Jimmy Carter

Young Carter with Rosalynn Smith and his mother at his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on June 5, 1946

Carter attended Plains High School from 1937 to 1941, graduating from the eleventh grade, since the school did not have a twelfth grade.[4] By that time, Archery and Plains had been impoverished by the Great Depression, but the family benefited from New Deal farming subsidies, and Carter's father took a position as a community leader. Carter was a diligent student with a fondness for reading. A popular anecdote holds that he was passed over for valedictorian after he and his friends skipped school to venture downtown in a hot rod. Carter's truancy was mentioned in a local newspaper, although it is not clear he would have otherwise been valedictorian.[5] As an adolescent, Carter played in the Plains High School basketball team, and also joined a youth organization named the Future Farmers of America, which helped him develop a lifelong interest in woodworking.[5]

Carter had long dreamed of attending the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1941, he started undergraduate coursework in engineering at Georgia Southwestern College in nearby Americus, Georgia. The following year, he transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and he earned admission to the Naval Academy in 1943. He was a good student but was seen as reserved and quiet, in contrast to the academy's culture of aggressive hazing of freshmen. While at the academy, Carter fell in love with Rosalynn Smith, a friend of his sister Ruth. The two married shortly after his graduation in 1946.[6] He was a sprint football player for the Navy Midshipmen.[7] Carter graduated 60th out of 820 midshipmen in the class of 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as an ensign.[8]

Racial tension was inflamed in Plains by the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court anti-segregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.[24] Carter was in favor of racial tolerance and integration, but often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. By 1961 he began to speak more prominently of integration, being a prominent member of the Baptist Church and chairman of the Sumter County school board.[25][26] In 1962, a state Senate seat was opened by the dissolution of Georgia's County Unit System; Carter announced his campaign for the seat 15 days before the election. Rosalynn, who had an instinct for politics and organization, was instrumental to his campaign. Early counting of the ballots showed Carter trailing to his opponent Homer Moore, but this was the result of fraudulent voting orchestrated by Joe Hurst, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Quitman County.[27] Carter challenged the election result, which was confirmed fraudulent in an investigation. Following this, another election was held, in which Carter won against Moore as the sole Democratic candidate, with a vote margin of 3,013 to 2,182.[28]

The civil rights movement was well underway when Carter took office. He and his family had become staunch John F. Kennedy supporters. Carter remained relatively quiet on the issue at first, even as it polarized much of the county, to avoid alienating his segregationist colleagues. He did speak up on a few divisive issues, giving speeches against literacy tests and against an amendment to the Georgia Constitution which, he felt, implied a compulsion to practice religion.[29] Carter entered the state Democratic Executive Committee two years into office, where he helped rewrite the state party's rules. He became the chairman of the West Central Georgia Planning and Development Commission, which oversaw the disbursement of federal and state grants for projects such as historic site restoration.[30] In November 1964, when Bo Callaway was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Carter immediately began planning to challenge him. The two had previously clashed over which two-year college would be expanded to a four-year college program by the state, and Carter saw Callaway—who had switched to the Republican Party—as a rival that represented aspects of politics he despised.[31] Carter was re-elected in 1964 to serve a second two-year term.[32] For some time in the State senate, he chaired its Education Committee; he also sat on the Appropriations Committee toward the end of his second term. Before his term ended, he contributed to a bill expanding statewide education funding and getting Georgia Southwestern a four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make himself more visible to potential voters. On the last day of the term, he announced his run for Congress.[33]

In Carter's first run for the governor, he ran against liberal former Governor Ellis Arnall and the conservative segregationist Lester Maddox in the Democratic primary. In a press conference, he described his ideology as "Conservative, moderate, liberal and middle-of-the-road. ... I believe I am a more complicated person than that."[34] He lost the primary, but drew enough votes as a third-place candidate to force Arnall into a runoff election with Maddox. Maddox narrowly won the runoff ballot over Arnall. In the general election, Republican Bo Callaway went on to win a plurality of the vote, but short of a 50 percent majority; the state rules empowered the Georgia House of Representatives, which had a Democratic Party majority, to elect Maddox as governor.[35] This resulted in a victorious Maddox, whose victory—due to his segregationist stance—was seen as the worse outcome to the indebted Carter.[35] Carter returned to his agriculture business, carefully planning his next campaign. This period was a spiritual turning point for Carter; he declared himself a born again Christian, and his last child Amy was born during this time.[36][37]

Results of the 1970 gubernatorial election in Georgia, with blue counties supporting Carter and red ones voting for Hal Suit: the relative darkness of the shade shows greater support for a candidate.

In the 1970 gubernatorial election, the liberal former governor Carl Sanders became Carter's main opponent in the Democratic primary. Carter ran a more modern campaign, employing printed graphics and statistical analysis. Responding to the poll data, Carter leaned more conservative than before, positioning himself as a populist and criticising Sanders for both his wealth and perceived links to the national Democratic party. He also accused Sanders of corruption, but when pressed by the media, could come up with no evidence.[38][39] Throughout his campaign, Carter sought both the black vote and "Wallace vote," referring to supporters of the prominent segregationist George Wallace of Alabama. While he met with black figures such as Martin Luther King Sr. and Andrew Young, and visited many black-owned businesses, he also praised Wallace and promised to invite him to give a speech in Georgia. Carter's appeal to racism became more blatant over time, with his senior campaign aides handing out a photograph of Sanders celebrating with black basketball players.[38][39]

Carter came ahead of Sanders in the first ballot by 49 percent to 38 percent in September, leading to a runoff election being held. The subsequent campaign was even more bitter; despite his early support for civil rights, Carter's appeal to racism grew, criticizing Sanders for supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Carter won the runoff election with 60 percent of the vote, and went on to easily win the general election against the Republican Hal Suit, a local news anchor. Once he was elected, Carter changed his tone, and began to speak against Georgia's racist politics. Leroy Johnson, a black state senator, voiced his support for Carter, saying, "I understand why he ran that kind of ultra-conservative campaign. ... I don't believe you can win this state without being a racist."[38]

