President Jimmy Carter, the only Georgian to ever occupy the White House, died on Sunday, December 29, 2024, after more than a year in hospice.
Carter, who turned 100 on Oct. 1 and is the longest-living president in American history, died Sunday at his home in Plains surrounded by his family, according to the Carter Center.
“My father was a hero not only to me, but to all who believe in peace, human rights and selfless love,” Chip Carter, the former president’s son, said in a statement. “My brothers, sister and I shared it with the rest of the world through these shared 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.”
Public services are planned in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., followed by a private funeral in Plains. The full schedule has not yet been published.
President Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were beloved residents of Plains, the tiny town in southwest Georgia where the couple grew up. Rosalynn Carter died on November 19, 2023 at the age of 96.
Their affection for each other never waned during their 77-year marriage, which spanned Carter’s ever-changing career from peanut farmer to state senator, governor and president, as well as his post-White House roles as a diplomat, humanitarian and volunteer. .
As president, he helped broker the Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, established diplomatic relations with China and oversaw the creation of the departments of energy and education, among other things.
However, he could only serve one term as president, losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980 amid a struggling economy and the Iran hostage crisis.
His popularity grew after leaving the White House, becoming the face of Habitat for Humanity – and even appearing at its namesake building after being injured in a fall – and taking on global crises and conflicts at his Atlanta-based Carter Center.
In 2002, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for “decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to support democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
Carter was also a prolific author who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his memoir about growing up on a Georgia farm in the rural South after the Great Depression and before the Civil Rights Movement. He won a Grammy Award three times for his audiobooks and was nominated nine more times.
The Carters returned to their hometown after leaving the White House and moved back into the same modest ranch-style house they first bought in 1961. Carter, a devout Christian, famously continued to teach Sunday school classes at Maranatha Baptist Church until 2020, completing the four-year school – a ten-year run that has become part of Georgia’s political lore.
The Atlanta-based Carter Center announced on February 18, 2023, that Carter had decided to enter hospice and spend his remaining time at home with his family. The statement sparked an outpouring of tributes and balmy memories from Georgians on both sides of the aisle.
In 2015, Carter beat brain cancer several accidents in recent years.
The former president continued to wield influence in politics – especially in Georgia. He continued to support candidates in high-profile races, including Vice President Kamala Harris. His grandson Jason Carter told reporters he was holding off on voting for Harris.
Carter also expressed his support for leading Democrats, including Senator Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial candidate (*100*) Abrams – and hosted Biden at his home in Plains in 2021. In 1976, Biden, then a senator, was one of the first elected officials outside Georgia to support Carter’s presidential bid.
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