Jimmy Carter will celebrate his 98th birthday on Saturday with family and friends in Plains, Georgia, the small town where he and his wife, 95-year-old Rosalynn, were both born in the years between World War I and the Great Depression. Jimmy Carter is already the longest-living U.S. president in history.
The Carters started the Carter Center after their one term as president. It is celebrating 40 years of improving public health in developing countries, promoting democracy and peaceful conflict resolution, and keeping an eye on elections at the same time that the 39th president is reaching his latest milestone.
The vocal Christian grandfather of the former president, Jason Carter, who is now the Carter Center board chairman, said his grandfather was happy with his life and legacy.
The younger Carter, 47, said that his father is approaching his 98th birthday with confidence in God’s plan for him. “It’s just a lovely blessing for all of us to know, personally, that he is at peace and content with where he has been and where he’s going,” the younger Carter said.
Jill Stuckey, the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park’s administrator and a family friend, said after spending time with the former president on Saturday morning, “Friends are calling, and family are around.” He is extraordinary.
According to a tweet from the Carter Center, the former president watched a parade in his hometown later that day while he was in a wheelchair.
Carter has lived longer than any other U.S. president, having departed office in 1981 after serving one term.
Last weekend, he and his wife, 95-year-old Rosalynn, greeted visitors in the open at the Plains’ annual Peanut Festival. The Carters were chauffeured around by a Secret Service agent in a red convertible. Farmland, where peanuts are grown, is still owned by the Carter family.
“The day was beautiful. As the Carters’ children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren followed the car, Stuckey remarked that “everything came together.” When they first saw them, some people’s jaws dropped. Some people were crying, while others were clapping.
Jimmy Carter celebrates his 98th birthday at a parade in his hometown of Plains, Georgia! pic.twitter.com/LwTDmN84rR
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) October 1, 2022
According to friends, Carter is keeping up with Hurricane Ian news and praying for those who are suffering as a result of the hurricane. The Carters have worked with Habitat for Humanity for many years; this organization constructs low-cost housing and helps repair homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The simplicity with which Carter has continued to live in his community of fewer than 800 people makes his post-presidency unique.
He spent decades advancing democracy and human rights after leaving Washington, and in 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. “his decades of unwavering commitment to finding peaceful solutions to international crises, to advancing democracy and human rights, and to promoting economic and social development” were particularly noteworthy.
He had been a Sunday school teacher in his local church until recently. In 2015, Carter was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. Since then, he has faced major health issues, including that time. Following therapy, medical professionals claimed he had overcome the odds and later that year declared him cancer-free.
Thousands of people sent birthday wishes to President Carter via a website set up by the Carter Center called “Happy Birthday, President Carter!”
According to Matthew Degalan, a representative at the Carter Center in Atlanta, “What impresses me is the depth of feeling people have for him.” “People lack that in politics now, and they look at him as a person of values and morals.”
Even while some attacked him at the time, many admirers acknowledge that Carter was a visionary for installing solar panels in the White House.
Carter, a U.S. Naval Academy alumnus with submarine experience, was expected to spend some of his birthdays watching the Navy-Air Force football game and possibly his preferred baseball team, the Atlanta Braves.
The Carters marked their 75th wedding anniversary last year. They rarely spent time apart, and on his birthday, they were both in their living room talking to his relatives and friends.