Because he was ineligible to run for re-election, Carter looked toward a potential presidential run and engaged himself in national politics. He was named to several southern planning commissions and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where the liberal U.S. Senator George McGovern was the likely presidential nominee. Carter tried to ingratiate himself with the conservative and anti-McGovern voters. However, Carter was still fairly obscure at the time, and his attempt at triangulation failed; the 1972 Democratic ticket was McGovern and Senator Thomas Eagleton.[57][note 2] On August 3, Carter met with Wallace in Birmingham, Alabama to discuss preventing the Democratic Party from losing in a landslide during the November elections.[58]

After McGovern's loss in November 1972, Carter began meeting regularly with his fledgling campaign staff. He had decided to begin putting a presidential bid for 1976 together. He tried unsuccessfully to become chairman of the National Governors Association to boost his visibility. On David Rockefeller's endorsement, he was named to the Trilateral Commission in April 1973. The following year, he was named chairman of both the Democratic National Committee's congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.[59] In May 1973, Carter warned the Democratic Party against politicizing the Watergate scandal,[60] the occurrence of which he attributed to President Richard Nixon exercising isolation from Americans and secrecy in his decision making.[61]

Preliminary planning for Carter's presidential transition had already been underway for months before his election.[88][89] Carter had been the first presidential candidate to allot significant funds and a significant number of personnel to a pre-election transition planning effort, which subsequently would become standard practice.[90] Carter would set a mold with his presidential transition that would influence all subsequent presidential transitions, taking a methodical approach to his transition, and having a larger and more formal operation than past presidential transitions had.[90][89]

On November 22, 1976, Carter conducted his first visit to Washington, D.C. after being elected, meeting with Director of the Office of Management James Lynn and United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House, and holding an afternoon meeting with President Ford at the White House.[91] The following day, Carter conferred with congressional leaders, expressing that his meetings with cabinet members had been "very helpful" and saying Ford had requested he seek out his assistance if needing anything.[92] Relations between Ford and Carter, however, would be relatively cold during the transition.[93] During his transition, Carter announced the selection of numerous designees for positions in his administration.[94] On January 4, 1977, Carter told reporters that he would free himself from potential conflicts of interest by leaving his peanut business in the hands of trustees.[95]

Moralism typified much of his action.[102] On April 18, 1977, Carter delivered a televised speech declaring that the current energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged energy conservation and installed solar water heating panels on the White House.[103][104] He wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House.[105] On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years.[106] Carter boasted that the House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months prior and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program."[107] The following month, on October 13, Carter stated he believed in the Senate's ability to pass the energy reform bill and identified energy as "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office."[108]

On January 12, 1978, during a press conference, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous" as well as hindering to national issues that needed to be addressed with the implementation of the law.[109] In an April 11, 1978, news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing the energy reform bill in particular: "I never dreamed a year ago in April when I proposed this matter to the Congress that a year later it still would not be resolved."[110] The Carter energy legislation was approved by Congress after much deliberation and modification on October 15, 1978. The measure deregulated the sale of natural gas, dropped a longstanding pricing disparity between intra- and interstate gas, and created tax credits to encourage energy conservation and the use of non fossil fuels.[111]

On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress.[112] On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation.[113] During an April 30 news conference, Carter said it was "imperative" that the House commerce committee approve the standby gasoline rationing plan and called on Congress to pass the several other standby energy conservation plans he had proposed.[114] On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "crisis of confidence" among the American people,[115] under the advisement of pollster Pat Caddell who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of the 1960s and 1970s prior to Carter's taking office.[116] The address would be cited as Carter's "malaise" speech,[115] memorable for mixed reactions[117][118] and his use of rhetoric.[119] The speech's negative reception came from a view that Carter did not state efforts on his own part to address the energy crisis and was too reliant on Americans.[120]

In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the neighborhood of Love Canal in the city of Niagara Falls, New York. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which had been built on top of a toxic waste landfill. The Superfund law was created in response to the situation.[121] Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses, the 99th Street School, and the 93rd Street School, which had been built on top of the dump; and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous wastes. This was the first time that such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".[122]

Carter typically refused to conform to Washington's rules.[123] He avoided phone calls from members of Congress and verbally insulted them. He was unwilling to return political favors. His negativity led to frustration in passing legislation.[124] During a press conference on February 23, 1977, Carter stated that it was "inevitable" that he would come into conflict with Congress and added that he had found "a growing sense of cooperation" with Congress and met in the past with congressional members of both parties.[125] Carter developed a bitter feeling following an unsuccessful attempt at having Congress enact the scrapping of several water projects,[126] which he had requested during his first 100 days in office and received opposition from members of his party.[127] As a rift ensued between the White House and Congress afterward, Carter noted that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party was most ardently against his policies, attributing this to Ted Kennedy's wanting the presidency.[128] Carter, thinking he had support from 74 Congressmen, issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending that he claimed would result in a veto on his part if included in any legislation.[129] He found himself at odds with Congressional Democrats once more, with speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill finding it inappropriate for a president to pursue what had traditionally been the role of Congress. Carter was also weakened by signing a bill that contained many of the "hit list" projects he intended to cancel.[130] In an address to a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee on June 23, 1977, Carter said, "I think it's good to point out tonight, too, that we have evolved a good working relationship with the Congress. For eight years we had government by partisanship. Now we have government by partnership."[131] At a July 28 news conference, assessing the first six months of his presidency, Carter spoke of his improved understanding of Congress: "I have learned to respect the Congress more in an individual basis. I've been favorably impressed at the high degree of concentrated experience and knowledge that individual members of Congress can bring on a specific subject, where they've been the chairman of a subcommittee or committee for many years and have focused their attention on this particular aspect of government life which I will never be able to do."[132]

On May 10, 1979, the House voted against giving Carter authority to produce a standby gas rationing plan.[133] The following day, Carter delivered remarks in the Oval Office describing himself as shocked and embarrassed for the American government by the vote and concluding "the majority of the House Members are unwilling to take the responsibility, the political responsibility for dealing with a potential, serious threat to our Nation." He furthered that a majority of House members were placing higher importance on "local or parochial interests" and challenged the lower chamber of Congress with composing their own rationing plan in the next 90 days.[134] Carter's remarks were met with criticism by House Republicans, who accused his comments of not befitting the formality a president should have in their public remarks. Others pointed to 106 Democrats voting against his proposal and the bipartisan criticism potentially coming back to haunt him.[135] At the start of a news conference on July 25, 1979, Carter called on believers in the future of the U.S. and his proposed energy program to speak with Congress as it bore the responsibility to impose his proposals.[136] Amid the energy proposal opposition, The New York Times commented that "as the comments flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue illustrate, there is also a crisis of confidence between Congress and the President, sense of doubt and distrust that threatens to undermine the President's legislative program and become an important issue in next year's campaign."[137]

Newly elected governor of Arkansas and future president Bill Clinton meets with President Carter in 1978.

