Jimmy Carter, former US president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, dies at 100
Former USA president Jimmy Carter shown at the game between the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks at State Farm Arena, on Feb 14, 2019
Jimmy Carter, the earnest Georgia peanut farmer who as United States president struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis but brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday (Dec 29), the Carter Center said. He was 100.
Carter, a Democrat, became president in January 1977 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election. His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East. But it was also dogged by an economic recession, persistent unpopularity and the Iran hostage crisis that consumed his final 444 days in office. Carter ran for re-election in 1980 but was swept from office in a landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor.
Carter lived longer than any US president and, after leaving the White House, earned a reputation as a committed humanitarian. He was widely seen as a better former president than he was a president - a status he readily acknowledged. World leaders and former US presidents paid tribute to a man they praised as compassionate, humble and committed to peace in the Middle East. "His significant role in achieving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel will remain etched in the annals of history," said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a post on X. The Carter Center said there will be public observances in Atlanta and Washington. These events will be followed by a private interment in Plains, it said. Final arrangements for the former president's state funeral are still pending, according to the centre.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, dies at age 100
Former president Jimmy Carter is seen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on September 30, 2018
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, has died at age 100. Carter was “surrounded by his family” at his home in Plains, Georgia, in his final moments, the Carter Center said in a statement Sunday.
Biden and Trump remember: President Joe Biden said Carter “stands as a model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose,” and remembered Carter as a “dear friend.” President-elect Donald Trump said Americans owe the former president “a debt of gratitude.” Preparations are underway for a state funeral.
Carter’s early life: Carter was a peanut farmer and US Navy lieutenant before going into politics, eventually serving one term as governor of Georgia and as president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was the only former US president to reach 100 years old. Rosalynn Carter’s legacy: The former president’s wife of more than 75 years, who was known for her mental health advocacy and humanitarian work, died in November 2023 at 96. The Carters were the longest-married presidential couple in US history.
The brilliant life and troubled presidency of Jimmy Carter
Former President Jimmy Carter, 2007
Jimmy Carter was arguably the most enigmatic president of America’s post-World War II era. He died on Sunday afternoon in Plains, Ga., the Carter Center said. Leaders who reach the pinnacle of power are usually complicated individuals. But Carter was a man whose outward image was often the opposite of what lay underneath. He strove to convey simplicity and humility, yet he was a highly sophisticated man with ego and ambition that burned hotter than most.
“Don’t pay any attention to that smile. That don’t mean a thing,” said Ben Fortson, Georgia’s secretary of state for a period of 33 years that included Carter’s tenure as governor. “That man is made of steel, determination and stubbornness.” Carter’s own wife, Rosalynn, once said that her husband “appears kind of meek or something. People always underestimate him.” Carter has been widely considered an unsuccessful president who was overwhelmed by events. And compared with the presidencies of, say, Johnson, Nixon or Reagan, Carter’s single term is a period that historians and the public showed very little interest in revisiting, though that began to shift in his last few years. Yet he lived a compelling, exemplary life, and he was beset by challenges in office that would have stymied most leaders.
During Carter’s term, he was unable to resolve the major problems that confronted America in the late 1970s. He could not tame inflation or unite the Democratic Party, and he couldn’t free the Americans who were held captive in Iran for more than a year. It’s not well known, however, that the agreement that led to freedom for the 52 American hostages in Tehran was negotiated by Carter and his administration during his final weeks in office. Ronald Reagan had little if anything to do with it, even though he is commonly given credit, since the Iranians released the hostages moments after he was inaugurated.
Jimmy Carter: The highs and lows of his presidency
Then-President Jimmy Carter speaks about the ongoing Iran hostage crisis on April 1, 1980, at the White House
Former President Jimmy Carter — who died in his hometown of Plains, Ga., on Sunday — was reviled by Republicans and ridiculed by essentially everyone else after he left office in 1981.
But in recent years, Carter’s one-term presidency has been reevaluated, and a more balanced view of his time in office has emerged.
Here are the highs and lows of the time in office of the nation’s 39th president:
- High: The Panama Canal Treaty
- Low: Inflation
- High: The Camp David Middle East peace deal
- Low: The energy crisis and the ‘malaise’ speech
- High: Diversifying the federal judiciary
- Low: The Iran hostage crisis
- High: Fighting for human rights
- Low: The ‘killer rabbit’
Jimmy Carter dead at 100: A look back at the 39th U.S. president's legacy in photos
President Jimmy Carter leans across the roof of his car to shake hands along the parade route through Bardstown, Ky., on July 31, 1979. The president climbed on top of the car as the parade moved toward the high school gym, where a town meeting was held
Jimmy Carter, the longest-living U.S. president, died on Sunday in his hometown of Plains, Ga., the Carter Center said. He was 100 years old. Carter entered hospice care in February 2023 after several hospital stays, forgoing further medical treatments to stop the spread of melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
The former president started from humble beginnings as a peanut farmer on his family’s farm just outside of his birthplace and beloved Plains, a place that helped shape his political career and philanthropy work. Out of all of his accomplishments, Carter said the best thing he ever did was marry fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946. Rosalynn Carter died on Nov. 19, 2023, shortly after entering hospice following a dementia diagnosis. Carter, a Democrat, took office as the 39th U.S. president in January 1977. During his one term in the White House, he decreased the budget deficit, became a trailblazer for green energy, negotiated the Panama Canal treaties, brokered the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, created millions of jobs and the Education Department, brought diversity to the federal bench and diverted a nuclear disaster.
But his struggle to suppress rising inflation and interest rates, as well as the diplomatic standoff of the Iranian hostage crisis, contributed to his loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. In 2002, Carter became the third president to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work, both during and after his presidency, in helping to resolve international conflicts, advancing social welfare and campaigning for human rights. After Carter lost reelection, he and Rosalynn moved back to Plains, lived in a modest home and were commonly spotted by the town's hundreds of residents. From there, Carter helped to build, renovate and repair 4,300 homes in a long-lasting relationship with Habitat for Humanity, as well as raising funding for construction. Well into his 90s, Carter could be seen teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he was a devoted member for decades.
