Jimmy Carter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jimmy Carter
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Official portrait, 1978
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| 39th President of the United States | |
| In office January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 |
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| Vice President | Walter Mondale |
| Preceded by | Gerald Ford |
| Succeeded by | Ronald Reagan |
| 76th Governor of Georgia | |
| In office January 12, 1971 – January 14, 1975 |
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| Lieutenant | Lester Maddox |
| Preceded by | Lester Maddox |
| Succeeded by | George Busbee |
| Member of the Georgia State Senate from the 14th district |
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| In office January 14, 1963 – January 9, 1967 |
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| Preceded by | District established |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Carter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Earl Carter Jr.
October 1, 1924 Plains, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, including Jack and Amy |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Carter family |
| Education | United States Naval Academy (BS) |
| Civilian awards | Full list |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service |
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| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Military awards | |
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, and a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. Carter is the longest-lived president in U.S. history and the first president to live to 100 years of age.
After leaving the presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and further the eradication of infectious diseases. Carter is a key figure in the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity and wrote numerous books, ranging from political memoirs to poetry, while continuing to comment on global affairs, including two books on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, in which he criticizes Israel's treatment of Palestinians as apartheid. Polls of historians and political scientists generally rank Carter as a below-average president, although his post-presidential activities are viewed in an exceptionally favorable light. He has the longest post-presidency in U.S. history, at 43 years, 338 days.
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Early life
Carter was born on October 1, 1924, at Lillian Carter Health and Rehabilitation in Plains, Georgia. Carter was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital. He was the oldest son of Bessie Lillian (née Gordy) and James Earl Carter Sr. He is distantly related to President Richard Nixon and Bill Gates. The family moved several times when Carter was an infant. The Carters settled on a dirt road in nearby Archery.
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Carter attended the Plains High School from 1937 to 1941. He also joined the Future Farmers of America and developed a lifelong interest in woodworking.
After high school, Carter went to Georgia Southwestern College, in Americus, Georgia. He took extra mathematics courses at Georgia Tech.
In 1943, Carter was accepted to the United States Naval Academy. While at the academy, Carter fell in love with Rosalynn Smith. The two married shortly after his graduation in 1946. He was a sprint football player for the Navy Midshipmen. Carter graduated 60th out of 820 midshipmen in the class of 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and became an ensign.
From 1946 to 1953, Carter and Rosalynn lived in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York and California, during his time in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. In 1948, he began officers' training for being in a submarine. He was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 1949.
In 1952, Carter began his work with the US Navy's nuclear submarine program. He was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. for three month. During this time, Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York.
In March 1953, Carter began nuclear power school at Union College in Schenectady. Carter's father died and he was released from active duty to allow him to take over the family peanut business. Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953.
He was not active at the Navy Reserve until 1961, and left the service as a lieutenant. His awards included the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.
From 1946 to 1953, the Carters lived in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, and California, during his deployments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. In 1948, he began officer training for submarine duty and served aboard USS Pomfret. He was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 1949, and his service aboard Pomfret included a simulated war patrol to the western Pacific and Chinese coast from January to March of that year. In 1951 he was assigned to the diesel/electric USS K-1 (SSK-1), qualified for command, and served in several positions, to include executive officer.
In 1952, he began an association with the Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program, led then by captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover had high standards and demands for his men and machines, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on his life. He was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. for three-month temporary duty, while Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York.
On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown, resulting in millions of liters of radioactive water flooding the reactor building's basement. This left the reactor's core ruined. Carter was ordered to Chalk River to lead a U.S. maintenance crew that joined other American and Canadian service personnel to assist in the shutdown of the reactor. The painstaking process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. When Carter was lowered in, his job was simply to turn a single screw. During and after his presidency, Carter said that his experience at Chalk River had shaped his views on atomic energy and led him to cease development of a neutron bomb.
