President Jimmy Carter died December 29, 2024 at the age of 100 in his Palins, Georgia home.  He had been in hospice care for over a year after a diagnosis of brain cancer.  He was the longest living president in U.S. history.

President Joe Biden has ordered a state funeral for Carter with a service in the National Cathedral; after which he will return to Plains for burial.  As a new member of Congress, Biden was the first to endorse Carter during Carter’s presidential campaign.  Carter was the last democrat to sweep the Deep South in a presidential campaign.

Prior to Jimmy Carter becoming president, the roles of vice president and First Lady were merely figureheads; but Carter raised the positions to become an integral part of the Washington administration.

A peanut farmer, Carter was known far more for his humanitarian efforts with Habitat for Humanity than he was for his presidential efforts.  Carter continued to help build houses well into his nineties.

Until the corona virus shut everything down and mobility became an issue, Carter regularly taught Sunday School at his long time church Maranatha Baptist Church.

More than a president; Jimmy Carter was a businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, and citizen of the world.  He is also the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

In 1978, Carter helped to broker a peace treaty between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David but a 444 day hostage crisis in Iran, high gas prices, and double digit inflation doomed his chances for a second term in 1980 when former actor Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States.

Carter was once quoted as saying, “my faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”

After leaving the presidency; Carter, along with wife Rosalynn, formed The Carter Center in 1982.  A first of its kind facility, The Carter Center championed “international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights.”  Speaking on the Center, Carter said, “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia.  I wanted a place where we could work.”

James Earl Carter Jr was born October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia but grew up in Archery – a community of mostly African Americans – the son of a grocer.  He grew up in a home that had no indoor plumbing or electricity.

He earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and graduated in 1946.  He married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith the same year.

The young lieutenant gave up his future as a submariner after learning that his father had cancer.  He and Rosalynn returned to Plains to take up life as peanut farmers.  The home he had upon that return to Plains was the very same home he lived in after the White House and later drew his last breath.

Carter’s political aspirations began in 1962 as a Georgia state Senator.  He was also a governor of Georgia before making his way to Washington and the presidency.

As president Jimmy Carter tried to show America that he was just one of them – he preferred the name Jimmy to James, Rosalynn did her shopping “off the rack”, and Amy – just nine when the Carters moved into the White House – attended a public school.

Prior to Jimmy Carter taking office as president; the Departments of Education and Energy did not exist; nor did FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Predeceased by his wife of over 75 years Rosalynn; Carter is survived by children – John, James III, Donnell, and Amy -, and grandchildren.