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James
Earl Carter
Jr.
(October 1, 1924 – December
29, 2024)
James
Carter was the
39th president
of the United
States,
serving from
1977 to 1981.
A member of
the Democratic
Party, Carter
previously
served from
1963 to 1967
in the Georgia
State Senate
and from 1971
to 1975 as the
76th governor
of Georgia. He
was the
longest-lived
president in
U.S. history
and the first
to live to 100
years of age.
Born and
reared in
Plains,
Georgia,
Carter
graduated from
the U.S. Naval
Academy in
1946 and
joined the
U.S. Navy's
submarine
service. He
returned home
after his
military
service and
revived his
family's
peanut-growing
business.
Opposing
racial
segregation,
Carter
supported the
growing civil
rights
movement, and
became an
activist
within the
Democratic
Party. Carter
served in the
Georgia State
Senate from
1963 to 1967
and then as
Governor of
Georgia from
1971 to 1975.
As a
dark-horse
candidate not
well known
outside
Georgia, he
won the
Democratic
nomination and
narrowly
defeated the
incumbent
president,
Gerald Ford of
the Republican
Party, in the
1976
presidential
election.
Carter
pardoned all
Vietnam War
draft evaders
on his second
day in office.
He created a
national
energy policy
that included
conservation,
price control,
and new
technology.
Carter
successfully
pursued the
Camp David
Accords, the
Panama Canal
Treaties, and
the second
round of
Strategic Arms
Limitation
Talks. He also
confronted
stagflation.
His
administration
established
the U.S.
Department of
Energy and the
Department of
Education. He
was the only
president to
serve a full
term without
appointing a
justice to the
Supreme Court.
The end of his
presidency was
marked by the
Iran hostage
crisis, an
energy crisis,
the Three Mile
Island
accident, the
Nicaraguan
Revolution,
and the Soviet
invasion of
Afghanistan.
In response to
the invasion,
Carter
escalated the
Cold War by
ending
détente,
imposing a
grain embargo
against the
Soviets,
enunciating
the Carter
Doctrine, and
leading the
multinational
boycott of the
1980 Summer
Olympics in
Moscow. Carter
defeated
challenger Ted
Kennedy in the
1980
Democratic
Party
presidential
primaries but
lost the
general
election in a
landslide to
Ronald Reagan,
the Republican
nominee.
After leaving
the
presidency,
Carter
established
the Carter
Center to
promote and
expand human
rights, and
received a
Nobel Peace
Prize in 2002
for his work
in relation to
it. He
traveled
extensively to
conduct peace
negotiations,
monitor
elections, and
further the
eradication of
infectious
diseases.
Carter was a
key figure in
the nonprofit
housing
organization
Habitat for
Humanity. He
also wrote
numerous
books, ranging
from political
memoirs to
poetry, while
continuing to
comment on
global
affairs,
including two
books on the
Israeli–Palestinian
conflict.
Polls of
historians and
political
scientists
generally rank
Carter as a
below-average
president.
Scholars and
the public
more favorably
view his
post-presidency,
which was the
longest in
U.S. history.
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Jimmy
Carter Dies
Jimmy
Carter died on
Sunday,
leaving only
five former or
current U.S.
presidents
still living.
“Jimmy Carter,
39th president
of the United
States and
winner of the
2002 Nobel
Peace Prize,
died
peacefully
Sunday, Dec.
29, at his
home in
Plains,
Georgia,
surrounded by
his family,”
the Carter
Center said in
a statement
shortly after
the
presidential
passing. “He
was 100, the
longest-lived
president in
U.S. history.”
Carter served
as Georgia’s
governor from
1971 until
1975 before
assuming the
presidency
after
defeating
Gerald Ford in
the 1976
election. He
is remembered
for pardoning
Vietnam draft
dodgers,
facilitating
the 1978 Camp
David Accords,
and being in
office during
the 1979
energy and
Iran hostage
crises.
His life’s
longevity was
historic.
Carter
outlasted each
of his two
direct
successors and
remained
eligible for a
second term
until his
death.
Former
President
Jimmy Carter,
the 39th
president of
the United
States, who
dedicated his
life after he
left office to
brokering
international
peace, has
died at age
100, his
office
confirmed
Sunday.
Carter, who
was awarded
the Nobel
Peace Prize in
2002 for his
human rights
work around
the world, had
been in
hospice care
since February
2023 at his
home in
Plains,
Georgia, where
he lived with
his wife of 77
years,
Rosalynn
Carter. The
former first
lady, 96, died
on Nov. 19,
2023.
Carter was the
first U.S.
president to
reach his
100th
birthday.