In March 1953, Carter began a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady. His intent was to eventually work aboard USS Seawolf, which was intended to be the second U.S. nuclear submarine. His plans changed when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July, two months before construction of Seawolf began, and Carter obtained a release from active duty so he could take over the family peanut business. Deciding to leave Schenectady proved difficult, as Rosalynn had grown comfortable with their life there. She said later that returning to small-town life in Plains seemed "a monumental step backward." Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953. He served in the inactive Navy Reserve until 1961, and left the service with the rank of lieutenant. His awards include the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal. As a submarine officer he also earned the "dolphin" badge.
Farming
After debt settlements and division of his father's estate among its heirs, Jimmy inherited comparatively little. For a year, he, Rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in Plains. Carter was knowledgeable in scientific and technological subjects, and he set out to expand the family's peanut-growing business. Transitioning from the Navy to an agri-businessman was difficult as his first-year harvest failed due to a drought, and Carter had to open several bank lines of credit to keep the farm afloat. Meanwhile, he took classes and studied agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage the business's books. Though they barely broke even the first year, the Carters grew the business and became quite successful.
Early political career (1963–1971)
Georgia state senator (1963–1967)
As racial tension inflamed in Plains by the 1954 Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, Carter favored racial tolerance and integration, but often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. By 1961, he began to speak more prominently of integration as a member of the Baptist Church and chairman of the Sumter County school board. In 1962, Carter announced his campaign for an open Georgia State Senate seat fifteen days before the election. Rosalynn, who had an instinct for politics and organization, was instrumental to his campaign. While early counting of the ballots showed Carter trailing his opponent Homer Moore, this was later proven to be the result of fraudulent voting. The fraud was found to have been orchestrated by Joe Hurst, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Quitman County. Carter challenged the election result, which was confirmed fraudulent in an investigation. Following this, another election was held, in which Carter won against Moore as the sole Democratic candidate, with a vote margin of 3,013 to 2,182.
The civil rights movement was well underway when Carter took office. He and his family had become staunch John F. Kennedy supporters. Carter remained relatively quiet on the issue at first, even as it polarized much of the county, to avoid alienating his segregationist colleagues. He did speak up on a few divisive issues, giving speeches against literacy tests and against an amendment to the Georgia Constitution which he felt implied a compulsion to practice religion. Carter entered the state Democratic Executive Committee two years into office, where he helped rewrite the state party's rules. He became the chairman of the West Central Georgia Planning and Development Commission, which oversaw the disbursement of federal and state grants for projects such as historic site restoration.
When Bo Callaway was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1964, Carter immediately began planning to challenge him. The two had previously clashed over which two-year college would be expanded to a four-year college program by the state, and Carter saw Callaway—who had switched to the Republican Party—as a rival who represented aspects of politics he despised. Carter was reelected to a second two-year term in the state Senate, where he chaired its Education Committee and sat on the Appropriations Committee toward the end of the term. He contributed to a bill expanding statewide education funding and getting Georgia Southwestern State University a four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make himself more visible to potential voters. On the last day of the term, Carter announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives. But Callaway decided to run for governor, and Carter changed his mind, deciding to run for governor too.
Georgia governorship (1971–1975)
Carter was sworn in as the 76th governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971. In his inaugural speech, he declared that "the time of racial discrimination is over", shocking the crowd and causing many of the segregationists who had supported him during the race to feel betrayed. Carter was reluctant to engage with his fellow politicians, making him unpopular with the legislature. He expanded the governor's authority by introducing a reorganization plan submitted in January 1972. Despite initially having a cool reception in the legislature, the plan passed at midnight on the last day of the session. Carter merged about 300 state agencies into 22, although it is disputed whether that saved the state money. On July 8, 1971, during an appearance in Columbus, Georgia, he stated his intention to establish a Georgia Human Rights Council to help solve issues ahead of any potential violence.
In a news conference on July 13, 1971, Carter announced that he had ordered department heads to reduce spending to prevent a $57 million deficit by the end of the 1972 fiscal year, specifying that each state department would be affected and estimating that 5 percent over government revenue would be lost if state departments continued to fully use allocated funds. On January 13, 1972, he requested that the state legislature fund an early childhood development program along with prison reform programs and $48 million (equivalent to $335,809,069 in 2022) in paid taxes for nearly all state employees.
