Here is a look at the life of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.
Personal:
Birth date: October 1, 1924
Birth place: Plains, Georgia
Birth name: James Earl Carter Jr.
Father: James Earl Carter Sr., a farmer and businessman
Mother: Lillian (Gordy) Carter
Marriage: Rosalynn (Smith) Carter (July 7, 1946-present)
Children: Amy Lynn, Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff), James Earl III (Chip) and John William (Jack)
Education: Georgia Southwestern College, 1941-1942; Georgia Institute of Technology, 1942-1943; US Naval Academy, B.S., 1946
Military: US Navy, 1946-1953
Other Facts:
Jimmy Carter was the first US president to be born in a hospital.
Champion of human rights, especially in regard to the governments of South Korea, Iran, Argentina, South Africa, and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
The Carter Center, established by the former president in 1982, has observed 100 elections in 38 countries.
Created the Department of Energy and established a national policy to address the energy shortage.
Timeline:
1953 – Works on his own farm in Plains, Georgia, and operates Carter’s Warehouse, a general-purpose seed and farm supply company.
1962 – Wins election to the Georgia Senate.
1966 – Runs for governor and loses to Lester Maddox.
November 3, 1970 – Runs for governor a second time and wins.
January 12, 1971 – Is inaugurated as Georgia’s 76th governor.
1974 – Serves as the Democratic National Committee campaign chairman for the 1974 congressional elections.
December 12, 1974 – Announces candidacy for president of the United States.
November 2, 1976 – Elected as the 39th president of the United States.
January 20, 1977 – Inauguration.
March 26, 1979 – In a ceremony in Washington, Egypt and Israel formally sign a peace treaty ending 31 years of war between them. The successful Camp David accords are one of the highlights of Carter’s presidency.
November 4, 1979 – The US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, is stormed and diplomatic staff are taken hostage. Carter’s inability to successfully negotiate release of the hostages became a major political liability. The hostages are released on January 20, 1981, the day of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.
1982 – Becomes a professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
1982 – Establishes the Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter Center initiatives include monitoring international elections, fighting third world diseases and seeking international peace. One of the key accomplishments of the Carter Center is the near eradication of Guinea worm disease, from more than three million cases in 1986 to fewer than 200 today.
August 9, 1999 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for an American civilian.
May 14, 2002 – In a speech given in Cuba, Carter outlines his vision for improvement between the United States and Cuba regarding their trading relations. The speech is broadcast live and uncensored on Cuban state television.
October 11, 2002 – Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
February 19, 2005 – The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) is commissioned.
February 11, 2007 – Wins a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio book of “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis.” He shares the award with Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.
April 17, 2008 – Meets with Hamas leaders in Cairo, Egypt. US and Israeli government officials object to Carter’s meeting, as both governments classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
September 15, 2009 – Carter causes controversy with remarks on NBC Nightly News about President Barack Obama. Carter says, “An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American.”
August 27, 2010 – Carter negotiates the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Gomes had been imprisoned in North Korea after entering it illegally in January 2010. “At the request of President Carter, and for humanitarian purposes, Mr. Gomes was granted amnesty by the chairman of the National Defense Commission, Kim Jong-Il,” the Carter Center says in a statement.
March 28, 2011 – Carter arrives in Cuba for a three-day visit, to meet with President Raul Castro.
April 26, 2011 – Visits Pyongyang, North Korea, for talks to ease tensions between North and South Korea, accompanied by former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and former Irish President Mary Robinson.
May 4, 2011 – In a Washington Post opinion piece, Carter urges the support of the Hamas-Fatah unity government.
June 26, 2012 – In a New York Times opinion piece, Carter says that the United States is no longer a champion of human rights in light of recent legislative action and drone strikes.
July 7, 2015 – Releases the autobiography, “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.”
August 3, 2015 – Has a “small mass” removed from his liver during surgery.
August 12, 2015 – Carter announces that “recent liver surgery revealed that [he has] cancer that now is in other parts of [his] body.” Carter says he will receive treatment at Emory University in Atlanta.
August 20, 2015 – Carter holds a press conference to announce that doctors found spots of melanoma on his brain and he will undergo treatment.
December 6, 2015 – Carter announces that according to his most recent MRI brain scan, his cancer is gone.
July 13, 2017 – Carter is admitted to a hospital in Winnipeg, Canada, after becoming dehydrated while working outdoors for Habitat for Humanity. He is released the following day.