Jimmy Carter Passes Away, Aged 100

Photo from Wikipedia

Flags around the country are being flown at half-staff in honor of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, who passed away on December 29th. An outpouring of support for the late President and his work towards justice and peace followed the news of his passing, and his contributions to our country and the world will not be forgotten.

Carter was born in Plains, Georgia on October 1, 1924, attending Georgia Southwestern College and later the Georgia Institute of Technology. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, he married Rosalynn Smith and served in the Navy for seven years. He resigned when his father died in 1953 so that he could return to his family’s peanut farm in Georgia.

He was elected to the Georgia Senate in 1962 and 1964, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1966, and won on his second attempt in 1970. As Georgia’s governor, he declared that “the time for racial discrimination is over,” opening up government offices to people of color and women. His term as governor drew national attention because of this, and nearing its close in 1974, Carter announced his campaign for Democratic Presidential nominee. 

Carter’s diligent campaign for President eventually garnered broad support, as he was seen as a man of principle who could restore America’s faith in the government following the Watergate scandal. Carter’s choice for running mate was Minnesota Senator Walter F. Mondale, and the two defeated Gerald R. Ford and Bob Dole for the Presidency in 1976.

As President, Carter tried to informalize the role by way of his dress, speech, and press conferences. Though he had a wide range of goals for reform in many areas, he had difficulty seeing them to reality due to a lack of support from Congress, which eroded much of his popularity. Two scandals, involving a close friend and cabinet member as well as his brother, also diminished the people’s trust in him. 

Carter’s foreign policy, however, was praised for its support of human rights. He made treaties over the Panama Canal to keep relations peaceful and neutral, fostered negotiations between Israel and Egypt to end the war between them, established relations with China, and attempted to form a treaty over weapons with the Soviet Union, though this was withdrawn. Unfortunately, these successes were overshadowed by other issues, such as the Iranian Hostage Crisis, inflation, unemployment, and his proposed solution to the energy crisis, which was hindered by the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979.

He ran for reelection in 1980, but was defeated for the presidency by Ronald Reagan. After his term, he and his wife returned to Georgia. There, they established the Carter Presidential Center, a library and museum. Carter continued to serve as a diplomat, resolving conflicts in Panama, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Haiti, and North Korea. He also built homes through Habitat For Humanity, restoring a good public image following a rocky Presidency. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, and continued work as an author for many more years after that. His passing on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100, makes him the oldest former U.S. president ever, and the legacy he left behind is certainly fitting of that distinction.

All five living presidents were in attendance at Carter's funeral, photo from CBS News