On March 1, 1972, Carter said he might call a special session of the general assembly if the Justice Department opted to turn down any reapportionment plans by either the House or Senate. He pushed several reforms through the legislature, providing equal state aid to schools in Georgia's wealthy and poor areas, setting up community centers for mentally disabled children, and increasing educational programs for convicts. Under this program, all such appointments were based on merit, rather than political influence. In one of his more controversial decisions, he vetoed a plan to build a dam on Georgia's Flint River, which attracted the attention of environmentalists nationwide.
Civil rights were a high priority for Carter, who added black state employees and portraits of three prominent black Georgians to the capitol building: Martin Luther King Jr., Lucy Craft Laney, and Henry McNeal Turner. This angered the Ku Klux Klan. He favored a constitutional amendment to ban busing for the purpose of expediting integration in schools on a televised joint appearance with Florida governor Reubin Askew on January 31, 1973, and co-sponsored an anti-busing resolution with Wallace at the 1971 National Governors Conference. After the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Georgia's death penalty statute in Furman v. Georgia (1972), Carter signed a revised death-penalty statute that addressed the court's objections, thus reintroducing the practice in the state. He later regretted endorsing the death penalty, saying, "I didn't see the injustice of it as I do now."
Ineligible for reelection, Carter looked toward a potential presidential run and engaged in national politics.
Presidency (1977–1981)
As a dark-horse candidate not well known outside of Georgia, Carter won the Democratic nomination and narrowly defeated incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford in the 1976 U.S. presidential election.
Carter was inaugurated as the 39th president on January 20, 1977. He pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter successfully pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also confronted stagflation. His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education. The end of his presidency was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island accident, the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending détente, imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciating the Carter Doctrine, and leading the multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.
Post-presidency (1981–present)
Shortly after losing reelection, Carter told the White House press corps that he intended to emulate the retirement of Harry S. Truman and not use his subsequent public life to enrich himself.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy has been a large part of Carter's post-presidency. These diplomatic efforts began in the Middle East, with a September 1981 meeting with prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin, and a March 1983 tour of Egypt that included meeting with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In 1994, president Bill Clinton sought Carter's assistance in a North Korea peace mission, during which Carter negotiated an understanding with Kim Il Sung. Carter outlined a treaty with Kim, which he announced to CNN without the Clinton administration's consent to spur American action.
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In March 1999, Carter visited Taiwan and met with President Lee Teng-hui. During the meeting, Carter praised the progress Taiwan made in democracy, human rights, economy, culture, science and technology.
In 2006, Carter stated his disagreements with Israel's domestic and foreign policy while saying he was supported the country, extending his criticisms to Israel's policies in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.
In July 2007, Carter joined Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, to announce his participation in The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues. After the announcement, Carter participated in visits to Darfur, Sudan, Cyprus, the Korean Peninsula, and the Middle East, among others. He attempted to travel to Zimbabwe in November 2008, but was stopped by President Robert Mugabe's government. In December 2008, Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and in a June 2012 call with Jeffery Brown, stressed that Egyptian military generals could take full executive and legislative power to form a new constitution favoring themselves if their announced intentions came true.
On August 10, 2010, Carter traveled to North Korea to secure the release of Aijalon Gomes, successfully negotiating his release. Throughout the latter part of 2017, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea persisted, Carter recommended a peace treaty between the two nations, and confirmed he had offered himself to the Trump administration as a willing candidate to be diplomatic envoy to North Korea.
Other activities
In 1982, Carter founded the Carter Center, a non-governmental and non-profit organization with the purpose of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering, including helping improve the quality of life for people in more than 80 countries. Among these efforts has been the contribution of the Carter Center working alongside the World Health Organization to the near-eradication of dracunculiasis, also called Guinea worm disease. The incidence of this disease has decreased from 3.5 million cases in the mid-1980s, to 25 cases in 2016, and 10 as of September 2021 according to the Carter Center's statistics.
Carter attended the dedication of his presidential library and those of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He delivered eulogies at the funerals of Coretta Scott King, Gerald Ford, and Theodore Hesburgh.
In 2007, Carter founded the New Baptist Covenant organization for social justice.