Carter's presidency had a troubled economic history of two roughly equal periods. The first two years were a time of continuing recovery from the severe 1973–75 recession, which had left fixed investment at its lowest level since the 1970 recession and unemployment at 9%.[138] His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates,[139] oil shortages, and slow economic growth.[140] Thanks to the $30 billion economic stimulus legislation – like the Public Works Employment Act of 1977 – proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median had grown by 5.2% with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter.[141] The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, however, and as both inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation, and consumer confidence declined sharply.[139] The relatively loose monetary policy adopted by Federal Reserve Board chairman G. William Miller, had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation,[142] rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices by OPEC, the world's leading oil exporting cartel,[143] forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980.[138] The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem, and would come to symbolize the crisis among the public in general;[139] the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of Amerada Hess refining facilities, led to a lawsuit against the company that year by the Federal Government.[144]

Carter signing the Airline Deregulation Act, 1978

In 1977, Carter appointed Alfred E. Kahn to lead the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading think tanks in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform (patterned on a coalition earlier developed for the truck-and-rail-reform efforts), the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978.[145]

Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from commercial aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the FAA's regulatory powers over all aspects of airline safety.[146] In 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of prohibition in the United States.[147] This deregulation led to an increase in home brewing over the 1980s and 1990s that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United States, with 6,266 micro breweries, brewpubs, and regional craft breweries in the United States by the end of 2017.[148]

During his presidential campaign, Carter embraced healthcare reform akin to the Ted Kennedy-sponsored bipartisan universal national health insurance.[149]

Carter's proposals on healthcare while in office included an April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal,[150] and a June 1979 proposal that provided private health insurance coverage.[151] Carter saw the June 1979 proposal as a continuation of progress in American health coverage made by President Harry S. Truman in the latter's proposed access to quality health care being a basic right to Americans and medicare and medicaid being introduced under President Lyndon B. Johnson.[152][153] The April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal was passed in the Senate,[154] but later defeated in the House.[155] During 1978, Carter also conducted meetings with Kennedy for a compromise healthcare law that proved unsuccessful.[156] Carter would later cite Kennedy's disagreements as having thwarted Carter's efforts to provide a comprehensive health-care system for the country.[157]

Early into his term, Carter collaborated with the congress to assist in fulfilling a campaign promise to create a cabinet level education department. In an address from the White House on February 28, 1978, Carter argued "Education is far too important a matter to be scattered piecemeal among various government departments and agencies, which are often busy with sometimes dominant concerns."[158] On February 8, 1979, the Carter administration released an outline of its plan to establish an education department and asserted enough support for the enactment to occur by June.[159] On October 17, the same year, Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act into law,[160] establishing the United States Department of Education.[161]

Carter expanded the Head Start program with the addition of 43,000 children and families,[162] while the percentage of nondefense dollars spent on education was doubled.[163] Carter was complimentary of the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and the 89th United States Congress for having initiated Head Start.[164] In a speech on November 1, 1980, Carter stated his administration had extended Head Start to migrant children and was "working hard right now with Senator Bentsen and with Kika de la Garza to make as much as $45 million available in federal money in the border districts to help with the increase in school construction for the number of Mexican school children who reside here legally".[165]

Carter standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, during his 1979 visit

From the onset of his presidency, Carter attempted to mediate the Arab–Israeli conflict.[166] After a failed attempt to seek a comprehensive settlement between the two nations in 1977 (through reconvening the 1973 Geneva conference,[167] Carter invited the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachim Begin to the presidential lodge Camp David in September 1978, in hopes of creating a definitive peace. Whilst the two sides could not agree on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, the negotiations resulted in Egypt formally recognizing Israel, and the creation of an elected government in the West Bank and Gaza. This resulted in the Camp David Accords, which ended the war between Israel and Egypt.[168]

The accords were a source of great domestic opposition in both Egypt and Israel. Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he was "in an odd position—he had attempted to break with traditional US policy but ended up fulfilling the goals of that tradition, which had been to break up the Arab alliance, side-line the Palestinians, build an alliance with Egypt, weaken the Soviet Union and secure Israel."[169]

First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere, and Carter, 1977

Carter with Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo on April 1, 1978

In an address to the African officials at the United Nations on October 4, 1977, Carter stated the U.S.'s interest to "see a strong, vigorous, free, and prosperous Africa with as much of the control of government as possible in the hands of the residents of your countries" and pointed to their unified efforts on "the problem of how to resolve the Rhodesian, Zimbabwe question."[170] At a news conference later that month, Carter outlined that the U.S. wanted to "work harmoniously with South Africa in dealing with the threats to peace in Namibia and in Zimbabwe in particular", as well as do away with racial issues such as apartheid, and for equal opportunities in other facets of society in the region.[171]

Carter visited Nigeria from March 31 – April 3, 1978, the trip being an attempt by the Carter administration to improve relations with the country.[172] He was the first U.S. president to visit Nigeria.[173] Carter reiterated interests in convening a peace conference on the subject of Rhodesia that would involve all parties and reported that the U.S. was moving as it could.[174]

