusty beer cans.

As the nation mourned Mr. Carter, who died on Sunday, locals converged on this bar in east Atlanta to raise a glass in his honor. A painted portrait of Mr. Carter hangs by a window in the dining room; pictures of him intersect those of other Democratic heavyweights; and by the front door, a framed Christmas card to the Maloof family, which has owned the bar for decades, features an oil painting by Mr. Carter of his hometown, Plains, Ga.

Brian Maloof, the owner and son of the bar’s namesake, Manuel Maloof, was devastated by the news of Mr. Carter’s death. He recalled the former president writing him a letter in 2004, sharing his condolences after the elder Maloof died. Mr. Carter and Manuel Maloof, who were longtime friends, used to sit in a booth by the window in the bar, pondering the world’s problems and dreaming up solutions, the younger Mr. Maloof said.

“He always knew my name,” Brian Maloof said, adding, “He’s an example of how you want to live your life.”