Jimmy Carter — who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977-1981 before devoting much of the rest of his life to charity work — has died.
According to his foundation, the Carter Center, the former president died at his longtime home in Plains, Ga. on Sunday (Dec. 29) at the age of 100.
The foundation’s statement indicates that Carter died “peacefully” while “surrounded by his family.”
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” Chip Carter, Carter’s son, said in a statement published on the Carter Center’s website.
“My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs,” the younger Carter continued. “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.”
At the age of 100, Carter was the longest-lived president in U.S. history.
Born in Plains, Ga., on Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. was the son of a local businessman and a nurse. He was a diligent student, and he earned his way into college, attending Georgia Southwestern College and then transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology before earning admission to the Naval Academy in 1943.
Carter met his wife, Rosalynn, while at the Academy, and they married shortly after his graduation in 1946. He served in various positions in the Navy until 1953, when he returned to his hometown to run the family peanut business after his father’s death.
Carter made the business very successful and became a prominent businessman in his own right, then used that as a springboard for a career in politics, running successfully for the Georgia Senate as a Democrat in 1962. He later served as the Governor of Georgia from 1971-1975 before announcing a surprise campaign for the presidency of the United States in 1976.
Carter was widely perceived as an outsider who could not win, but his populist campaign appealed to voters enough to give him the win against incumbent Gerald Ford, and he was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1977.
During Carter’s four-year, one-term presidency, he focused on priorities including energy conservation, education and more; his administration founded both the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He faced economic challenges including inflation and recession during his tenure, as well as the ongoing Iran hostage crisis, which became some of the key issues that lost him a second term.
Carter was also instrumental in negotiating for peace in the world, bringing various Middle East leaders to the table to sign the Camp David Accords and signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
Carter lost his second presidential bid in a landslide to Ronald Regan in 1980, and he went on to a very impactful post-presidency as a continuing advocate for world peace, personally taking part in negotiations in hot spots all over the world. He also founded the Carter Center, whose stated aim is to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering. The Carter Center has been involved in humanitarian aid efforts worldwide, and Carter and his wife Rosalynn were decades-long avid supporters of Habitat for Humanity, which helps provide affordable housing for qualifying low-income individuals and families.
Carter faced a number of health challenges in the final years of his life, including brain cancer, liver surgery and hip replacement surgery, as well as multiple hospital stays in 2022 and 2023.
On Feb. 19, 2023, the Carter Center announced that Jimmy Carter had entered hospice care at his home in Georgia, choosing to “spend his remaining time at home with his family.”
Rosalynn Carter preceded her husband in death on Nov. 19, 2023, after a battle with dementia. She was 96 years old.
Public services to honor Carter’s memory will be held in Atlanta, Ga. and Washington, D.C. He will be interred in a private ceremony in his home city of Plains, Ga. Specific details have not yet been announced, but will be made available here.
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