The program for the service “In Celebration of and in Thanksgiving for the Life of James Alfred Joseph” includes what Braxton-Joseph considered a defining quote from her husband: “It is now well documented that what makes a nation a cohesive community is the ability of its citizens to transport the laissez-faire notion of live and let live into the moral imperative of live and help live.” Joseph served in either senior executive or advisory positions for four U.S. presidents, including Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior for President Jimmy Carter and as the Ambassador to South Africa from January 1996 to November 1999 and was the only U.S. ambassador to present credentials to South African President Nelson Mandela.