The elections of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister of the United Kingdom[175] and Abel Muzorewa for prime minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia,[176] South Africa turning down a plan for South West Africa's independence and domestic opposition in Congress were seen as a heavy blow to the Carter administration's policy toward South Africa.[177] On May 16, 1979, the Senate voted in favor of President Carter lifting economic sanctions against Rhodesia, the vote being seen by both Rhodesia and South Africa as a potentially fatal blow to both the joint diplomacy that the United States and Britain had pursued in the region for three years and the effort to reach a compromise between the Salisbury leaders and the guerrillas.[178] On December 3, Secretary of State Vance promised Senator Jesse Helms that when the British governor arrived in Salisbury to implement an agreed Lancaster House settlement and the electoral process began, the President would take prompt action to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.[179]

Deng Xiaoping with President Carter

Carter sought closer relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), continuing the Nixon administration's drastic policy of rapprochement. The two countries increasingly collaborated against the Soviet Union, and the Carter administration tacitly consented to the Chinese invasion of Vietnam. In 1979, Carter extended formal diplomatic recognition to the PRC for the first time. This decision led to a boom in trade between the United States and the PRC, which was pursuing economic reforms under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping.[180] After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter allowed the sale of military supplies to China and began negotiations to share military intelligence.[181] In January 1980, Carter unilaterally revoked the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China (ROC), which had lost control of mainland China to the PRC in 1949, but retained control the island of Taiwan. Carter's abrogation of the treaty was challenged in court by conservative Republicans, but the Supreme Court ruled that the issue was a non-justiciable political question in Goldwater v. Carter. The U.S. continued to maintain diplomatic contacts with the ROC through the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.[182]

During Carter's presidency, the U.S. continued to support Indonesia as a cold war ally, in spite of human rights violations in East Timor. The violations followed Indonesia's December 1975 invasion and occupation of East Timor.[183] It did so even though antithetical to Carter's stated policy "of not selling weapons if it would exacerbate a potential conflict in a region of the world."[184][185]

During a news conference on March 9, 1977, Carter reaffirmed his interest in having a gradual withdrawal of American troops from South Korea and stated that he wanted South Korea to eventually have "adequate ground forces owned by and controlled by the South Korean government to protect themselves against any intrusion from North Korea."[186] On May 19, The Washington Post quoted Chief of Staff of U.S. forces in South Korea John K. Singlaub as criticizing Carter's withdrawal of troops from the Korean peninsula. Later that day, Press Secretary Rex Granum announced Singlaub had been summoned to the White House by Carter, whom he also confirmed had seen the article in The Washington Post.[187] Carter relieved Singlaub of his duties two days later on May 21 following a meeting between the two.[188][189] During a news conference on May 26, Carter said he believed that South Korea would be able to defend themselves despite reduced American troops in case of conflict.[190] From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with president of South Korea Park Chung-hee at the Blue House for a discussion on relations between the U.S. and Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction.[191] On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing a lack of action by Congress in regards to a compensatory aid package for the Seoul Government.[192]

Carter with King Hussein of Jordan and Shah of Iran in 1977

On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the U.S. and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive".[193] When the shah was overthrown, increasingly anti-American rhetoric came from Iran, which intensified when Carter allowed the shah to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on October 22, 1979.[194]

On November 4, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students belonged to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line and were in support of the Iranian Revolution.[195] Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days until they were finally freed immediately after Ronald Reagan succeeded Carter as president on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days, until he left to participate in the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse.[196] A month into the affair, Carter stated his commitment to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed or arouse the unstable captors of our hostages to attack them or to punish them".[197] On April 7, 1980, Carter issued Executive Order 12205, imposing economic sanctions against Iran[198] and announced further measures being taken by members of his cabinet and the American government that he deemed necessary to ensure a safe release.[199][200] On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and causing the destruction of two aircraft.[201][202] The ill-fated rescue attempt led to the self-imposed resignation of U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had been opposed to the mission from the beginning.

Released in 2017, a declassified memo produced by the CIA in 1980 concluded "Iranian hardliners – especially Ayatollah Khomeini" were "determined to exploit the hostage issue to bring about President Carter’s defeat in the November elections." Additionally, Tehran in 1980 wanted "the world to believe that Imam Khomeini caused President Carter's downfall and disgrace."[203]

Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signing the SALT II treaty at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, June 18, 1979

On February 8, 1977, Carter stated he had urged the Soviet Union to align with the U.S. in forming "a comprehensive test ban to stop all nuclear testing for at least an extended period of time", and that he was in favor of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the RSD-10 Pioneer.[204] During a press conference on June 13, Carter reported that at the beginning of the week, the U.S. would "work closely with the Soviet Union on a comprehensive test ban treaty to prohibit all testing of nuclear devices underground or in the atmosphere", and Paul Warnke would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union beginning the following week.[205] At a news conference on December 30, Carter said that throughout the period of "the last few months, the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues, the most important of which is to control the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons" and that the two countries sought to conclude SALT II talks by the spring of the following year.[206] The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty materialized with the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II by Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on June 18, 1979.[207][208]

In 1979, the Soviets intervened in the Second Yemenite War. The Soviet backing of South Yemen constituted a "smaller shock", in tandem with tensions that were rising due to the Iranian Revolution. This played a role in shifting Carter's viewpoint on the Soviet Union to a more assertive one, a shift that finalized with the impending Soviet-Afghan War.[209]

In his 1980 State of the Union Address, Carter emphasized the significance of relations between the two regions: "Now, as during the last 3½ decades, the relationship between our country, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union is the most critical factor in determining whether the world will live at peace or be engulfed in global conflict."[210]

Communists under the leadership of Nur Muhammad Taraki seized power in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978.[211] The new regime signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in December of that year.[211][212] However, due to the regime's efforts to improve secular education and redistribute land being accompanied by mass executions and political oppression, Taraki was deposed by rival Hafizullah Amin in September.[211][212][213] Amin was considered a "brutal psychopath" by foreign observers and had lost control of much of the country, prompting the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan on December 24, 1979, execute Amin, and install Babrak Karmal as president.[211][212]

Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Zbigniew Brzezinski in September 1978

