Jimmy Carter, a Georgia peanut farmer who became 39th president of the United States, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to a statement from the Carter Center. He was 100 years old.
Carter passed way “peacefully” and was “surrounded by his family.”
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” Chip Carter, the former president’s son, said in a statement on Dec. 29.
“My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs,” Chip added.
The former president had been in declining health and entered hospice care in February 2023, after surviving metastatic brain cancer, liver cancer and brain surgery following a fall in 2019.
He made a rare public appearance, following the death of his beloved wife, Rosalynn Carter, to attend her memorial service in November 2023.
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Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, announced the former president’s days were nearing the end of his life in May 2024.
“He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end,” Jason said at a mental health forum named in honor of his grandmother.
In 2018, Jimmy Carter became the oldest living U.S. president in history after George H.W. Bush died at the age of 94.
Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and joined the Navy.
After returning home, he revived his family’s peanut-growing business and became an activist within the Democratic Party.
He spoke out against racial segregation and entered local politics. Carter served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967, and then as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
He won the Democratic nomination and narrowly defeated the incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election. Immediately after taking office, Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders.
Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981.
Among his other achievements, he successfully pursued the Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal Treaties.
His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education. Near the end of his presidency, Carter was forced to confront the Iran hostage crisis, an energy crisis, the Three Mile Island accident, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He lost the 1980 presidential election to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.
After leaving office, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights.
In 2002, he received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work championing human rights. Carter was also a leader of the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity, an organization he proudly represented for their work helping others.
President Carter is survived by his children — Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
There will be public observances in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. for Carter, followed by a private interment in Plains, Georgia.
The final arrangements for President Carter’s state funeral, including all public events and motorcade routes will be announced later and can be found at www.usstatefuneral.mdw.army.mil.
