A century of history: Jimmy Carter turns 100

ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) – In a life filled with military, political, economic and social milestones, perhaps the most unprecedented chapter was written Tuesday as Georgia’s favorite son turned 100 years old.

On Tuesday, James Earl Carter Jr. celebrated his 100th birthday at his home in Plains, Georgia. The country’s 39th president officially became America’s oldest living ex-president on March 21, 2019, surpassing George HW Bush, who died in November 2018 at the age of 94 years, 171 days. Before the elder Bush, the previous record holders were Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover and John Adams.

No other former president in history lived to be 100 years old. Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump are the country’s only living former presidents.

On February 18, 2023, the Carter Center – which the former president founded in Atlanta after his single term in the White House – announced that Carter had “decided to spend the remaining time at home with his family and to receive hospice care rather than additional medical care.” receive “intervention.”

This announcement caused the country’s media to rush to Plains to await news of his death. But since then, Carter has celebrated his 100th birthday and mourned the loss of his beloved Rosalynn Carter, his partner of more than 77 years, after she was diagnosed with dementia.

Carter’s last public appearance was at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral.

The Carters made history as the country’s longest-married presidential couple. The couple’s last public appearance was at the annual Plains Peanut Festival.

To mark Carter’s birthday, replicas of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Civil Rights Amendments will be on permanent display in Sumter County. The foundational documents, known collectively as the “Charters of Freedom,” will be installed at the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park on Main Street, across from the historic business district in downtown Plains. This will be the first facility to be constructed in the state of Georgia.

The inauguration of the Charts of Freedom will take place on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Jason Carter, himself a former Georgia state senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said at the Democratic National Convention in August that his Pulitzer Prize-winning grandfather couldn’t wait to cast his vote for Kamala Harris in November.

Celebrations of Carter’s centennial began two weeks ago when dozens of entertainers and political and civic leaders performed a concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The benefit concert – whose ticket sales funded international programs at the Carter Center – brought together artists of different generations and genres dating back to his 1976 campaign.

This past weekend, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta hosted a JC100 Film Festival. The library said it is showing some of Carter’s favorite films that were shown during his White House tenure.

As governor of Georgia, Carter founded the state’s motion picture bureau after the success of “Deliverance,” one of the first films filmed in the Peach State. The film was released in 1972 and is based on the debut novel of the same name by author James Dickey. The main roles were played by Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Jon Voight. The film was shot in northeast Georgia communities in Clayton and Rabun counties. It was a huge commercial success.

Carter was born on October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia, a small farming town about 150 miles south of downtown Atlanta. He grew up in the nearby archery community.

Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before attending the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1946. While serving in the Navy, he became a submariner and rose to the rank of lieutenant.

On July 7, 1946, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. Seven years later he resigned from the Navy and returned to Georgia. Carter was an active member of the community and eventually entered the political world in 1962 when he was elected to the Georgia Senate.

Four years later, he ran for governor, but lost in a primary to eventual winner Lester Maddox. Carter would try again four years later, this time winning an easy victory over Republican Hal Suit. On January 12, 1971, he was sworn in as Georgia’s 76th governor.

Exactly three years after his inauguration at the Governor’s Mansion, Carter announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He won the Democratic nomination in 1976 and was elected on November 2, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford.

The first — and still only — president from Georgia capped the day by taking part in the inauguration parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, something a newly inaugurated president had never seen before.

Carter’s rise to the White House is considered one of the most unlikely political victories in US history. He was virtually unknown in the country and promised during the election campaign that he would never lie.

Carter was inaugurated on January 20, 1977, but only served during his term. In the 1980 elections he was clearly defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan.

While some presidents ride off into the sunset after their terms in office, Carter was just getting started. In 1982, Carter became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta and founded the Carter Center.

The Carters later became the public face of Habitat for Humanity. Both volunteered with the organization for 35 years, helping build homes alongside thousands of volunteers over the years.

In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advance democracy and human rights, and promote economic and social development.”

Carter taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for nearly four decades. Over the years, thousands of people from all over the world lined up in front of the small church to listen to his ministry. Some say Carter knew the Bible better than any president since Abraham Lincoln.

Carter was diagnosed with cancer in August 2015 at age 91 after undergoing surgery to remove a liver lesion. After surgery, Carter revealed that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. Later that year, the Carter Center announced that he had been cleared of the disease.

The Carters have three sons, a daughter, lovely grandchildren, three granddaughters, five great-grandchildren and eight great-granddaughters.

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