Jimmy Carter turns 100, the first former president to do so

Former President Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 100th birthday – the first former president in United States history to do so.

It’s a major milestone for Carter, which it has been in hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. Carter lost his wife, Rosalynn Carterin November, after 77 years of marriage. The former president attended his late wife’s memorial service in a wheelchair.

President Biden shared a post I wish Carter “a happy 100th birthday on behalf of the entire Biden family and the American people!” Mr. Biden called him “a moral force for our nation and the world … and above all, a beloved friend.”

Carter has said he wants to live long enough to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Early voting begins later this month in Carter’s home state of Georgia.

“I’m just trying to vote for Kamala Harris,” Carter told his son Chip, as his grandson Jason told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The former president has lived a remarkably long time in hospice care at home, where the average length of time for patients is 63 days, according to the National Institutes of Health. Carter has been in hospice care for more than 19 months.

A number of stars paid tribute to Carter at a celebration leading up to his 100th birthday, with more than 4,000 people filling the Fox Theater in Atlanta for a benefit concert mid-September. The event, “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song,” raised money for international programs of The Carter Center, the foundation Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter founded after leaving the White House.

“Everyone here is making history,” grandson said Jason Carter. “This is the first time people have come together to celebrate the 100th birthday of an American president.”

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia, the son of a peanut farmer and a nurse – the first future US president to be born in a hospital. He graduated from the US Naval Academy and served in the Navy before returning home to run the family farm. In 1970 he was elected governor of Georgia.

Carter, a Democrat, served one term as president from 1977 to 1981, overseeing a period of record high inflation and other challenges. The seizure of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran dominated the news during the last fourteen months of the Carter administration. Iran released the Americans on the day Carter left office in 1981.

Carter, who devoted his later years to humanitarian work, became more popular as a former president than as president. While he was still physically able, Carter was active in building homes with Habitat for Humanity and traveling the world in support of democracy and public health initiatives.