Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old.
The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Centre said.
바카라Our founder, former US President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,바카라 the centre said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter's death, saying the world lost an 바카라extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian바카라 and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter's compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others.
바카라To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning 바카라 the good life 바카라 study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,바카라 Biden said in a statement. 바카라He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people 바카라 decent and honourable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.바카라
Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington.
Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world 바카라 Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation's highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s.
바카라My faith demands 바카라 this is not optional 바카라 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,바카라 Carter once said.
A president from Plains
A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon's disgrace and US defeat in southeast Asia.
바카라If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don't vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,바카라 Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon.
Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women's rights and America's global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential centre where Carter would establish so much of his legacy.
Yet Carter's electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan.
Carter acknowledged in his 2020 바카라White House Diary바카라 that he could be 바카라micromanaging바카라 and 바카라excessively autocratic,바카라 complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington's news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes.
바카라It didn't take us long to realise that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,바카라 Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had 바카라an inherent incompatibility바카라 with Washington insiders.
Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives 바카라 to 바카라protect our nation's security and interests peacefully바카라 and 바카라enhance human rights here and abroad바카라 바카라 even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term.
And then, the world
Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Centre in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights.
바카라I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,바카라 Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. 바카라I wanted a place where we could work.바카라
That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a US invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Centre had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the centre began monitoring US elections as well.
Carter's stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors.
He went 바카라where others are not treading,바카라 he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010.
바카라I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don't,바카라 Carter said.
He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton's White House. He openly criticised President George W Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticised America's approach to Israel with his 2006 book 바카라Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.바카라 And he repeatedly countered US administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump.
Among the centre's many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity.
The Nobel committee's 2002 Peace Prize cites his 바카라untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.바카라 Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added.
Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done.
바카라The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,바카라 he said. 바카라The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.바카라
An epic American life
Carter's globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little 바카라Jimmy Carters,바카라 so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house - expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents - where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington's National Cathedral.
The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously.
His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of US dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America's historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalised relations with China.
바카라I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,바카라 Stuart Eizenstat, Carter's domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book.
바카라He was not a great president바카라 but also not the 바카라hapless and weak바카라 caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was 바카라good and productive바카라 and 바카라delivered results, many of which were realised only after he left office.바카라
Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton's secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat's forward that Carter was 바카라consequential and successful바카라 and expressed hope that 바카라perceptions will continue to evolve바카라 about his presidency.
바카라Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,바카라 said Albright, who died in 2022.
Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for 바카라an epic American life바카라 spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries.
바카라He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,바카라 Alter told The Associated Press.
A small-town start
James Earl Carter Jr was born Oct 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter's political career.
Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery's tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns.
Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 - then and now - Carter won an appointment to the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career.
Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband.
Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office - he later called it 바카라inconceivable바카라 not to have consulted her on such major life decisions - but this time, she was on board.
바카라My wife is much more political,바카라 Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn't long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 - losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox - and then immediately focused on the next campaign.
Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist 바카라Dixiecrats바카라 as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as 바카라Cufflinks Carl.바카라 Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed.
Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct.
바카라I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,바카라 he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine.
'Jimmy Who?'
His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr Day in the slain civil rights leader's home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was.
In 1974, he ran Democrats' national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: 바카라Jimmy Who?바카라
The Carters and a 바카라Peanut Brigade바카라 of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden.
Yet it was Carter's ability to navigate America's complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives.
A self-declared 바카라born-again Christian,바카라 Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he 바카라had looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times.바카라 The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced 바카라 including NBC's new 바카라Saturday Night Live바카라 show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing.
Carter chose Minnesota Senator Walter 바카라Fritz바카라 Mondale as his running mate on a 바카라Grits and Fritz바카라 ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady's office. Mondale's governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides.
The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname 바카라Jimmy바카라 even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band's 바카라Hail to the Chief.바카라 They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school.
Washington's social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that 바카라he hated politics,바카라 according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll.
Accomplishments and malaise
Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts.
He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation's second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s 바카라 after Carter left office. He built on Nixon's opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy.
But he couldn't immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis.
And then came Iran.
After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the US for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt.
The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a US boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.
Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his 바카라malaise바카라 speech, although he didn't use that word. He declared the nation was suffering 바카라a crisis of confidence.바카라 By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves.
Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Senator Edward M Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he'd 바카라kick his ass,바카라 but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with 바카라make America great again바카라 appeals and asking voters whether they were 바카라better off than you were four years ago.바카라
Reagan further capitalised on Carter's lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: 바카라There you go again.바카라 Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority.
Carter successfully negotiated the hostages' freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free.
'A wonderful life'
