On October 1, the nation celebrated the birthday of one of the oldest presidents, Jimmy Carter. James Earl Carter Jr, aka Jimmy, was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, to James Earl Sr and Bessie Carter. He went to the US Naval Academy after high school and joined the Navy Core as a submarine service member. After serving his country, he went back home to join his family’s peanut farm and marry his wife Rosalynn Carter. However, Carter still wanted to serve his country, so he joined state politics in Georgia. Carter then became a State Senator before becoming Governor of Georgia.
As governor, he pushed to end segregation in state agencies and organizations. All this press and attention led him to run for president after only 12 years in state politics. People did not know much about him, but he ended up winning the nomination and ran against Gerald Ford after President Richard Nixon stepped down because of the Watergate scandal. Because Carter set himself up as the outsider and Ford did not do well in the debates, Carter won the election and set about making the country a better place.
Jimmy Carter then set about putting programs in place to help social issues and push for economic reform. However, his presidential term was faced with difficulty because of congressional pushback and scandals like the Iran hostages, an energy crisis, and the Nicaraguan Revolution. Carter faced an uphill battle for reelection, one he ended up losing to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election. That did not stop him from trying to make the world a better place.
After leaving the White House, Carter and his wife established the Carter Center, which advocated for human rights, conflict resolution and public and mental health awareness. While they are based in Altana, Georgia, their work was intended to help everyone all over the world, which is why he won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
During all of this, Carter and his wife were married for 77 years before she died in 2023. Together they had four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. The passing of Rosalyn has really impacted Jimmy, and a few months after her death he entered hospice. He has been in there for a year and a half but still remains well and hopes to vote for Harris in the upcoming election according to USA Today.
