Remembering Jimmy Carter
By Ian Prasad Philbrick and Lauren Jackson in the New York Times’ The Morning
We’re devoting today’s newsletter to Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, who died yesterday at age 100 at his home in Plains, Ga.
Carter lived to be the oldest former president in American history, and the only one to reach 100. He rose from Georgia farmland to the presidency in 1976, elected on a promise of healing the country after Watergate and the Vietnam War. He served only one term and left office with dismal approval ratings. Ronald Reagan defeated him in 1980 during a period of high inflation and a hostage crisis in Iran. Carter was the only Democrat to occupy the White House between 1969 and 1993.
During his long post-presidency, Carter’s reputation improved. He received praise for his humanitarian work and diplomacy, sometimes on behalf of his successors. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter grew up with no electricity or running water. He taught Sunday school in Plains and was married to his wife, Rosalynn, for more than 77 years — longer than any other presidential couple. Theirs was one of America’s great love stories: They spent most of their adult lives in a simple house in Plains, where they returned after leaving Washington and weathered the pandemic together. Rosalynn died there last year at age 96.
Carter also had a long goodbye, spending the final 22 months of his life in hospice care. During that time, he voted for Kamala Harris, watched Atlanta Braves games, traveled 164 miles to attend Rosalynn’s service in Atlanta and celebrated his 100th birthday with his family. When Carter appeared in public, he looked frail and reclined in a wheelchair, a blanket covering his legs.
The Times has much more about his life, including:
Carter’s obituary
“With his peanut farmer’s blue jeans, his broad, toothy grin and his promise never to tell a lie, Mr. Carter was a self-professed outsider intent on reforming a broken Washington in an era of lost faith in government,” The Times’s Peter Baker and Roy Reed wrote in his obituary.
“While his presidency was remembered more for its failures than for its successes, his post-presidency was seen by many as a model for future chief executives.”
See photos from Carter’s life, including his rise from Navy submariner to Georgia governor.
Associated Press story reporting President Carter’s death at 100
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