Politics & Government

A Life In Photos: Former President Jimmy Carter

The 39th U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, died at 100. See photos of the life and legacy the Georgia native and Nobel laureate left behind.

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Former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, wave from the podium of San Francisco's Moscone Center, Monday, July 16, 1984 before Carter addressed the opening session of the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
Former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, wave from the podium of San Francisco's Moscone Center, Monday, July 16, 1984 before Carter addressed the opening session of the 1984 Democratic National Convention. (AP Photo/Peter Southwick)

ATLANTA, GA — Former President Jimmy Carter, the longest-lived American president, died on Sunday afternoon at his home in Plains, Georgia, after entering hospice care almost two years ago. He was 100 years old.

Carter became president in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War. His single term was rife political and social issues. However, after leaving the White House, the former president redefined his legacy as a global humanitarian.

Carter — a humble peanut farmer with a broad smile from Plains, Georgia — became the governor of Georgia in 1971 before winning the 1976 presidential race. During his inauguration, the president and First Lady Rosalynn Carter stepped out of their bulletproof limousine to walk part of the route, illustrating their trust in people.

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His crowning achievement in office was brokering a Mideast peace deal between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978. The Camp David Accords helped inspire his presidential center and where he would establish most of his legacy.

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Carter’s presidency is largely remembered for formidable challenges he wasn’t able to overcome — mainly the energy crisis, high inflation and staggering unemployment. He made progress in foreign affairs, reopening U.S. relations with China and brokering a historic accord in the Arab-Israeli conflict, but his presidency was irreparably damaged by the Iran hostage crisis in which 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days, from Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981.

The one-term president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” He also spent much of his free time building homes alongside his wife, Rosalynn, for Habitat for Humanity.

His state funeral will be held Jan. 9 in Washington, D.C., with a private family service in Plains, where he will be buried next to his late wife, Rosalynn.

See photos below of the 39th president and the legacy he left behind.

Democratic presidential hopeful, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, right, holds a poster as he mingles with the crowd during a campaign visit in Williamsport, Pa., April 24, 1976. (AP Photo, File)
Judge Robert H. Jordan administers the oath of office to Gov. Jimmy Carter at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, Jan. 12, 1971. Next to the judge is former Gov. Lester Maddox, who will take over as lieutenant governor of Georgia. (AP Photo, File)
President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd while walking with his wife Rosalynn and their daughter Amy along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House following his inauguration, Jan. 20, 1977, in Washington. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)
President Jimmy Carter is interviewed in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 24, 1977. (AP Photo, File)
President Jimmy Carter speaks about energy before a joint session of the Congress in Washington, April 21, 1977. House speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill is at right, and Vice President Walter Mondale is at left. (AP Photo, File)
Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, wave to supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden in New York, July 15, 1976. (AP Photo, File)
Jimmy Carter gives his acceptance speech after accepting the Democratic nomination for president on the convention floor, July 15, 1976, at New York's Madison Square Garden. (AP Photo, File)
President-elect Jimmy Carter leans over to shake hands with some of the people riding the "Peanut Special" to Washington, Jan. 19, 1977. They will travel all night, arriving in Washington in time for Carter's inauguration as president on Jan. 20. (AP Photo, File)
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter are pictured with their daughter Amy at the first of seven inaugural balls in Washington, Jan. 20, 1977, at the Pension Building. (AP Photo, File)
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., center, and Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, right, embrace during a campaign rally where King declared, "I love and believe in him," in Atlanta, April 13, 1976. In a prepared speech read by Atlanta businessman Jesse Hill, left, King said Carter has been for equal justice when it wasn't an easy thing to be for in South Georgia. (AP Photo, File)
Guide Norm Guth steers a 20-foot diameter rubber raft carrying President Jimmy Carter and the president's family down the rushing water of Middle Fork of Idaho's Salmon River, Aug. 22, 1978. Carter and his family spent three days on the Idaho wilderness stream. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck, File)
In this photo provided by the White House, the principals in the Middle East Summit, from left, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, meet for the first time at Camp David, Md., Sept, 6, 1978. (White House via AP, File)
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, March 26, 1979, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty, File)
President Jimmy Carter, center, is flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt's President Anwar Sadat as they faced newsmen at the conclusion of their discussions toward Middle East Peace moves at Carter's Camp David retreat in Maryland in September 1978. (AP Photo, File)
President Jimmy Carter, flanked by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, right, and foreign policy adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, left, walks toward a waiting helicopter to fly to nearby Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Feb. 14, 1979. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
President Jimmy Carter pauses to kiss his wife, first lady Rosalynn Carter, as he boards a helicopter in Washington for a trip from the White House to Camp David, Md., May 10, 1979. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)
President Jimmy Carter leans across the roof of his car to shake hands along the parade route through Bardstown, Ky., July 31, 1979. The president climbed on top of the car as the parade moved toward the high school gym, where a town meeting was held. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
President Jimmy Carter prepares to make a national television address from the Oval Office at the White House, April 25, 1980, in Washington, on the failed mission to rescue the Iran hostages. (AP Photo, File)
Former President Jimmy Carter gives a speech after receiving the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2002. (AP Photo/Bjoern Sigurdsoen, Pool, File)
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter help build a Habitat for Humanity house in Violet, La., May 21, 2007. The pair were working on the 1,000th Habitat for Humanity house in the Gulf Coast region since hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
From left, President Barack Obama, former President Jimmy Carter, first lady Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton wave to the crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington at the conclusion of a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
President Barack Obama, from left, stands with former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shakes hands with former President Jimmy Carter during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 2, 2015. (Abbas Momani/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, stand for the national anthem before a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres, June 10, 2015, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Bouquets of flowers and peanuts rests at the base of a bust of former President Jimmy Carter at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait during the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 10, 2007, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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