King Khalid of Saudi Arabia and Carter, October 1978

In the West, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was considered a threat to global security and the oil supplies of the Persian Gulf, as well as the existence of Pakistan.[212][214] These concerns led to Carter expanding collaboration between the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which began several months earlier when the CIA started providing some $695,000 worth of non-lethal assistance (e.g., "cash, medical equipment, and radio transmitters") to the Afghan mujahideen in July 1979.[215] The modest scope of this early collaboration was likely influenced by the understanding, later recounted by CIA official Robert Gates, "that a substantial U.S. covert aid program" might have "raise[d] the stakes" thereby causing "the Soviets to intervene more directly and vigorously than otherwise intended."[214][216] According to a 2020 review of declassified U.S. documents by Conor Tobin in the journal Diplomatic History: "The primary significance of this small-scale aid was in creating constructive links with dissidents through Pakistan's ISI that could be utilized in the case of an overt Soviet intervention ... The small-scale covert program that developed in response to the increasing Soviet influence was part of a contingency plan if the Soviets did intervene militarily, as Washington would be in a better position to make it difficult for them to consolidate their position, but not designed to induce an intervention."[215] Finally, on December 28, Carter signed a presidential finding explicitly allowing the CIA to transfer "lethal military equipment either directly or through third countries to the Afghan opponents of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan," and to arrange "selective training, conducted outside of Afghanistan, in the use of such equipment either directly or via third country intermediation."[215] Carter's finding defined the CIA's mission as "harassment" of Soviet troops; at the time, "this was not a war the CIA expected to win outright on the battlefield," in the words of Steve Coll.[217]

Carter was determined to respond harshly to what he considered a dangerous provocation. In a televised speech on January 23, 1980, he announced sanctions on the Soviet Union, promising renewed aid and registration to Pakistan and the Selective Service System, as well as committing the U.S. to the Persian Gulf's defense.[214][216][218][219] Carter imposed an embargo on grain shipments to the USSR, tabled the consideration of SALT II, requested a 5% annual increase in defense spending,[220][221] and called for a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[222] Carter's tough stance was backed enthusiastically by the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.[214] National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski played a major role in organizing Jimmy Carter's policies on the Soviet Union as a grand strategy.[223]

The thrust of U.S. policy for the duration of the war was determined by Carter in early 1980: Carter initiated a program to arm the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI and secured a pledge from Saudi Arabia to match U.S. funding for this purpose. The Soviets were unable to quell the insurgency and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, precipitating the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself.[214] However, the decision to route U.S. aid through Pakistan led to massive fraud, as weapons sent to Karachi were frequently sold on the local market rather than delivered to the Afghan rebels. Despite this, Carter has expressed no regrets over his decision to support what he still considers the "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan.[214]

Countries visited by Carter during his presidency

Carter made twelve international trips to twenty-five countries during his presidency.[224] Carter was the first president to make a state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he went to Nigeria in 1978.[173] His travel also included trips to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He made several trips to the Middle East to broker peace negotiations. His visit to Iran from December 31, 1977, to January 1, 1978, took place less than a year before the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[225]

The September 21, 1977, resignation of Bert Lance, who served as director of the office of management and budget in the Carter administration, came amid allegations of improper banking activities prior to his tenure and was an embarrassment to Carter.[226]

Carter became the first sitting president to testify under oath as part of an investigation towards him,[227][228] as a result of United States Attorney General Griffin Bell appointing Paul J. Curran as a special counsel to investigate loans made to the peanut business owned by Carter by a bank controlled by Bert Lance and Curran's position as special counsel not allowing him to file charges on his own.[229][note 3] Curran announced in October 1979 that no evidence had been found to support allegations that funds loaned from the National Bank of Georgia had been diverted to Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, ending the investigation.[230]

Electoral map of the 1980 election

Carter's campaign for re-election in 1980 was based primarily on attacking Ronald Reagan. The Carter campaign frequently pointed out and mocked Reagan's proclivity to gaffes, using his age and perceived lack of connection to his native California voter base against him.[231] Later on, the campaign used similar rhetoric to the Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 presidential campaign, intending to portray Reagan as a warmonger that could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal.[232] Carter attempted to deny the Reagan campaign $29.4 million (equivalent to $96,689,903 in 2021) in campaign funds, due to dependent conservative groups already raising $60 million to get him elected – a number which exceeded the limit of campaign funds. The request was later denied by the Federal Election Commission.[233]

Carter later wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which he attributed to Ted Kennedy's ambition to replace him as president.[234] After Kennedy announced his candidacy in November 1979,[235] questions regarding his activities during his presidential bid were a frequent subject of Carter's press conferences held during the Democratic presidential primaries.[236][237] Kennedy, despite winning key states such as California and New York, surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign, leading to Carter winning most of the primaries and securing renomination. However, Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which gave Carter weak support in the fall election.[238] Carter and Mondale were formally nominated at the 1980 Democratic National Convention held in New York City.[239] Carter delivered a speech notable for its tribute to the late Hubert Humphrey, whom he initially called "Hubert Horatio Hornblower",[240] and Kennedy made the infamous "The Dream Shall Never Die" speech, in which he criticized Reagan and gave Carter an unenthusiastic endorsement.

Carter at a rally in Granite City.

Aside from Reagan and Kennedy, he was opposed by centrist John B. Anderson, who had previously contested the Republican presidential primaries, and upon being defeated by Reagan, re-entered as an independent. Anderson advertised himself as a more liberal alternative to Reagan's conservatism.[241] As the campaign went on, however, Anderson's polling numbers dropped as his supporter base was gradually pulled towards either Carter or Reagan.[242] Carter had to run against his own "stagflation"-ridden economy, while the hostage crisis in Iran dominated the news every week. He was attacked by conservatives for failing to "prevent Soviet gains" in less-developed countries, as pro-Soviet governments had taken power in countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Afghanistan.[243] His brother, Billy Carter, caused controversy due to his association with Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya.[244] He alienated liberal college students, who were expected to be his base, by re-instating registration for the military draft. His campaign manager and former appointments secretary, Timothy Kraft, stepped down some five weeks before the general election amid what turned out to have been an uncorroborated allegation of cocaine use.[245]

