Former President Jimmy Carter is dead at the age of 100.
His son said he died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He is the longest-lived former President in our nation’s history. His wife Rosalynn Carter passed away at the couple’s home in November 2023 at the age of 96. He is survived by his four children and several grandchildren.
The former peanut farmer and Georgia governor became the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 after beating Republican Incumbent President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election.
His campaign was focused on regaining the trust of the American people after Richard Nixon resigned during the Watergate Scandal. The Carter administration faced several challenges, including the 1979 oil shortage which resulted in high gas prices and long lines in the U.S. He struggled to end the Iranian hostage crisis when students in Tehran seized the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Many historians point to that as one of the biggest reasons behind his resounding defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980.
In one of his greatest accomplishments, Carter brought together the Egyptian President and Israeli Prime Minister at the presidential retreat in Camp David in 1978. They agreed to the Camp David Accords, which ended the state of war that had existed between the two countries since 1948. He was tough on the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Carter ordered an embargo on the shipment of American grain to the Soviet Union, and boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow over Russian’s invasion of Afghanistan.
After his presidency, Carter went on to become an active humanitarian. He worked with Habitat for Humanity in communities throughout Georgia and globally for nearly 40 years. He was also a nine-time Grammy nominee and a two-time Grammy winner in the spoken word category.
Here in our state, Wisconsin’s governor and Democratic U.S. Senator are remembering former President Jimmy Carter. Governor Tony Evers yesterday said Carter was ‘a committed and dedicated advocate for peace, human rights, and treating others with dignity.’ Evers said he will remember Carter as a dedicated humanitarian. Senator Tammy Baldwin also talked about Carter’s legacy of ‘compassion, humility, and service.’ Carter died yesterday at age 100.
Across the aisle, Western Wisconsin’s Republican congressman is remembering Jimmy Carter with some kind words. Congressman Derrick Van Orden yesterday took to Twitter to say his mother was always a big Carter fan. He then said Carter ‘served our nation as a Navy Man, President, and Humanitarian.’ Van Orden wished Carter’s family peace after his passing.
