By Hamil R. Harris
(Trice Edney Wire) – James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who rose from being a peanut farmer to become the 39th President of the United States, died Sunday at age 100, surrounded by his loving family members.
Carter, who was born Oct. 1, 1924 in Plains, Ga., was not only the oldest living president, but he was known around the world as a humanitarian who loved the Lord and his wife Rosalynn. She died last year after 77 years of marriage.
He is also being lauded for his genuine love for humanity, his love for people of all races, his stances for racial equity and his contributions to peace that won him a Nobel Peace Prize. In a highly unusual moment of bipartisanship, he is being praised by President Biden as well as former Presidents Trump, Obama, Clinton and Bush.
“Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian,” President Biden said in a televised White House Statement Sunday. “Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.”
Biden also said, “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. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.”
The body of the former president will travel from his hometown in Plains to Atlanta by motorcade, and first lie in repose in the Carter Center, his post-presidency foundation.
President Carter will then be flown to Washington, D.C. where he will be greeted with a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and lie in state at the Capitol on January 9th.
President Carter will be honored in a state funeral to take place at the National Cathedral. Then his body will be returned to Plains to be buried next to the grave of his beloved, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
Carter served only one term, 1977 -1981 after which he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in the midst of high inflation and the Iran hostage crisis. He tried hard to get the hostages freed but the mission failed until Reagan’s Inauguration Day.
In private life Carter gained a reputation as a tireless humanitarian and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Four former US Presidents, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Donald J. Trump, offered kind words to Carter who contributed to the world that went far beyond the four years he occupied the White House between 1976 and 1980.
President Carter initially attended Georgia Southwestern College and Georgia Institute of Technology. But then he went to the United States Naval Academy where he earned his BS degree in 1946.
When Carter’s father died in 1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned to Georgia. where he and Rosalynn operated Carter’s Warehouse – a general-purpose seed and farm supply company in Plains.
Carter became a leader of the community, serving on county boards. Then In 1962, he won election to the Georgia Senate. While Carter lost his first gubernatorial campaign in 1966, he won the next election, becoming Georgia’s 76th governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971.
Carter offered a soft touch to politics and on December 12, 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He won his party’s nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention and was elected president on Nov. 2, 1976 – he served as president from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981.
While in office, Carter’s foreign policy accomplishments included bringing peace to the Middle East through the Camp David Agreement of 1978 – ending the 29-year state of war between Egypt and Israel. He also broke ties with Taiwan and reopened diplomatic relations between the United States and China.
Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was appointed by President Carter to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Young was the first African-Americans to serve in the post. Young was one of the men who helped solidify the relationship between ministers in the Civil Rights movement.
While former Senator Ted Kennedy, also known for his humanitarianism and love for civil rights, challenged Carter for the White House, Carter maintained solid personal relationships with the civil rights community.
“The way he lived his life, loving people everywhere and serving people as God’s child came from his mother and his grandfather as it did for me with my mother and my grandfather,” Young said in an interview with Atlanta’s Channel 11.
“He never claimed to be perfect, but he claimed to be obedient to the still calm voice of God, speaking within his soul and guiding him in the leadership of this nation,” Young said.
Carter’s White House achievements included major appointments to the judiciary. According to CNN, “in addition to the 41 women judges Carter named to the federal judiciary, he appointed a record 57 people of color to the bench, including those who would become prominent federal appellate judges such as Leon Higginbotham, on the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit; Amalya Kearse, on the New York-based 2nd Circuit; and Damon Keith on the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit.”
In 1982, he became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta and founded The Carter Center. Actively guided by President Carter, the nonpartisan and nonprofit center addresses national and international issues of public policy.
After his presidency, Carter became primarily known for his work in Habitat for Humanity and building homes. He also was passionate about teaching Sunday school for several years at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. On December 10, 2002, He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s also the author of 32 books. His last book was published in 2018.
On May 30, 2023, the Carter Center announced that Rosalynn Carter had been diagnosed with dementia. The Carter Center stated that she continued to live at home with her husband – who was also in hospice care as of February 2023.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter died last year on November 19, 2023, at the age of 96. During the service, uniformed workers from the National Park Service sat in the church sanctuary for a service lead by an African American pastor.
President Carter died Sunday afternoon Dec. 29th surrounded by family members and friends.
Biden called Carter, “a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism. We will always cherish seeing him and Rosalynn together. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism.”
The death of President Carter sparked reactions from a chorus of Presidents both Republican and Democrat.
“For decades, you could walk into Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia on some Sunday mornings and see hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews,” said President Barack Obama. “Some who came to hear him speak were undoubtedly there because of what President Carter accomplished in his four years in the White House — the Camp David Accords he brokered that reshaped the Middle East; the work he did to diversify the federal judiciary, including nominating a pioneering women’s rights activist and lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal bench; the environmental reforms he put in place, becoming one of the first leaders in the world to recognize the problem of climate change.”
Said President George W. Bush, “James Earl Carter, Jr. was a man of deeply held convictions. He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country. President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency.”
President Bill Clinton said, “Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others—until the very end.”
Former President and President-Elect Donald Trump said, “Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History. The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”
