Jimmy Carter, the thirty ninth U.S. president, who was additionally the nation’s oldest dwelling president, died on Sunday at age 100.
Previous to his life in politics, Carter was a peanut farmer and a U.S. Navy lieutenant. He was elected governor of Georgia in 1970 and U.S. president in 1976.
James Earl Carter Jr. was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, and was the eldest son of Bessie Lillian Carter and James Earl Carter Sr.
Carter had three youthful siblings: Gloria Spann, Ruth Stapleton and Billy Carter.
Carter attended Plains Excessive College in 1941 and briefly studied engineering at Georgia Southwestern Faculty earlier than transferring to the Naval ROTC program at Georgia Institute of Expertise. Carter earned admission to the Naval Academy in 1943 and graduated within the high 10 % of his class.
Carter was assigned to serve on the usWyoming in 1946. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1952 earlier than resigning in 1953 to handle his household farm following the demise of his father.
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Carter’s profession in politics started when he served as chairman of the Sumter County Board of Training within the early Nineteen Sixties. Inside eight years, Carter turned governor of Georgia, the place he championed authorities effectivity, ecology and continued desegregation within the South.
Carter defeated incumbent Republican Gerald Ford within the 1976 U.S. presidential election and stays the final Democrat to win nearly all of the Southern states within the common election.
Throughout his one time period as president, Carter created 8 million jobs and minimize the price range deficit regardless of near-record inflation and rates of interest. He established the Division of Training, strengthened Social Safety, appointed file minority candidates to federal jobs, expanded nationwide parks and combatted an vitality disaster by proposing a plan to lower the consumption of petroleum and improve using nuclear energy.
As well as, Carter championed human rights, helped carry peace between Egypt and Israel, accomplished a nuclear limitation treaty with the Soviet Union and improved diplomatic relations with China.
As a presidential candidate and as president, Carter additionally supported the LGBTQ neighborhood at a time when few public officers did. For instance, in 1978, Carter urged California voters to defeat Proposition 6 (aka the Briggs Initiative), which might have barred gays and lesbians from instructing within the state’s public faculties. Voters rejected the anti-gay and lesbian measure by greater than 1 million votes.
When Carter ran for reelection in 1980, he was the primary Democrat to endorse a homosexual rights plank within the social gathering’s platform.
A mix of home financial hassle, extraordinarily excessive inflation and a hostage state of affairs on the U.S. embassy in Iran weighed on Carter’s recognition among the many U.S. citizens, and he was defeated by Ronald Reagan within the 1980 presidential election.
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Following his stint within the White Home, Carter targeted his efforts on championing human rights causes around the globe. Carter and his spouse Rosalynn based the Carter Heart in 1982 with the objective of assuaging human struggling and advancing human rights initiatives. Over time, the Carter Heart has promoted and supported international democratic elections and labored to cut back and deal with the unfold of illness in impoverished areas. Carter was additionally well-known for his volunteer work supporting Habitat for Humanity.
Twenty years after he left workplace, Carter earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts in peace, democracy, human rights, and social and financial growth.
Carter is the writer of 30 books, together with the 2006 New York Occasions Finest Vendor “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” Carter’s ardour for music was portrayed within the 2020 documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.”
Carter is survived by his youngsters Amy, Jack, Donnel and James Carter. His spouse Rosalynn died on Nov. 19, 2023 at 96.
Contributors: Elizabeth Balboa, Anthony Noto
Picture: Jimmy Carter in 1977, Picture by Bernard Gotfyd, courtesy Library of Congress
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