Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died on Sunday 100 years oldAlthough he served only one term in office, he went on to undertake a distinguished second act of humanitarian work, and lived a long life. oldest former president in American history.
“Carter died peacefully with his family by his side on Sunday, December 29 at his home in Plains, Georgia,” the Carter Center announced in a statement.
“My father was a hero not only to me but to everyone who believed in peace, human rights and selfless love,” Chip Carter, the former president's son, said in a statement provided by the Carter Center. “My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these shared beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we honor his memory by continuing these shared beliefs.” We thank you for doing this.”
The Carter Center said there will be public ceremonies in Atlanta and Washington, DC, followed by a private funeral in Plains, Georgia.
has been a former president receiving hospice care Lived at home for almost two years after several short stays in the hospital. Carter Center Said In February 2023 he decided “to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care rather than additional medical intervention.”
Carter remained active for a long time their 90skeeping it going Work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center and teaching sunday school At his church in Plains, Georgia, even his health began to fail.
in both and out of officeCarter created a legacy as a tireless champion for peace and humanitarian causes. He brokered the historic Camp David Accords in 1978, establishing the framework for peace in the Middle East, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his decades of work in advancing international peace, democracy, and human rights.
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While Carter had accomplishments as president, his time in the White House from 1977 to 1981 was tumultuous. One of his terms included the US energy crisis and the Iran hostage crisis.
Carter emerged on the national stage after Watergate, at a time when voters were looking for a change in politics.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said, “They didn't want Ed Muskie or Hubert Humphrey or Scoop Jackson or George Wallace.” “He was tired of people who were in the national spotlight for so long. So, he came to America as a fresh face.”
James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924 in Plains. The son of a peanut farmer, he loved books and the Baptist faith.
At the U.S. Naval Academy, he studied nuclear science and graduated with distinction in 1946. That same year, he married a young woman named Rosalyn Smith – a marriage that lasted more than seven decades. He celebrated his 77th birthday on July 7, 2023 married longest Presidential couples in American history. he died months laterOn November 19, 2023, at the age of 96.
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Carter completed submarine training and served in the Navy for seven years before moving home to Georgia to run the family peanut farm. He and Rosalyn raised four children while his career focus shifted from farming to politics.
After eight years in state office, Carter, a Democrat, was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970. It was clear that he was a new kind of Southern leader, one who emphasized racial equality and traditional values, at a time when the nation needed stability.
In 1976 – the US Bicentennial – he defeated President Gerald Ford to become the 39th President of the United States. When the Carters marched down the inaugural parade route in the open air, they said they were among those people.
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Brinkley said, “His greatest asset as a candidate was his outsider status.” “And his greatest failure as a president was that he remained an outsider, whereas if you're going to be an effective president you have to be an insider in Washington.”
He struggled to build relationships in Washington and feuded openly with Democratic leaders in Congress. As oil prices and inflation increased, his popularity waned.
But there were accomplishments along the way, too. Carter created the departments of Energy and Education. He established formal diplomatic relations with China and returned control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, known as the Camp David Accords.
“Let history record that the deep and ancient hostility can be resolved without bloodshed and without the staggering waste of precious lives,” Carter said when signing the peace treaty on March 26, 1979.
On November 4, 1979, Iranian terrorists attacked the US Embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. The American military effort to free them ended in disaster, with one accident killing eight American soldiers. The crisis dominated Carter's re-election campaign, while the economy continued to struggle and inflation remained above 18%.
In the final days of his administration, the President and his team negotiated the release of the hostages. They were released on Ronald Reagan's inauguration day.
In the years after leaving the White House, the Carters founded the Carter Center in Atlanta with the mission of working toward advancing peace and global health.
“We can choose to reduce suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make this change – and we must,” he said. Said in 2002 When he formally accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of humanitarian work.
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He and Rosalynn built homes with Habitat for Humanity, devoting their efforts to the group for more than 30 years, and he wrote more than 20 books.
He sparked controversy with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, in which he described Israel's treatment of Palestinians as oppression. He later apologized openly to the Jewish community and said that suggestions for reform should not tarnish Israel.
In 2007, Carter spoke at the funeral of his former political rival, close friend and confidant, former President Ford.
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Carter said, “One of my proudest moments was at the White House commemoration of the 200th birthday, when two renowned historians declared that the Ford-Carter friendship was the most personal between any two presidents in history.”
Carter announced in August 2015 that he was Diagnosed with cancerA form of melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. Although he reduced his activities with the Carter Center, he continued to raise funds for the organization, and also continued to teach Sunday school classes on the plains, a tradition he had begun in his teens.
Carter was treated afresh immunotherapy drug And significant improvementSix months later, I am sharing the news that an MRI revealed no symptoms of cancer,
In May 2019, he suffered another health setback, suffering a fall and break her hipsHe went home from the hospital to recover and soon returned to teaching his Sunday school class. Carter suffered two more falls in October 2019. Admitted to hospital with pelvic fractureA month later, he was admitted to a hospital in Atlanta surgical procedure To reduce the pressure on his brain.
The Carter Center said in May 2023 that Rosalynn was Diagnosed with dementiaShe continued to live at home with her husband until his death That November.
His four children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren survive.
During his many years in the White House, Carter sowed the seeds of peace, and sometimes the seeds of controversy. But as one of the most active former presidents in history, many believe he defined the role for those who would follow him.