Jimmy Carter turns 100, the primary former president to take action

Former President Jimmy Carter is marking his a centesimal birthday — the primary former president in United States historical past to take action.

It is a main milestone for Carter, who has been in hospice care at his dwelling in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. Carter misplaced his spouse, Rosalynn Carter, in November, after 77 years of marriage. The previous president attended his late spouse’s memorial service in a wheelchair. 

President Biden shared a message wishing Carter, “on behalf of the whole Biden household, and the American individuals, Completely satisfied a centesimal Birthday!” Mr. Biden known as him “an ethical pressure for our nation and the world … and most of all, a beloved buddy.”

Carter has stated he needs to dwell lengthy sufficient to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Early voting begins later this month in Carter’s dwelling state of Georgia. 

“I am solely attempting to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” Carter instructed his son, Chip, as relayed by his grandson, Jason, to the Atlanta Journal-Structure.

The previous president has lived remarkably lengthy in dwelling hospice care, the place the common size of time for sufferers is 63 days, based on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being. Carter has been in hospice for greater than 19 months. 

A lot of stars paid tribute to Carter in a celebration forward of his a centesimal birthday, with greater than 4,000 individuals filling Atlanta’s Fox Theatre for a profit live performance in mid-September. The occasion, “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Tune,” raised funds for worldwide packages of The Carter Middle, the inspiration Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter based after leaving the White Home.

“Everybody right here is making historical past,” grandson Jason Carter stated. “That is the primary time individuals have come collectively to have a good time the a centesimal birthday of an American president.”

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, the son of a peanut farmer and a nurse — the primary future U.S. president to be born in a hospital. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served within the Navy earlier than returning dwelling to run the household farm. He was elected governor of Georgia in 1970.

Carter, a Democrat, served one time period as president, from 1977 to 1981, overseeing a interval of record-high inflation and different challenges. The seizure of American hostages on the U.S. embassy in Iran dominated the information over the past 14 months of the Carter administration. Iran launched the People the day Carter left workplace in 1981. 

Carter, who has devoted his later years to humanitarian work, grew extra standard as a former president than he was as president. When he was nonetheless bodily ready, Carter was lively in constructing houses with Habitat for Humanity and traveled the world in help of democracy and public well being initiatives.