Jimmy Carter Left The World At The Age Of 100: From Peanut Farmer To President.

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• Dec 30, 2024 | Kabita Pathak

After leaving office, Carter decided to lead a simple life  with Rosalynn back in their home in Plains, Georgia…

Digital Desk: Jimmy Carter, who passed away  at the age of  100, took office after Watergate scandal, vowing to tell the truth to the nation. This former Georgia peanut farmer made global warming, amnesty to draft dodgers and sponsor the Egyptian- Israeli accord. Either ways, his presidency was a problematic affair with the innovation of the Iran hostage debacle and the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan. He, however, lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan, garnering only six states after serving one term in office.

Carter in particular has gone into retirement after his term in office participating in many other humanitarian activities which have been recognized by the international community and granted him a Nobel peace prize for work done in the areas of peace, environmental and human rights. The oldest serving president of the United States, he blows out his 100^th candle in October of 2024. Carter gradually fell ill with cancer, and in his last years, and he was hospitalized  for 19 months.

James Earl Carter Jr., the first US president was born on 1^st October 1924, was the firstborn of his family of four children. His segregationist father established the family’s peanut organisation, while his mother Lillian was a nurse. His political development was influenced by the Great Depression and Baptist Religion. As a high school basketball player, Carter proceeded to the University and completed seven years of his term in the U.S Navy as a submarine officer. In the same year, he married Rosalynn who was a friend to his sister. Carter left the Navy and went back to Georgia after his father’s passing in 1953 to take charge of the family’s Enterprise farm. Initially, drought resulted in his failure, but he managed to turn around the
business for profitability.

Before becoming a state senator and then vice president, Carter began his political career in the local level serving on school and library boards. Unlike many of his fellow southerners, Carter was in favor of desegregation as well as the civil rights movement in general. Although he did less on the civil right issue as a governor of Georgia in 1970, he began speaking out on races and related issues.

After leaving office, Carter decided to lead a simple life  with Rosalynn back in their home in Plains, Georgia. He turned down high-paying deals associated with his presidency, living in their small two-bedroom house which goes for $167,000 today, and which is even less than the Secret Service vehicles outside his home. The last words, which justify his actions, came out quite clearly: “Well, it just never had been my ambition to be rich.”

Carter’s retirement from presidency was dedicated much to Habitat for Humanity. He and Rosalynn have helped rebuild more than 4,000 houses since 1984 while Carter kept on working after being diagnosed with cancer and sustaining a hip fracture. He has always remained humble, dedicated servant-leader and a man of principles within and beyond his presidency.