On October 28, Carter and Reagan participated in the sole presidential debate of the election cycle in which they were both present – due to Carter refusing to partake in debates with Anderson.[246] Though initially trailing Carter by several points,[247] Reagan experienced a surge in polling following the debate.[248] This was in part influenced by Reagan deploying the phrase "There you go again", which became the defining phrase of the election.[249] It was later discovered that in the final days of the campaign, Reagan's team acquired classified documents used by Carter in preparation for the debate.[250] Reagan defeated Carter in a landslide, winning 489 electoral votes. The Senate went Republican for the first time since 1952.[251] In his concession speech, Carter admitted that he was hurt by the outcome of the election but pledged "a very fine transition period" with President-elect Reagan.[252]

Diplomacy has been a large part of Carter's post-presidency. These diplomatic efforts began in the Middle East, with a September 1981 meeting with prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin,[254] and a March 1983 tour of Egypt that included meeting with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization,[255]

In 1994, president Bill Clinton sought Carter's assistance in a North Korea peace mission, during which Carter negotiated an understanding with Kim Il-sung.[256][257] Carter went on to outline a treaty with Kim, which he announced to CNN without the consent of the Clinton administration to spur American action.[258]

Carter (third from left) with Martti Ahtisaari, William Hague, and Lakhdar Brahimi from The Elders group in London, July 24, 2013.

In 2006, Carter stated his disagreements with the domestic and foreign policies of Israel while saying he was in favor of the country,[259][260] extending his criticisms to Israel's policies in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.[261]

In July 2007, Carter joined Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, to announce his participation in The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues.[262][263] Following the announcement, Carter participated in visits to Darfur,[264] Sudan,[265][266] Cyprus, the Korean Peninsula, and the Middle East, among others.[267] Carter attempted traveling to Zimbabwe in November 2008, but was stopped by President Robert Mugabe's government.[268] In December 2008, Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,[269][270] and in a June 2012 call with Jeffery Brown, Carter stressed Egyptian military generals could be granted full power executively and legislatively in addition to being able to form a new constitution in favor of themselves in case their announced intentions went through.[271]

On August 10, 2010, Carter traveled to North Korea to secure the release of Aijalon Gomes, successfully negotiating his release.[272][273] Throughout the latter part of 2017, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea persisted, Carter recommended a peace treaty between the two nations,[274] and confirmed he had offered himself to the Trump administration as a willing candidate to serve as diplomatic envoy to North Korea.[275]

Carter began his first year out of office with a pledge not to critique the new Reagan administration, stating that it was "too early".[276] Despite siding with Reagan on issues like building neutron arms after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,[277] Carter frequently spoke out against the Reagan administration. He denounced many of Reagan's actions in the Middle East;[278] in 1987, Carter insisted that he was incapable of preserving peace in the Middle East.[279] Carter condemned the handling of the Sabra and Shatila massacre,[280] the lack of efforts to rescue and retrieve four American businessmen from West Beirut in 1984,[281] Reagan's support of the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1985,[282] and his claim of an international conspiracy on terrorism.[283] In 1987 he also criticized Reagan for conceding to terrorist demands,[284] the nomination of Robert Bork for the Supreme Court,[285] and his handling of the Persian Gulf crisis.[286]

On January 16, 1989, prior to the inauguration of George H. W. Bush, Carter expressed to fellow former president Ford that Reagan had experienced a media honeymoon, saying that he believed Reagan's immediate successor would be less fortunate.[287]

Carter had a mostly negative relationship with Bill Clinton; despite Clinton being the first Democrat elected in 12 years, Carter and his wife were snubbed from the inauguration ceremony. Carter criticised Clinton for the morality of his administration, particularly for the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the pardon of Marc Rich.[288]

During the presidency of George W. Bush, Carter stated his opposition to the Iraq War,[289] and what he considered an attempt on the part of Bush and Tony Blair to oust Saddam Hussein through the usage of "lies and misinterpretations".[290] In May 2007, Carter stated the Bush administration "has been the worst in history" in terms of its impact in foreign affairs,[291] and later stated he was just comparing Bush's tenure to that of Richard Nixon.[292] Carter's comments received a response from the Bush administration in the form of Tony Fratto saying Carter was increasing his irrelevance with his commentary.[293] By the end of Bush's second term, Carter considered Bush's tenure disappointing, which he disclosed in comments to Forward Magazine of Syria.[294]

Though he praised President Obama in the early part of his tenure,[295] Carter stated his disagreements with the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists, Obama's choice to keep Guantanamo Bay detention camp open,[296] and the current federal surveillance programs as disclosed by Edward Snowden."[297][298]

During the Trump presidency, Carter spoke favorably of the chance for immigration reform through Congress,[299] and criticized Trump for his handling of the U.S. national anthem protests.[300] In October 2017, however, Carter defended President Trump in an interview with The New York Times, criticizing the media's coverage of him, stating that the media has been harsher on Trump "than any other president certainly that I've known about."[301][302] In 2019, Carter received a phone call from Trump in which he expressed concern that China was "getting ahead" of the United States. Carter agreed, stating that China's strength came from their lack of involvement in armed conflict, calling the U.S. "the most warlike nation in the history of the world."[303]

Carter in 1988

Carter was considered a potential candidate in the 1984 presidential election,[304][305] but did not run and instead endorsed Walter Mondale for the Democratic nomination.[306][307] After Mondale secured the nomination, Carter critiqued the Reagan campaign,[308] spoke at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, and advised Mondale.[309] Following the election, in which President Reagan defeated Mondale, Carter stated the loss was predictable because of the latter's platform that included raising taxes.[310]

In the 1988 presidential election, Carter ruled himself out as a candidate once more and predicted Vice President George H. W. Bush as the Republican nominee in the general election.[311] Carter foresaw unity at the 1988 Democratic National Convention,[312] where he delivered an address.[313] Following the election, a failed attempt by the Democrats in regaining the White House, Carter said Bush would have a more difficult presidency than Reagan because he was not as popular.[314]

During the 1992 presidential election, Carter met with Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas who sought out his advice.[315] Carter spoke favorably of former Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton,[316] and criticized Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire who was running as an independent.[317] As the primary concluded, Carter spoke of the need for the 1992 Democratic National Convention to address certain issues not focused on in the past,[318] and campaigned for Clinton after he became the Democratic nominee in the general election,[319] publicly stating his expectation to be consulted during the latter's presidency.[320]

