30/12/2024
RIP Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, on October 1, 1924. Peanut farming, talk of politics, and the Baptist faith were the mainstays of his upbringing. Upon graduating in 1946 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Carter married Rosalynn Smith.
After seven years’ service as a naval officer, Carter returned to Plains. In 1962, he was elected a state senator. In 1971 was elected governor of Georgia, serving for four years. Among the new young southern governors, he attracted attention by emphasizing government efficiency and removing racial discrimination.
When Carter announced his candidacy for president in December 1974, he was virtually unknown, but in the wake of national disappointments over Vietnam and Watergate, Democratic voters welcomed a fresh choice. He chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate. Carter debated against President Gerald Ford three times and won with 297 electoral votes to 241 for Ford.
Carter worked to combat the continuing economic woes of inflation and unemployment. By the end of his administration, he could claim an increase of nearly eight million jobs and a decrease in the budget deficit, measured in percentage of the gross national product.
He also completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union. He achieved a peace agreement between Egyptian and Israeli leaders called the Camp David Accords.
During Carter’s final year in office, events seemed to conspire against him. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the revolutionary government of Iran refused to surrender 52 American hostages, and Americans suffered from brutal inflation and unemployment. The national frustration culminated with Carter’s landslide defeat by Ronald Reagan in November 1980.
In 2002, Carter became the third American president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Through his nineties, he devoted his life to service, building homes through Habitat for Humanity.
Source: Condensed from bio at the White House Historical Assoc.
📷 Jimmy Carter. By Karl Schumacher. 1977. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.
