During election season we can often become divided by partisan politics. Now more than ever, the insults are thrown at one another.
October 1st showed a soft side of the tedious stress of election season, shown when the Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp declared October 1st as “Jimmy Carter Day” in honor of Democrat, Former President, and Georgia native, Jimmy Carter on his 100th birthday. But, who is Jimmy Carter? Let’s explore the life and legacy of this former president in honor of this massive milestone.
President Carter was born October 1st, 1924 in Plains, Georgia at the Wise Sanitarium (now Lillian G. Carter Nursing Center) to his mother Lillian G. Carter and his father Jimmy Carter Sr. Jimmy Carter also became the first President born in a hospital.
Carter graduated from Plains High School in 1941, skipping the 12th grade because the school didn’t offer it at the time. Carter went on to attend Georgia Tech. During his time there, he took part in the Reserve Officers Training Court. His dream college however was the United States Naval Academy. Unfortunately for him, you had to receive an appointment from a member of Congress to get in, and in 1943 he would finally receive that appointment.
His appointment came from U.S. Representative Stephen Page. While at the academy, he met his future wife, Rosalynn Smith. He graduated in 1946 and not long after married Rosalynn, and they were together until she died in 2023.
Carter served in the active navy until 1953 and then as a reserve until 1961. After retiring from the Navy a year later, his political career would finally begin.
Just 15 days before the 1962 Georgia State Senate election Jimmy Carter would enter the race for the newly formed 14th District’s open seat. He faced fellow Democrat Homer Moore and would come out victorious with 3,013 votes compared to Moore’s 2,182.
While in the Georgia State Senate, Carter voted against an Amendment to the Georgia State Constitution that he felt would make practicing religion mandatory despite his own religious beliefs. Privately, Carter supported civil rights, but feared upsetting his segregationist colleagues, so he stayed quiet on the matter.
In 1966, Carter competed for the Governorship of Georgia, losing. However, he would try again four years later, winning this time around.
In 1974, the Georgia Constitution prevented Carter from seeking a second term, so he started to ponder his political future and looked to Washington. President Ford became President upon the resignation of Richard Nixon, due to the Watergate scandal. Ford’s first act as President was to pardon President Nixon, knowing the public would be outraged. Many Democrats thought they could beat him in an election, so on December 12th, 1974, Jimmy Carter announced that he would seek the Office of President of the United States. Carter’s opponents in the primary mocked him, coining terms such as “Jimmy who?” In response, Carter responded, “My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president.” Carter would eventually receive the Democratic Party’s nomination for President, and ended up selecting Minnesota Senator, Walter Mondale as his running mate.
President Ford was nominated by the Republicans and would select Senator Bob Dole as his running mate, replacing Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller.
Jimmy Carter would go on to defeat President Ford with 297 Electoral votes to President Ford’s 240. Jimmy Carter also won the popular vote 40,831,881 to Ford’s 39,148,634. With this win, Jimmy Carter pulled a rare upset of a sitting commander-in-chief.
Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States on January 20th, 1977.
In his inaugural address, President Carter stated; “Let us learn together and laugh together.”
The day after Carter’s inauguration, he issued Proclamation 4483 pardoning Vietnam War draft dodgers, a monumental decree.
During his time as President, he dealt with rising inflation and economic turmoil, and during Carter’s presidency, the first-ever government shutdown occurred.
On a more positive note, President Carter helped negotiate and co-sign the Camp David Accords with representatives from Israel and Egypt, bringing the two countries even closer to peace.
Carter was the President who gave the Panama Canal back to Panama and he also signed the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union, greatly reducing tensions between the US and USSR. Unfortunately near the end of his term, the Iran Hostage Crisis happened, and 53 Americans were taken hostage by a group of Iranian College Students. This spelled disaster for Carter’s reelection bid and he was defeated in a landslide victory by former Governor of California, Ronald Reagan. President Carter was defeated 49 electoral votes to 489, a historic landslide loss, he would also lose the popular vote by 8,422,115 votes.
Reagan had done to Carter what he’d done to Ford four years earlier and defeated a sitting President. In his concession speech, Carter said that he’d been hurt by the outcome, but promised a very smooth transition of power to the Reagan administration.
On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States, and at the same time, the hostages in the crisis that had cost Carter re-election were released from captivity and President Reagan sent him aboard Air Force One to Wiesbaden, Germany to greet the hostages.
President Carter never sought political office again, choosing to become a philanthropist alongside his wife Rosalynn. Three years after the end of his Presidency they founded the Carter Foundation, aiming towards preventing and resolving conflicts, enhancing freedom and democracy, and improving health.
The Carter Foundation led a coalition to eradicate the Guinea Worm epidemic; their efforts saw the global infection go from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to a confirmed 13 cases in 2021.
Throughout its lifetime, the Carter Foundation has overseen 125 elections in 40 different countries, provided healthcare to impoverished African villages, strengthened human rights and helped defend their rights worldwide, and advanced efforts to improve mental care and diminish the stigma against individuals with mental illness.
As he aged, President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter continued their work with charity helping with Habitat for Humanity, and even at the age of 90 and 95 were raising beams to make homes for people in need. First Lady Rosalynn Carter died on November 19, 2023. President Carter was quoted saying “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.”
President Carter turned 100 on October 1, 2024, a major accomplishment for any person.
The Kearsley High School Eclipse wishes President Carter a happy birthday.