Carter endorsed Vice President Al Gore days before the 2000 presidential election,[321] and in the years following voiced his opinion that the election was won by Gore,[322] despite the Supreme Court handing the election to Bush in the controversial Bush v. Gore ruling.[323]

In the 2004 presidential election, Carter endorsed John Kerry and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.[324] Carter also voiced concerns of another voting mishap in the state of Florida.[325]

Amid the Democratic presidential primary in 2008, Carter was speculated to endorse Senator Barack Obama over his main primary rival Hillary Clinton amid his speaking favorably of the candidate, as well as remarks from the Carter family that showed their support for Obama.[326][327] Carter also commented on Clinton ending her bid when superdelegates voted after the June 3 primary.[328] Leading up to the general election, Carter criticized the Republican nominee John McCain.[329][330] who responded to Carter's comments.[331] Carter warned Obama against selecting Clinton as his running mate.[332]

Carter endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination during the primary season of the 2012 presidential election,[333] though he clarified that his backing of Romney was due to him considering the former Massachusetts governor the candidate that could best assure a victory for President Obama.[334] Carter delivered a videotape address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.[335]

The state funeral of George H. W. Bush in December 2018. Carter and his wife Rosalynn can be seen on the far right of the photograph.

Carter was critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shortly after the latter entered the primary, predicting that he would lose.[336][337] As the primary continued, Carter stated he would prefer Trump over his main rival Ted Cruz,[338] though he rebuked the Trump campaign in remarks during the primary,[339] and in his address to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Carter believes that Trump would not have been elected without Russia's interference in the 2016 election,[340] and he believes "that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." When questioned, he agreed that Trump is an "illegitimate president".[341][342]

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter delivered a recorded audio message endorsing Joe Biden for the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention. On January 6, 2021, following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, along with the other three still living former presidents, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton,[343] Jimmy Carter denounced the storming of the Capitol, releasing a statement saying that he and his wife were "troubled" by the events, also stating that what had occurred was "a national tragedy and is not who we are as a nation", and adding that "having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation".[344] Carter delivered a recorded audio message for the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021, as the Carters were unable to attend the ceremony in person.

Carter criticized the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina,[345] and built homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy,[346]

Carter partnered with former presidents to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities,[347] in addition to writing op-eds about the goodness seen in Americans who assist each other during natural disasters.[348]

In 1982, Carter founded the Carter Center,[349] a non-governmental and non-profit organization with the purpose of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering,[350] including helping improve the quality of life for people in more than 80 countries.[351] Among these efforts has been the contribution of the Carter Center working alongside the World Health Organization to the near-eradication of dracunculiasis, also called Guinea worm disease. The incidence of this disease has decreased from 3.5 million cases in the mid-1980s, to 25 cases in 2016,[352][353] and 10 as of September 2021 according to the Carter Center's statistics.[354]

Carter attended the dedication of his presidential library[355] and those of Presidents Ronald Reagan,[356] George H. W. Bush,[357] Bill Clinton,[358][359] and George W. Bush.[360] He delivered eulogies at the funerals of Coretta Scott King,[361] Gerald Ford,[362][363] and Theodore Hesburgh.[364]

As of August 2019, Carter serves as an Honorary Chair for the World Justice Project[365] and formerly served as one for the Continuity of Government Commission.[366] He continues to occasionally teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church.[367] Carter also teaches at Emory University in Atlanta, and in June 2019 was awarded tenure for 37 years of service.[368]

From a young age, Carter showed a deep commitment to Christianity.[413] In 1942, Carter became a deacon and teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.[414] At a private inauguration worship service, the preacher was Nelson Price, the pastor of Roswell Street Baptist Church of Marietta, Georgia.[415] As president, Carter prayed several times a day, and professed that Jesus was the driving force in his life. Carter had been greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man. It asked, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"[416] In 2000, after the Southern Baptist Union announced they would no longer permit women to become pastors, Carter severed his membership with them, saying “I personally feel that women should play an absolutely equal role in service of Christ in the church."[417] He remained a member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.[413] In 2007, together with former President Clinton, he founded the New Baptist Covenant organization for social justice.[418]

Farah Pahlavi, Empress of Iran, holds Jimmy Carter IV while Rosalynn Carter, Caron Carter and Chip Carter watch, January 1978.

Carter had three younger siblings, all of whom died of pancreatic cancer: sisters Gloria Spann (1926–1990) and Ruth Stapleton (1929–1983), and brother Billy Carter (1937–1988).[419] He was first cousin to politician Hugh Carter and a distant cousin to the Carter family of musicians.[420] He is also related to Motown founder Berry Gordy by way of their white great-grandfather James Thomas Gordy who had a relationship with a black female slave he owned.[421]

Carter married Rosalynn Smith on July 7, 1946, in the Plains Methodist Church, the church of Rosalynn's family.[422] They have three sons, Jack, James III, and Donnel; one daughter, Amy; nine grandsons (one of whom is deceased), three granddaughters, five great-grandsons, and eight great-granddaughters.[423] Mary Prince (an African American woman wrongly convicted of murder, and later pardoned) was their daughter Amy's nanny for most of the period from 1971 until Jimmy Carter's presidency ended.[424][425] Carter had asked to be designated as her parole officer, thus helping to enable her to work in the White House.[424][note 4] The Carters celebrated their 76th anniversary on July 7, 2022. On October 19, 2019, they became the longest-wed presidential couple, having overtaken George and Barbara Bush at 26,765 days.[427] Their eldest son Jack Carter was the 2006 Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada and lost to Republican incumbent John Ensign. Jack's son Jason Carter is a former Georgia state senator,[428] and in 2014 was the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, losing to the Republican incumbent Nathan Deal. On December 20, 2015, while teaching a Sunday school class, Carter announced that his 28-year-old grandson Jeremy Carter had died of unspecified causes.[429]

