WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tuesday, Jimmy Carter became the first American president to turn 100 and the longest-lived president in U.S. history .
Born in Plains, Georgia, on 1924 October 1, Carter joined politics after leaving the military service.
After serving as the Georgia State Senator and then as governor of Georgia, the dark-horse candidate narrowly defeated the incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election.
He served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He successfully pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also confronted stagflation. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending detente, imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciating the Carter Doctrine, and leading the multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
The Democrat President left active politics after his bid for reelection turned unsuccessful, losing to Ronald Reagan, at the age of 56.
After leaving the presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights; in 2002 he received a Nobel Peace Prize for related work. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and further the eradication of infectious diseases.
Carter is a key figure in the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. He has also written numerous books, including on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In his book 'We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land', Carter cites Israel's unwillingness to withdraw from the Palestinian territories and settlement expansion as the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
Polls of historians and political scientists generally rank Carter as a below-average president, though scholars and the public more favorably view his post-presidency, the longest in U.S. history.
Carter and wife Rosalynn celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary on July 7, 2023. On October 19, 2019, they became the longest-wed presidential couple. Rosalynn died on November 19, 2023. They have four children: James Carter, Amy Carter, Jack Carter, and Donnel Carter.
To celebrate Carter's centennial birthday, an array of artists from pop, rock, gospel, country, jazz, hip-hop and classical music performed together at Atlanta's Fox Theatre last month.
Capturing the landmark concert event presented by The Carter Center on September 17, 'Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song' will premiere Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Georgia Public Broadcasting. The special will also be available on demand at gpb.org/jimmycarter100.
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