FORMER President Jimmy Carter has died at age 100.
Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died today, over a year after he entered hospice care in February 2023.
Getty – ContributorFormer President Jimmy Carter has died[/caption]
Jimmy Carter’s death comes months after the death of his wife and former First Lady Rosalynn CarterRex
Getty – ContributorJimmy Carter served as the 39th president of the United States[/caption]
GettyJimmy Carter pictured at the funeral service of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, on November 29, 2023[/caption]
The former president decided to live out the remainder of his days at his home in Plains, Georgia.
Carter’s death came months after the death of his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died on November 19, 2023, at age 96.
Two days before her death, Rosalynn joined her husband in hospice care at their home in Georgia.
The former first lady and fierce advocate for mental health was diagnosed with dementia in early 2023.
Before his death, Jimmy Carter was the first to pay tribute to his wife of 77 years, “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.
“She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
During Rosylann’s service in late November 2023, Amy, the Carters’ daughter, read her father’s love letter he dedicated to his wife while he was in the Navy.
“My darling, every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are,” Carter penned more than 70 years ago.
“While I am away I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not, be as sweet and beautiful as I remember.
“But when I see you I fall in love with you all over again. Does that seem strange to you? It doesn’t to me.
“Goodbye darling, until tomorrow, Jimmy.”
Jimmy Carter is survived by his four children, James, Donnel, Amy, and Jack, as well as 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
PRESIDENT CARTER
Carter served in the White House from 1977 to 1981.
Prior to his presidency, he served as a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
Carter was considered a longshot for the presidency when he announced his presidential campaign in December 1974.
As a dark-horse candidate, Carter was not well-known outside of the home state of Georgia.
However, Carter’s two-year campaign trail paid off when he won the Democratic nomination and narrowly defeated incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford during the 1976 presidential election.
Carter, who entered office in January 1977, took over a nation that was still reeling from the events of the Vietnam War, where approximately 59,000 US troops died on the frontlines.
Two days after being sworn in as president, Carter famously pardoned all the draft evaders from the Vietnam War.
But, his presidency was marred by rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and continuing tensions with foreign adversaries, including the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
Carter’s hopes for reelection eventually crumbled due to the Iran hostage crisis.
On November 4, 1979, a group of militarized Iranian college students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage.
The American public turned on Carter for his soft approach to the crisis, which lasted 444 days.
The hostage crisis paralyzed his presidency and hampered his efforts at a second term.
Carter would eventually lose the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan.
AP:Associated PressJimmy Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981[/caption]
GettyCarter’s final year in the White House was married by the 1979 Iran hostage crisis[/caption]
APCarter lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan[/caption]
LIFE AFTER THE WHITE HOUSE
After leaving the Oval Office, Carter devoted his life to diplomacy and human rights work.
He founded the Carter Center in 1982, an organization with a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering, according to their website.
The non-profit has worked to improve the quality of life for people in countries all over the world.
In 2002, Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work seeking peaceful resolutions to global conflicts, advancing human rights and democracy, and promoting economic and social development.
The Carter Center also devoted some resources to ensuring free and fair elections and monitored the 2020 elections in the United States.
Carter had mostly retired from the public eye in recent years, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and a cancer diagnosis in 2015.
While Carter lived a more private life in his latter years, he was vocal in his opposition to certain political moves of the presidents who followed him.
He disagreed with Reagan’s handling of peace in the Middle East and was opposed to the Iraq War under George W Bush.
Carter criticized the Trump administration but also disagreed with his fellow Democratic president, Barack Obama, regarding the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists.
On his 96th birthday, the former president was honored with a parade of golf carts and other vehicles by local residents, which he and his wife observed from their residence while wearing masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the 2020 presidential election, Carter endorsed Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention and said via video, “Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate … For decades, he’s been my loyal and dedicated friend.”
To mark his first 100 days in office, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter at their home in Plains, Georgia.
“We sat and talked about the old days,” Biden told reporters afterward.
Jimmy Carter was the longest-lived US president in history, surpassing George HW Bush, who was 94 at the time of his death.
Getty – ContributorJimmy and Rosalynn Carter and their four children[/caption]
The Jimmy Carter Library and MuseumJimmy and Rosalynn were college sweethearts[/caption]
Getty – ContributorJimmy Carter’s love letter, which he penned more than 70 years ago, was read at Rosalynn Carter’s service in late November 2023[/caption]
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