As of August 2019[update], Carter is Honorary Chair for the World Justice Project and formerly served as one for the Continuity of Government Commission. He continued to occasionally teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church as of 2019. Carter also teaches at Emory University in Atlanta, and in June 2019 was awarded tenure for 37 years of service.
Personal life
Carter's hobbies include painting, fly fishing, woodworking, cycling, tennis, and skiing. He also has an interest in poetry, particularly the works of Dylan Thomas. During a state visit to the UK in 1977, Carter suggested that Thomas should have a memorial in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey; this later came to fruition in 1982.
Carter was a personal friend of Elvis Presley, whom he and Rosalynn met on June 30, 1973, before Presley was to perform onstage in Atlanta. They remained in contact by telephone two months before Presley's sudden death in August 1977.
Family
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Carter had three younger siblings, all of whom died of pancreatic cancer: sisters Gloria Spann (1926–1990) and Ruth Stapleton (1929–1983), and brother Billy Carter (1937–1988). He was first cousin to politician Hugh Carter and a distant cousin to the Carter family of musicians. He is related to Motown founder Berry Gordy by way of their white great-grandfather James Thomas Gordy, who had a relationship with a black female slave he owned.
Carter married Rosalynn Smith on July 7, 1946, in the Plains Methodist Church, the church of Rosalynn's family. They had three sons, Jack, James III, and Donnel; one daughter, Amy; nine grandsons (one of whom is deceased), three granddaughters, five great-grandsons, and eight great-granddaughters.
The Carters celebrated their 77th anniversary on July 7, 2023. On October 19, 2019, they became the longest-wed presidential couple, having overtaken George and Barbara Bush at 26,765 days. After Rosalynn's death on November 19, 2023, Carter released the following statement:
Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.
The Carters' eldest son, Jack Carter, was the 2006 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nevada and lost to Republican incumbent John Ensign. Jack's son Jason Carter is a former Georgia state senator, and in 2014 was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, losing to the Republican incumbent, Nathan Deal. On December 20, 2015, while teaching a Sunday school class, Carter announced that his 28-year-old grandson Jeremy Carter had died of unspecified causes.
Longevity
At 99 years old, Carter is the longest-lived former U.S. president.
Carter entered hospice care several months before celebrating his 99th birthday at his home. He said in a 2019 interview with People that he never expected to live as long as he had and that the best explanation for longevity was a good marriage. Carter has made arrangements to be buried in front of his home at 209 Woodland Drive in Plains. He noted in 2006 that a funeral in Washington, D.C., with visitation at the Carter Center was also planned. According to his grandson in June 2024, Carter is no longer awake every day.
Legacy
Carter's presidency was at first seen as unpopular in historical rankings of American presidents. Although his presidency was unpopular, his peace and humanitarian works since he left office have made Carter one of the most popular former presidents in American history.
His presidential approval numbers was just 31 percent before the 1980 election, but 64 percent approved of his presidency in a 2009 poll. The Independent wrote, "Carter is widely [seen as] a better man than he was a president".
On February 21, 2024, the White House Historical Association unveiled its official 2024 White House Christmas ornament honoring Carter's naval service and efforts for peace. This was the first time a president being honored was alive at the time of the unveiling.
Images for kids
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The Carter family store, part of Carter's Boyhood Farm, in Plains, Georgia
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The electoral map of the 1976 election
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Newly elected governor of Arkansas and future president Bill Clinton meets with President Carter in 1978
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Carter signing the Airline Deregulation Act, 1978
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Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin meet at Camp David on September 6, 1978.
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Carter standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, during his 1979 visit
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First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere, and Carter, 1977
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Deng Xiaoping with President Carter
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Carter with King Hussein of Jordan and Shah of Iran in 1977
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Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signing the SALT II treaty at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, June 18, 1979
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Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Zbigniew Brzezinski in September 1978
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Countries visited by Carter during his presidency
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Electoral map of the 1980 election
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Carter in 1988
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The state funeral of George H. W. Bush in December 2018. Carter and his wife Rosalynn can be seen on the far right of the photograph.
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Carter in Plains, Georgia, 2008
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See also
In Spanish: Jimmy Carter para niños
