Jimmy Carter, (100) Passed away yesterday December 29, 2024 due to natural causes, at his home in Plains, Georgia. A former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Carter was known as a man of the people who was dedicated to his work as a philanthropist and humanitarian after the conclusion of his presidency. Despite having a drama-filled and divisive presidency, Carter became a uniting figure in a country largely divided along party lines after his time in office. He was married to Rossalyn Carter (1927-2023) for 77 years and they are survived by their children Jack, Chip, Jeff, Amy, and their eight grandchildren.
Jimmy Carter grew up in rural Georgia and was born at the Wise Sanitarium to his mother Lillian Carter who was a nurse and his father James Carter who was a successful local businessman. Despite his father being very pro-segregation, he allowed Jimmy Carter to become friends with the African-American children who lived around the area. Jimmy grew up riding around on his bike and selling peanuts to make money.
Carter would go on to graduate from the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree and would be a submariner in the Pacific and Atlantic fleets. He would later be chosen for the nuclear submarine program and would become the senior officer for the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf, the second ever nuclear submarine.
In 1962, Jimmy Carter won a seat in the Georgia state senate. He lost his first campaign for governor in 1966 but won his second in 1970 and became the 76th governor of the state. He would serve as the Democratic National Committee’s campaign chairman for the 1974 election. In the wake of what was largely a success for the democrats in the midterm elections he announced his candidacy for president. He won his party’s nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Committee and would go on to defeat Gerald Ford in the general election.
During his presidency, Carter would have to deal with many huge crises including out of control inflation and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Issues like this would ultimately tank his popularity and force him out of office in the next election.
Despite these setbacks, Carter also had many big accomplishments including establishing a national energy policy, the creation of the Department of Education, and the expansion of many national parks.
After his presidency, Jimmy Carter would dedicate his time to charity and philanthropy. He wanted to get rid of the stigma of charity and make it into more of a partnership with the community. Some of his biggest projects are the Carter Center which was built in Atlanta and the Carter work project which is a massive building project led every year by him and his wife and has attracted over 100,000 volunteers and built over 4,000 homes while helping with disaster relief.
You can pay your respects to Jimmy Carter at the Capital where he will lie in state from January 7 to January 9. His state funeral is scheduled to take place on January 9, 2025 at the Washington National Cathedral in DC.