Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, has died at the age of 100 on Sunday, Dec. 29 at his home in Plains, Georgia.
Carter's death came after a February 2023 announcement that he had decided to enter hospice care and spend his remaining time at home with family after a series of short hospital stays.
As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others.
“To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. “He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.”
Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington on Jan. 9. Biden also declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning across the U.S.
Biden also ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday.
Born on Oct. 1, 1924, Carter grew up on a peanut farm and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In the Navy, he eventually served on submarines and rose to the rank of lieutenant. The Navy commissioned a nuclear-powered submarine in 2005, naming it the USS Jimmy Carter.
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 served a single, tumultuous term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health and human rights via The Carter Center.
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.
Carter became the oldest living U.S. president in history after the passing of George H. W. Bush, who died in late 2018 at 94. In recent years, he has kept a low public profile due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has continued to speak out about risks to democracy around the world, a longtime cause of his.
Carter overcame several health challenges in recent years. He was diagnosed with melanoma in 2015, announcing that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. After partial removal of his liver, treatment for brain lesions, radiation and immunotherapy, he said he was cancer-free. A fall in the spring of 2019 required him to get hip replacement surgery.
Then in October of that year, he hit his head in another fall and received 14 stitches, but still traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to help build a Habitat for Humanity home shortly thereafter.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had four children and were married for 77 years. They were the longest-married presidential couple.
Rosalynn Carter predeceased her husband, dying in November 2023 at the age of 96.
Source: WXII
BDST: 1932 HRS, DEC 30, 2024
MSK