In October,
for Carter’s
100th
birthday,
President Joe
Biden
recognized him
in a
direct-to-camera
birthday
message shared
with CBS News,
saying: “Mr.
President,
you’ve always
been a moral
force for our
nation and the
world. I
recognized
that as a
young senator.
That’s why I
supported you
so early.
You’re a voice
of courage,
conviction,
compassion,
and most of
all, a beloved
friend of Jill
and me and our
family.”
Biden said he
would order an
official state
funeral to be
held in
Washington.
In a
proclamation
he issued
later Sunday
formally
announcing
Carter’s
death, Biden
declared Jan.
9 to be a
national day
of mourning.
A Georgia
native and a
Democrat,
Carter was
elected
president in
1976,
defeating the
Republican
incumbent,
Gerald Ford,
in the
aftermath of
the Watergate
scandal.
Carter served
one term
before he lost
re-election in
1980 to Ronald
Reagan, his
bid hobbled by
an inability
to resolve the
Iran hostage
crisis, a
standoff that
lasted 444
days.
Carter, the
oldest living
former
president
after George
H.W. Bush who
died in 2018
at 94, was the
first American
president to
have been born
in a hospital.
Only 56 years
old when he
left the Oval
Office, Carter
would spend
the next four
decades
focusing on
good works
that made him
an almost
universally
revered
figure,
sometimes
called
America’s
greatest
ex-president —
a sharp
contrast to
his relatively
low popularity
when he exited
the White
House in
January 1981.
For years, he
and his wife
could be found
on
construction
sites hoisting
beams and
pounding nails
to build homes
for the
disadvantaged
with the
nonprofit
organization
Habitat for
Humanity.
Around the
world, Carter
was recognized
after his
presidency for
his tireless
work promoting
peaceful
resolutions to
conflict and
advancing
democracy,
human rights
and social
justice,
primarily
through the
Carter Center,
which he and
the former
first lady
established at
Emory
University in
Atlanta in
1982.
Working
through the
center, the
Carters
traveled to
developing
countries to
monitor
elections,
help build
democratic
institutions,
lobby for
victims of
human rights
abuses and
spearhead
efforts to
eradicate
diseases.
Habitat for
Humanity
issued its own
statement
mourning the
death of its
longtime ally.
“President and
Mrs. Carter
began
volunteering
with Habitat
for Humanity
near their
home in
southwest
Georgia more
than 40 years
ago, and soon
brought
worldwide
attention to
the need for
decent and
affordable
housing. We
are grateful
for the
incredible
impact the
Carters have
had on Habitat
and on the
families who
have benefited
from their
shining
example. The
Carters put
Habitat for
Humanity on
the map, and
their legacy
lives on in
every family
we serve
around the
world,” said
Habitat for
Humanity’s
CEO, Jonathan
Reckford.
Carter was the
only living
president
aside from
Donald Trump
not to attend
Biden’s
inauguration
in 2021,
because of the
pandemic. It
was the first
inauguration
Carter had
missed as a
former
president.
Trump sent the
Carter family
his
condolences
Sunday
afternoon,
saying he owed
“a debt of
gratitude” to
Carter for his
work.
“Those of us
who have been
fortunate to
have served as
President
understand
this is a very
exclusive
club, and only
we can relate
to the
enormous
responsibility
of leading the
Greatest
Nation in
History,” he
wrote.
“The
challenges
Jimmy faced as
President came
at a pivotal
time for our
country and he
did everything
in his power
to improve the
lives of all
Americans. For
that, we all
owe him a debt
of gratitude,”
Trump wrote.
“Melania and I
are thinking
warmly of the
Carter Family
and their
loved ones
during this
difficult
time. We urge
everyone to
keep them in
their hearts
and prayers.”
In a follow-up
post, Trump
said that
“while I
strongly
disagreed with
him
philosophically
and
politically, I
also realized
that he truly
loved and
respected our
Country, and
all it stands
for.”
“He worked
hard to make
America a
better place,
and for that I
give him my
highest
respect. He
was a truly
good man and,
of course,
will be
greatly
missed,” Trump
continued.
“He was also
very
consequential,
far more than
most
Presidents,
after he left
the Oval
Office.”
Biden paid
tribute to
Carter on
Sunday night,
addressing the
nation from
St. Croix,
where he is on
vacation.
“Just look at
his life, his
life’s work.
He worked to
eradicate
disease, not
just at home,
but around the
world. He
forged peace,
advanced civil
rights, human
rights,
promoted free
and fair
elections
around the
world. He
built housing
and homes for
the homeless,”
Biden said.
Read all:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-
news/former-
president-
jimmy-carter-
dies-100-
rcna42410
https://newsaddicts.com/trump-reacts-to-
jimmy-carters-
death-with-
heartfelt-
statement
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