Former President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. The 39th president of the United States was a Georgia peanut farmer who sought to restore trust in government when he assumed the presidency in 1977 and then built a reputation for tireless work as a humanitarian. He earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter died Sunday, coming up on two years after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia.
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At age 52, Carter was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1977, after defeating President Gerald R. Ford in the 1976 general election. Carter left office on Jan. 20, 1981, following his 1980 general election loss to Ronald Reagan. Here's the latest:
Carter's state funeral will be Jan. 9
President Joe Biden has scheduled a state funeral in Washington for former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9.
Biden also declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning across the U.S. Carter, the longest-lived former president, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100.
Biden also ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday.
Guterres' remembrance focuses on Carter's contributions to peace
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday praised Carter for his significant contributions to international peace through the Camp David Accords, the SALT II Treaty and the Panama Canal treaties.
“President Carter’s commitment to international peace and human rights also found full expression after he left the presidency,” Guterres said in a statement. "He played a key role in conflict mediation, election monitoring, the promotion of democracy, and disease prevention and eradication. These and other efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and helped advance the work of the United Nations.
“President Carter will be remembered for his solidarity with the vulnerable, his abiding grace, and his unrelenting faith in the common good and our common humanity,” Guterres said.
Reflections from King Charles III
King Charles III joined leaders from around the world in issuing their condolences and sharing their reflections on the former president.
“It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of former President Carter," the king said in a public statement. “He was a committed public servant, and devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights. His dedication and humility served as an inspiration to many, and I remember with great fondness his visit to the United Kingdom in 1977."
Biden remembers Carter for his decency
President Joe Biden broke from his family vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands to remember Carter, recalling his predecessor as a role model and friend.
America and the world lost a “remarkable leader” with Carter’s death, Biden said, adding that he had spoken to several of the former president's children and was working with them to formalize memorial arrangements in Washington. Speaking for roughly 10 minutes, Biden remembered Carter as a humanitarian and statesman, someone he couldn't imagine walking past a person in need without trying to help them. He represented “the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away,” Biden said.
The president repeatedly praised Carter's “simple decency” and his values, saying some will see him as a man of honesty and humility from a bygone era.
“I don’t believe it’s a bygone era. I see a man not only of our time, but for all times,” Biden said. “To know his core, you need to know he never stopped being a Sunday school teacher at that Baptist church in Plains, Georgia.”
Egyptian president notes historic Camp David Accords
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on X that Carter's significant role in achieving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel "will remain etched in the annals of history.”
He went on to say Carter's “humanitarian work exemplifies a lofty standard of love, peace, and brotherhood.” Carter will be remembered as “one of the world’s most prominent leaders in service to humanity,” el-Sissi said.
Biden to speak on Carter's death
President Joe Biden will speak about Carter Sunday evening. The president will make his address from a hotel in St. Croix, from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he is on a holiday vacation with his family.
Carter’s relationship with his wife Rosalynn spanned a near-lifetime
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had one of the great love stories and political partnerships in U.S. presidential history.
The former president sometimes called his wife, who died Nov. 19. 2023, “Rosie,” which is a good way to remember how her name actually is pronounced. It is “ROSE-uh-lyn,” not, repeat NOT, “RAHZ-uh-lyn.”
They were married more than 77 years but their relationship went back even further. Jimmy’s mother, “Miss Lillian,” delivered Eleanor Rosalynn Smith at the Smith home in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927. The nurse brought her eldest child back a few days later to visit, meaning the longest-married presidential couple met as preschooler and newborn.
She became his trusted campaign aide and White House adviser, surprising Washington by sitting in on Cabinet meetings. Then they traveled the world together as co-founders of The Carter Center.
Most of the nation saw the former president for the last time at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral.
Grandson Jason Carter says Plains kept his grandparents humble
Jason Carter is now the chairman of The Carter Center’s board of governors. He said his grandparents “never changed who they were” even after reaching the White House and becoming global humanitarians.
He says their four years in Washington were just one period of putting their values into action and that the center his grandparents founded in Atlanta is a lasting “extension of their belief in human rights as a fundamental global force.”
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter traveled the world advocating for democracy and fighting disease, but Jason Carter said they weren’t motivated by pity, or arrogance that a former American president had all the answers — they ventured to remote places because they could “recognize these people.” They too were from “a 600-person village” and understood that even the poorest people “have the power ... the ability ... the knowledge and the expertise to change their own community.”
President Biden mourns his predecessor
As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” 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.
Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington.
Pelosi says Carter’s life ‘was saintly’ in devotion to peace
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is remembering Carter as a man steeped “in devotion to public service and peace.”
The California Democrat said in a statement Sunday that Carter was committed to “honoring the spark of divinity within every person,” something she said manifested in “teaching Sunday school in his beloved Marantha Baptist Church, brokering the landmark Camp David Accords to pave the way to peace or building homes with Habitat for Humanity.”
Pelosi also said Carter led “perhaps the most impactful post-presidency in history.”
Historical praise from the United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted in a post on X the special contribution Carter made by brokering the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and through his work with the Carter Center.
“Motivated by his strong faith and values, President Carter redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad,” Starmer said.
Commemoration in New York City
To commemorate Carter’s death, officials with the Empire State Building said in a post on social media that the iconic New York City landmark would be lit in red, white and blue on Sunday night, “to honor the life and legacy” of the late former president.
The Obamas recall Carter's Sunday services
In a statement issued Sunday, former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama said Carter’s beloved Maranatha Baptist Church “will be a little quieter on Sunday,s” but added that the late former president “will never be far away -- buried alongside Rosalynn next to a willow tree down the road, his memory calling all of us to heed our better angels.”
Noting the “hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews” to see the former president teach Sunday school, as he did “for most of his adult life,” the Obamas listed Carter’s accomplishments as president. But they made special note of the Sunday school lessons, saying they were catalysts for people making a pilgrimage to the church. “Many people in that church on Sunday morning were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.”
A somber announcement
The longest-lived American president died 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.
“Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” The Carter Center 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.
A Southerner and a man of faith
In his 1975 book “Why Not The Best,” Carter said of himself: “I am a Southerner and an American, I am a farmer, an engineer, a father and husband, a Christian, a politician and former governor, a planner, a businessman, a nuclear physicist, a naval officer, a canoeist, and among other things a lover of Bob Dylan’s songs and Dylan Thomas’s poetry.”
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.
After he left office and returned home to his tiny hometown of Plains in southwest Georgia, Carter regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world.
Former Vice President Gore remembers Carter for life "of purpose”
Former Vice President Al Gore praised Jimmy Carter for living “a life full of purpose, commitment and kindness” and for being a “lifelong role model for the entire environmental movement.”
Carter, who left the White House in 1981 after a landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. concentrated on conflict resolution, defending democracy and fighting disease in the developing world. Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, remains a leading advocate for action to fight climate change. Both won Nobel Peace Prizes.
Gore said that “it is a testament to his unyielding determination to help build a more just and peaceful world” that Carter is often “remembered equally for the work he did as President as he is for his leadership over the 42 years after he left office.”
During Gore’s time in the White House, President Bill Clinton had an uneasy relationship with Carter. But Gore said he is “grateful” for “many years of friendship and collaboration” with Carter.
The Clintons react to Jimmy Carter's death
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, remember Carter as a man who lived to serve others.
“Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end."
The statement recalled Carter's many achievements and priorities, including efforts “to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David."
After he left office, the Clinton statement said, Carter continued efforts in "supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity — he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world,” the statement said.