Jimmy Carter, who occupied the White House from 1977 to 1981, died Sunday at the age of 100.
Jimmy Carter, the former peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War, then rebounded from a crushing defeat to become a global advocate for human rights and democracy, died at the age of 100.
The Carter Foundation said the 39th president of the United States died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, died in November last year, had lived most of their lives.
The Carter Foundation said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
As reactions poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned the death of Jimmy Carter, saying the world had lost a “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanist” and that he had lost a dear friend.
Joe Biden cited as examples the compassion and moral clarity of Jimmy Carter, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and defend disadvantaged people.
“To all the young people of this nation and all who seek to know what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith and humility”Joe Biden said in a statement.
“He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.”
Joe Biden indicated that he had ordered a state funeral in Washington.
A moderate Democrat, Jimmy Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, an effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for effective government.
His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after the disgrace of Richard Nixon and the defeat of the United States in Southeast Asia.
“If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I don’t deserve to be your president”declared Jimmy Carter.
Americans were captivated by the engineer’s seriousness, and although an interview with Playboy during the election year drew snickers when he said he had “looked at many women with lust. I committed adultery in my heart many times”voters tired of political cynicism found him endearing.
Jimmy Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes plummeted after he pardoned Richard Nixon, took place against a backdrop of Cold War-related pressures, turmoil in oil markets and social upheaval over race , women’s rights and America’s role in the world.
Jimmy Carter laid the groundwork for an economic recovery and greatly reduced the United States’ dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy sector as well as airlines, trains and road transport.
He created the Departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and non-whites to federal positions, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness, and pardoned most Vietnam draft dodgers. .
He also contributed to peace in the Middle East by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978.
Iran Hostage Crisis
But his coalition was divided by double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran.
After Jimmy Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the United States for medical treatment, the American embassy in Tehran was stormed in 1979.
Talks to quickly free the hostages failed and eight Americans died in a top-secret military rescue attempt.
His negotiations finally made it possible to bring back the hostages alive, but, the ultimate insult, Iran did not release them before the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had beaten him in the 1980 elections.
Humiliated and returned home to Georgia, Jimmy Carter said his faith dictated that he continue to do whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference.
He and Rosalynn co-founded the Carter Foundation in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, advocates for human rights, democracy and public health.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts”Jimmy Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti, and broker ceasefires in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan.
As of 2022, the Carter Foundation has monitored at least 113 elections around the world.
After a cancer diagnosis in 2015, Jimmy Carter said he felt “perfectly comfortable with what was going to happen.”
“I had a wonderful life”he said, “I had thousands of friends, I had an exciting, adventurous and rewarding life.”