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Volunteer Writer: Samantha McCarthy

Email: smccarthy12@umassd.edu

Jimmy Carter, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 39th President of the United States, turned 100 this past week. 

Celebrating in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, the former president and his family have spent the day outside watching the Navy perform a fly-over in honor of Carter, who is a Navy veteran. 

Events honoring Carter’s birthday took place throughout Georgia, with his hometown boasting various signs around town with messages, one even reading, “Thank you, Jimmy Carter. We love you.”

“He was surrounded by family, he was told that he was loved, he knew that he was loved,” Carter’s grandson, Josh Carter, told People Magazine. 

Carter has been in hospice care since February of 2023. Although he is being given professional care, Josh Carter stated that there is always a member of the family alongside him in the house. 

When Carter was placed into hospice care, his family expected that he was reaching the end of his life. But almost two years later, the former president has been “talking more, asking about the fast-changing 2024 presidential campaign and delighting in the momentum behind Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Democratic nominee,” The Washington Post reported. 

According to Jimmy Carter’s son, Chip Carter, the former president spent multiple days watching speeches from the Democratic National Convention. 

In August, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Jimmy Carter stated, “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris.”

Since his presidency, Carter has been quiet in the realm of United States politics. However, he began to speak out against Donald Trump, who vocalized his dislike of Carter when he was elected in 2016. 

In June of 2019, Carter voiced his opinion on Trump, calling him an illegitimate president. 

Carter’s dislike for the 45th president is mutual. On the day of Carter’s birthday celebrations, Trump spoke at a rally in Wisconsin, calling Joe Biden “the worst president” and naming Carter “the happiest man because Carter is considered brilliant by comparison.”

Other than his recent activism, Carter has stepped down from the spotlight since his time in office. Writing several books after his presidency, he covered issues such as foreign affairs in the Middle East to women’s rights, and he also published a memoir of his life. 

Carter was both governor and senator for the state of Georgia before serving his presidential term from 1977-1981. 

Throughout his presidency, Carter achieved many significant milestones in American politics. This included treaty negotiations between foreign countries, the expansion of national parks, and the establishment of the Department of Energy and the Department of Education on the cabinet level. 

Both throughout and especially after his term, Carter was also involved in many humanitarian organizations, one of which being Habitat for Humanity. Every year, Jimmy and Rosalynn volunteer for one week to lead a major building event to help build homes for those in need.

He founded The Carter Center in partnership with Emory University in 1982 with the late former First Lady, Rosalynn Carter, with the intent to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. 

The Carter Center has accomplished many significant milestones, leading a coalition that has reduced Guinea worm disease by 99.99% and establishing many village-based healthcare delivery systems throughout Africa. 

Carter received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for, as the Nobel Prize website stated, “his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

“He’s had a remarkable life and he knows that, and he still wants to give somehow,” Chip Carter told AP Archive.