Jimmy Carter, a one-time Georgia peanut farmer who served a single term as president of the United States in the late 1970s, died Sunday. He was 100 years old and the oldest American president, passing Ronald Reagan, who died at 93. No immediate cause of death was given by his son James E. Carter III, who confirmed the news to the Washington Post.
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” Carter’s son Chip said in a statement released by The Carter Center. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
Carter’s presidency was marked by an ongoing economic recession, an energy crisis prompted by escalating oil prices and the siege of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Iranian students who held 52 American diplomats and other citizens hostage for 444 days.
Carter, a Democrat, served as both a U.S. senator and Georgia governor before he won the presidency in 1976 from Gerald Ford, who had assumed the White House after the resignation of Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
On his second day in office, he fulfilled a campaign pledge to grant amnesty to Vietnam War draft evaders. He also scored some successes in foreign policy, brokering the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel as well as signing the SALT II treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to reduce nuclear arms by the two superpowers.
Defeated in his bid for re-election in 1980 by Republican Ronald Reagan, Carter embarked on a remarkable post-presidency career as a best-selling author, ad-hoc diplomat and advocate for human rights through his Atlanta-based Carter Center.
Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his post-presidency work to promote global health, particularly in Africa, and to mediate in worldwide conflicts in countries such as Bosnia, Haiti and Ethiopia.
Following the attack on the Capital in January 2021, Carter joined other former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to denounce the attack, saying in a statement, “having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation.”
He and his wife, Rosalynn, were also long associated with the Georgia-based charity Habitat for Humanity, building homes for those who can’t afford them in and around Nashville, Tennessee. The Carters celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary on July 7, 2022, making them the longest-wed presidential couple. Upon turning 95 years old in 2019, Carter told People magazine that he never expected to live as long as he had.
While in office, Dan Aykroyd memorably played up the wonkier aspects of Carter’s character in multiple sketches on “Saturday Night Live.” (Aykroyd had also played Nixon on the NBC sketch comedy show’s first season.)
Following the attack on the Capital in January 2021, Carter joined other former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to denounce the attack, saying in a statement, “having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation.”
Carter was the longest-lived U.S. president at the time of his death and suffered from several health-related issues later in life. In August 2015, Carter was diagnosed with melanoma, a cancer that spread to his liver and brain. After undergoing surgery, radiation treatment and drug therapy, Carter announced that his cancer was in remission. He was admitted to Emory University Hospital in November 2019 for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to his recent falls. He was hospitalized a month later to treat a urinary tract infection.
On Feb. 18, The Carter Center announced that the former president would begin to receive hospice care in his home rather than undergo additional medical attention.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers,” The Carter Center wrote in a press release.
Carter will be remembered at public observances in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. and a private interment in Plains, Georgia. The final arrangements for his state funeral and related public events have not yet been announced.
The Carter family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Carter Center, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway N.E., Atlanta, GA 30307.
President Carter is survived by his children, Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Rosalynn, and one grandchild.
