Former United States President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday, December 29, 2024. According to the Carter Center, he passed in Plains, Georgia surrounded by family. He had been in at-home hospice care since early 2023.

Carter was the 39th president of the United States, serving in office from 1977 to 1981. He was president at a time when the nation faced serious problems at home and internationally. When Carter took office, he promised to bring honesty back to the White House after a period of scandal, and he would later redefine what a president could do after his term ended.

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, GA. His father was a peanut farmer who also owned a warehouse and store and his mother was a registered nurse who crossed the racial divide in the 1920s to council black women on health care. He was a studios child and began working at his dad’s store when he was 10 years old. In the evenings, he and his father would listen to baseball games and politics on their radio.

Carter attended Plains High School and regularly attended Sunday school at Plains Baptist Church. In 1941, he became the first person on his dad’s side of the family to graduate from high school. He studied engineering at Georgia Southwestern Junior College then joined the Naval ROTC program while continuing to study engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Then Carter got in to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, where he continued to be academically successful, graduating in the top 10% of his class in 1946. While on leave, he reconnected with Rosalynn Smith, whom he had known since they were kids. They were married in June 1946 and had three sons and a daughter in ’47, ’50, ’52, and ’67.

In the Navy, he worked on submarines and after training in Norfolk, VA he was stationed at Pearl Harbor where he was an electronics officer on the USS Pomfret. Carter was stationed in several other areas, including San Diego and Washington, DC, then in 1952 he was assigned to work with Admiral Hyman Rickover on developing a nuclear submarine program.

When Carter’s father passed away, he and the family moved to rural Georgia so that he could take care of his mother and handle the family farm. While doing so, he became involved in community politics and won a seat on the Sumter County Board of Education in 1955, eventually becoming the chairman.

During the 1950s, the American South underwent significant changes due to racial turmoil that involved desegregating schools. In the town of Plains, Carter was the only white man to refuse to join the White Citizens’ Council, and received hostile treatment. When the Supreme Court ruled that voting districts be redrawn, Carter recognized the chance for a new Southerner, as he considered himself, to run for political office. In 1962, he ran for the Georgia State Senate, and won after fraudulent votes for his opponent were discovered. During his two terms as a state senator, he gained a reputation for being tough and independent who curbed wasteful spending and support of civil rights.

Carter ran for governor in 1966, but lost, so he started preparing to run in 1970. He ran a campaign that targeted white rural voters who thought he was too liberal during the previous campaign. By doing so, he won the seat, but reversed much of his outward commitment to civil rights.

Once in office, Carter returned to his more progressive values, calling for an end to segregation, increased the number of black officials in state government, and promoted education and prison reform. He also trimmed state bureaucracy to a more efficient system.

Carter was one of ten candidates for the democratic presidential nomination in 1976 and was arguably the least well known. Following the Watergate scandal the country was frustrated with established politicians, so being lesser known was advantageous. He campaigned to reduce government waste, balance the budget, and increase assistance to the poor. He also famously stated “I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll never avoid a controversial issue.” And used the slogan “A Leader, for a Change.”

He got the democratic nomination and challenged republican incumbent Gerald Ford, winning the election to become the 39th US President. Carter made energy a domestic priority after the 1973 oil embargo and wanted to lessen the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. He decreased foreign oil consumption by 8% and developed emergency stores of oil and natural gas, but the Iranian Revolution of 1979 drove the oil prices up.

Carter’s foreign policy was focused on improving human rights in relations with other countries. He suspended economic and military aid to certain countries in protest of human rights abuse. His most significant achievement in foreign policy was the successful mediation of the Camp David Accords with Israel and Egypt which led to a peace treaty.

On the negative side, Carter did not have a good relationship with Congress or the media, which negatively affected his ability to communicate his policies and address legislation. One of the biggest factors in his declining political strength was the Iranian Hostage Crisis. He was unable to negotiate release of the Iranian student hostages that were held at the US Embassy in Tehran. Adding to that the unsuccessful rescue attempt and he was viewed as being outwitted by radicals.

Ronald Reagan challenged Carter for the presidency in 1980 and won.

After leaving the White House, Carter put forth significant humanitarian efforts. He worked a lot with Habitat for Humanity and founded the Carter Presidential Center to promote human rights and end suffering around the world. He worked to develop community-based health care systems in Latin America and Africa, helped oversee elections in democracies that need support, and promoted peace in the Middle East.

He wrote the books Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis and Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts at finding peaceful solutions in human rights issues.

Carter continued to share his political opinions late into life, criticizing policies made by both Democratic and Republican presidents, as well as speaking out about international events. He also remained active with Habitat for Humanity, helping to build houses well into his 90s.