On Sunday, December 29, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, passed away at the age of 100 in his Plains, Georgia, home.
JIMMY CARTER
Following a string of brief hospital admissions, Carter announced in February 2023 that he has chosen to accept hospice care and spend his last time at home with family.
President Joe Biden lamented Carter’s passing as responses flooded in from all around the world, stating that he had lost a close friend and that the world had lost a “extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.” Carter’s efforts to end disease, create peace, advance civil and human rights, support free and fair elections, provide housing for the homeless, and advocate for the underprivileged were all noted by Biden as examples of his compassion and moral clarity.
“Jimmy Carter is a man of principle, faith, and humility. He is a role model for all of the young people in this country and for anyone looking to understand what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life,” Biden said in a statement. “He demonstrated that we are a great country because we are good people—humble and strong, brave and kind, decent and honourable.”
On January 9, Biden announced that he will arrange for Carter to have a state funeral in Washington. Additionally, Biden proclaimed January 9 to be a National Day of Mourning in the United States.
Additionally, Biden mandated that American flags fly at half-staff for 30 days starting on Sunday.
Carter was born on October 1, 1924, and attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, before graduating. He grew up on a peanut farm. He finally became a lieutenant in the Navy and served aboard submarines. In 2005, the USS Jimmy Carter, a nuclear-powered submarine, was put into service by the Navy.
He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1962 and was a little-known Georgia governor when he began his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1976 election. He went on to defeat Gerald Ford, capitalizing as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that drove Richard Nixon from office in 1974.
Carter only held office for one turbulent term before losing badly to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. This setback made it possible for Carter to spend decades advocating for democracy, public health, and human rights around the world through The Carter Centre.
The former president and his wife, Rosalynn, opened the center in 1982 with a focus on advancing democracy by monitoring foreign elections and reducing diseases in developing countries over the years.
The former president is widely revered for his championing of human rights. His brokering of the Camp David Accords with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978 remains central to his legacy.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to push for peace across the globe.
After George H. W. Bush passed away in late 2018 at the age of 94, Carter became the oldest living president of the United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has maintained a low public profile in recent years, but he has persisted in speaking out about threats to democracy worldwide, a longstanding subject of his.
After sustaining 14 stitches for a head injury sustained in a fall in October of that year, he went on to Nashville, Tennessee, to assist in the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home.
After 77 years of marriage, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have four children. They were the president’s longest-married pair.
Rosalynn Carter passed away in November 2023 at the age of 96, predeceasing her husband.
