Former President Jimmy Carter received a special award Thursday from the nation of Panama.

The county’s president presented the nation’s highest award, the Grand Cross, to the 39th President.

The nation honored President Carter because in 1977 he signed the treaty that transferred the Panama Canal back to the Central America nation.

The move ended an agreement in place since 1904 which gave the United States the right to build the canal and a lease to control five miles of land along either side of it.

Thursday, President Carter talked about how the decision was one of the most difficult of his career because it was unpopular. Carter went on to mention that his relationship with Panama began while he was a student at Georgia Tech and met foreign exchange students.

The award he received is named after Panama’s first president.