Jimmy Carter, the oldest dwelling president of the US, has died on the age of 100.
Carter, who was president between 1977 and 1981, died on Sunday at his residence in Plains, Georgia, based on the Carter Heart.
“Our founder, former US President Jimmy Carter, handed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the organisation, which Carter based a yr after leaving the White Home, stated in a submit on X.
The loss of life was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Structure.
No explanation for loss of life was instantly given, though Carter had spent virtually two years below hospice care at his residence after being handled for a type of pores and skin most cancers. He celebrated his a centesimal birthday at his residence in October.
Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s spouse of 76 years, died in November 2023.
Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, handed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/aqYmcE9tXi
— The Carter Heart (@CarterCenter) December 29, 2024
Regardless of serving just one time period, the previous peanut farmer from Georgia forged an extended shadow throughout his post-presidential profession. This included profitable the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002 for The Carter Heart’s work in combating the Guinea worm illness in Africa and monitoring elections internationally.
He additionally continued to volunteer with the Habitat for Humanity home-building organisation late into his life, burnishing a repute for neighborhood service and humility that earned him plaudits from throughout the political aisle.
In a press release, US President Joe Biden referred to as Carter “a rare chief, statesman and humanitarian”.
“Along with his compassion and ethical readability, he labored to eradicate illness, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and honest elections, home the homeless, and at all times advocate for the least amongst us,” Biden stated, including that he was odering an official state funeral to be held for the previous president.
“He saved, lifted, and adjusted the lives of individuals all throughout the globe,” Biden added.
In the meantime, President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his Fact Social platform that “all of us owe [Carter] a debt of gratitude”.
The entire present dwelling former US presidents additionally weighed in. US President Invoice Clinton stated Carter “labored tirelessly for a greater world”; Former President Barack Obama stated Carter “taught all of us what it means to stay a lifetime of grace, dignity, justice and repair”; and Former President George W Bush stated Carter’s life would “encourage Individuals for generations”.
French President Emmanuel Macron was among the many first world leaders to react to the loss of life, saying Carter “has been a steadfast advocate for the rights of probably the most weak and has tirelessly fought for peace”.
British Prime Ministrer Keir Starmer added that Carter “redefined the post-presidency with a exceptional dedication to social justice and human rights at residence and overseas”.
Tumultuous presidency
Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a reasonable Southern Democrat with little nationwide identify recognition. Nonetheless, he noticed an sudden surge amid anger over US involvement within the Vietnam struggle and the scandal-ridden presidency of Richard Nixon.
However Chilly Conflict pressures and financial woes at residence burdened his presidency, which was additional marred after 52 Individuals had been taken hostage on the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Republican challenger Ronald Reagan went on to handily defeat Carter within the 1980 election.
Nonetheless, Carter oversaw some main diplomatic victories whereas in workplace, together with serving to to forge a deal between then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Start, which restored diplomatic and financial ties between the 2 nations, in 1978. The Camp David Accords had been reached on the situation that Israel return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
In a press release on Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stated Carter’s “important position in reaching the peace settlement between Egypt and Israel will stay etched within the annals of historical past, and his humanitarian work exemplifies a lofty normal of affection, peace, and brotherhood,”
Whereas the settlement didn’t resolve the Palestinian subject, Carter went on to be an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights.
In 2006, he printed the e-book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, utilizing a label that main rights teams Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Worldwide wouldn’t undertake for greater than a decade. He was additionally a vocal critic of the pro-Israel foyer within the US.
In a submit on X on Sunday, writer Assal Rad described Carter as “one of many solely US presidents who spoke actually about Palestine”.
Human Rights Watch stated Carter “set a robust instance for world leaders to make human rights a precedence, and he continued to battle for human rights after he left workplace”.
