President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100. The 39th president, veteran of the U.S. Navy and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was known for his advocacy for human rights and democracy as well as his role in international peace talks.
President Carter died on Sunday, Dec. 29. The Carter family announced his death, noting that he “died peacefully” at his home in Plains, Georgia, with his family present.
“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 shared by the Carter Center. “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.”
Carter was the longest living president in American history, dying two months after his 100th birthday. He had been dealing with medical issues for much of the last decade, including brain and liver cancer. He overcame both although in recent years was in and out of the hospital after suffering multiple falls that broke bones. In February 2023 the Carter Center announced that he had decided to receive hospice care instead of additional medical treatment.
His death comes after his wife of 77 years, Rosalyn Carter, died on Nov. 19, 2023 after a stay in hospice care. She was 96.
President Joe Biden paid tribute to Carter on Sunday after his passing, referring to him as an “extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.”
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us,” Biden said in a statement. “He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.”
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia in 1924, the son of a peanut farmer. Although Carter would be known for his advocacy for peace and demilitarization, he got his start in service in the U.S. military. He joined the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946 with a commission as an ensign. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. After starting his career on the surface vessels the USS Wyoming and USS Mississippi, he transferred to submarines, starting with the USS Pomfret. Carter, a lieutenant junior grade, became heavily involved in the development of the Navy’s nuclear submarines, working with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1952 and becoming well versed in the new field.
It was then that Carter helped save numerous lives after a nuclear meltdown. A reactor at the Chalk River Laboratories, 180 km from the Canadian capital of Ottawa suffered a mechanical failure. Canada asked the United States for help. Carter, aware of the latest in nuclear science through his work, led a team drawn from 23 American volunteers to save the reactor. As he wrote in his 2015 memoir, his team built a replica of the reactor to plan their efforts. They then entered the facility for 90 seconds at a time, working to stabilize the reactor while being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. Carter was 28 at the time.
“They let us get probably a thousand times more radiation than they would now. It was in the early stages and they didn’t know,” Carter would later say in a 2009 interview.
Carter planned to continue his military service, intending to work aboard the USS Seawolf, the Navy’s second nuclear-powered submarine, as an engineering officer. However that changed when his father died. After seven years, he left the Navy in 1953. He went into the Naval Reserve, inactive duty and in 1961 fully retired with the rank of Lieutenant.
Carter returned to Plains to run the family farm, making it a success. He entered politics, serving in the Georgia State Senate from 1961-1967. He ran twice for governor, winning in 1971. During his time in Georgia he was a proponent of integration and civil rights, even as reactionaries tried to oppose equal rights. In 1969 he filed a report claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object — in the true sense of the term; Carter specified he did not think he saw an alien spaceship. In the 1976 election he defeated incumbent Gerald Ford for the presidency.
During his time in office, Carter managed several foreign policy successes, including the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II nuclear arms treaty with the Soviet Union. He also signed legislation into law that created the Department of Education. His biggest achievement was the signing of the Camp David Accords. The diplomatic process, pushed for by Carter, saw Israel and Egypt agree to what eventually became a peace deal, ending years of war and reshaping much of the geopolitics of the Middle East.
Carter’s term was marred by the global energy crisis, economic troubles and at the end of his four years, the Iran Hostage Crisis, when 52 Americans were taken prisoner after the embassy was stormed. A military rescue attempt, Operation Eagle Claw, ended in disaster, when mechanical issues caused a RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter to crash into an EC-130. The crash killed five airmen and three Marines. Iran only released the hostages after he left office.
After the presidency, Carter remained involved in politics and humanitarian work. The Carter Center regularly monitors elections around the world and advocates for human rights. Carter was well known for his work with Habitat for Humanity, which he has been an advocate for since 1984, helping to build houses around the world. Although Carter’s term in office holds a mixed legacy, the man was almost universally acknowledged for his dedication to helping others through his work after leaving the Oval Office.
In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in supporting human rights and diplomacy. In his acceptance speech, Carter addressed his dedication for peace and the rise of terrorism.
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other’s children,” he said.
In August 2015 Carter revealed he had been diagnosed with melanoma in the brain and liver. Even without his experience at the nuclear reactor, Carter had noted that cancer was common in his family. He received treatment and in December that year announced there were no signs of cancer in him.
Carter is survived by his four children, 11 of his 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. The USS Jimmy Carter, a nuclear submarine, is named for him and was commissioned in 2005. It was, when commissioned, the only submarine named for a living president.
“From humble beginnings on a peanut farm in Georgia, he began his adult life in the Navy, entering the Naval Academy during World War II. He said that his naval service prepared him for the rest of his life, instilling courage, self-sacrifice, idealism, and self-discipline which would combine to form his moral core,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti said in a statement. “Throughout his life, he was guided by his unshakeable conviction that, ‘an individual is not swept along on a tide of inevitability but can influence even the greatest human events.’ His legacy and beliefs are imbued in the Sailors that set sail aboard the USS Jimmy Carter and walk the halls of the newly renamed Carter Hall at the United States Naval Academy.”
In 2006 President Carter said that he intended to be buried in his hometown of Plains. Public observances will be held in Atlanta and Washington, D.C,; a state funeral is being planned.
Update: 12/29/2024: This story has been updated with a statement from the U.S. Navy.
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