Carter in Plains, 2008

On August 3, 2015, Carter underwent an elective surgery to remove a small mass on his liver, and his prognosis for a full recovery was initially said to be excellent. On August 12, however, he announced he had been diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized, without specifying where the cancer had originated.[430] On August 20, Carter disclosed that melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and that he had begun treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and was about to start radiation therapy. His healthcare was managed by Emory Healthcare of Atlanta. He has an extensive family history of cancer, including both of his parents and all three of his siblings.[431] On December 6, 2015, he issued a statement, announcing that his medical scans no longer showed any cancer.[432]

On May 13, 2019, Carter broke his hip during a fall at his Plains home and underwent surgery the same day at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia.[433] On October 6, 2019, a forehead injury above his left eyebrow received during another fall at home required 14 stitches.[434] A public appearance afterward revealed that the former president had a black eye from the injury.[435] On October 21, 2019, Carter was admitted to the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center after suffering a minor pelvic fracture he obtained after falling again at home for the third time in 2019.[436] He was subsequently able to resume teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church on November 3, 2019.[437][438] On November 11, 2019, Carter was hospitalized at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta[439] for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding connected to his falls.[440] The surgery was successful, and he was released from the hospital on November 27.[441][439] On December 2, 2019, Carter was readmitted to the hospital for a urinary tract infection, but was released on December 4.[442][443]

Carter is the earliest-serving living former president since the death of Gerald Ford in 2006. He became the oldest president ever to attend a presidential inauguration in 2017, at the age of 92, and the first to live to the 40th anniversary of his own.[444][445] Two years later, on March 22, 2019, he gained the distinction of being the nation's longest-lived president, when he surpassed the lifespan of George H.W. Bush, who was 94 years, 171 days of age when he died in November 2018; both men were born in 1924.[446] On October 1, 2019, Carter became the first U.S. president to live to the age of 95.[447] He also noted how difficult it felt to reach his 90s, the former president saying in an 2019 interview with People that he never expected to live as long as he has, claiming his secret to a long life is a good marriage.[448]

Carter has made arrangements to be buried in front of his home in Plains, Georgia. He noted in 2006 that a funeral in Washington, D.C., with visitation at the Carter Center was planned as well.[449]

Carter and Gerald Ford were compared in exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, which Carter won. Many voters still held Ford's pardon of Nixon against him.[450] By comparison, Carter was viewed as a sincere, honest, and well-meaning southerner.[451] Carter began his term with a 66 percent approval rating,[452] which had dropped to 34 percent approval by the time he left office, with 55 percent disapproving.[453]

In the 1980 presidential campaign, former California Governor Ronald Reagan projected an easy self-confidence, in contrast to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. Carter was portrayed as pessimistic and indecisive in comparison to Reagan, who was known for his charm and delegation of tasks to subordinates.[454] Reagan used the economic problems, Iran hostage crisis, and lack of Washington cooperation to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader. Like his immediate predecessor, Gerald Ford, Carter did not serve a second term as president. Among elected presidents, Carter was the first since Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.[455]

Carter's presidency was initially viewed by scholars such as author Steven F. Hayward as a failure.[456][457][458] In the historical rankings of U.S. presidents, Carter's presidency has ranged from No. 18 to No. 34.[459][460] However, Carter's post-presidency activities have been favorably received. The Independent wrote, "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president."[451] Although his presidency received a mixed reception, his peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts since he left office have made Carter renowned as one of the most successful ex-presidents in American history.[459][460]

James Earl Carter Presidential Statue by Frederick Hart (1994)

The documentary Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace (2009) credits Carter's efforts at Camp David, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt, with bringing the only meaningful peace to the Middle East. The film opened the 2009 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in an invitation-only royal screening on June 7, 2009, at the Grimaldi Forum in the presence of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.[461][462]

Carter has received numerous awards and accolades since his presidency, and several institutions and locations have been named in his honor. The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum was opened in 1986.[463] In 1998, the U.S. Navy named the third and last Seawolf-class submarine honoring former President Carter and his service as a submariner officer. It became one of the few Navy vessels to be named for a person living at the time of naming.[464] That year he also received the United Nations Human Rights Prize, given in honor of human rights achievements,[465] and the Hoover Medal, recognizing engineers who have contributed to global causes.[466] He won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize,[467] which was partially a response to President George W. Bush's threats of war against Iraq and Carter's criticism of the Bush administration.[468]

Carter has been nominated nine times for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for audio recordings of his books, and has won three times—for Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (2007), A Full Life: Reflections at 90 (2016) and Faith: A Journey For All (2019).[469][470][471][472]

The Souther Field Airport in Americus, Georgia was renamed Jimmy Carter Regional Airport in 2009.[473]

Carter received the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in 1984.[100]

In 1991, Carter was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at Kansas State University.[474] That same year, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[475]

• 
  Carter (right), walks with, from left, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton during the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 2004
• 
  Carter during a Google Hangout session held during the LBJ Presidential Library Civil Rights Summit in 2014
• 
  Carter (right) with President Barack Obama (center) and Bill Clinton (left) on August 28, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington
• 
  Carter (left) with a replica of the USS Jimmy Carter with Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton (right) at a naming ceremony, April 28, 1998
• 
  Jimmy Carter Library and Museum located in Atlanta, Georgia

• Carter, Jimmy. Why not the best? (1977) online.
• Carter, Jimmy. Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982) excerpt
• Carter, Jimmy. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977 (1978–1981); annual compilation of all his public documents
• Carter, Jimmy. An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood (2001) excerpt
• Carter, Jimmy. The Nobel Peace Prize lecture : delivered in Oslo on the 10th of December, 2002 (2002) online
• Carter, Jimmy. Negotiation (2003) excerpt
• Carter, Jimmy. Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (2005) excerpt
• Carter, Jimmy. Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (2006) online
• Carter, Jimmy. Beyond the White House : waging peace, fighting disease, building hope (2007) online
• Carter, Jimmy. White House diary (2011) online
• Carter, Jimmy. A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety (2016) online
• Califano, Joseph A. Jr. (2007) [1981]. Governing America: An Insider's Report from the White House and the Cabinet. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-5211-6.
• Jordan, Hamilton (1982). Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter Presidency. Putnam. ISBN 978-0-399-12738-0.
• Lance, Bert (1991). The Truth of the Matter: My Life In and Out of Politics. Summit. ISBN 978-0-671-69027-4.