A former United States President, Jimmy Carter, has died on Sunday at the age of 100.
The Carter Center said the 39th President of the United States (POTUS) and Georgia peanut farmer, who vowed to restore morality and truth to politics after an era of White House scandal and who redefined post-presidential service, died in Plains, surrounded by his family.
The White House has been notified that Carter has died, per a Joe Biden administration official.
Preparations for the state funeral have begun, according to a law enforcement official.
Carter had been in home hospice care since February 2023 after a series of short hospital stays.
Carter became the oldest living former US President when he surpassed the record held by the late George H.W. Bush in March 2019.
Carter, a Democrat, served a single term from 1977 to 1981, losing a reelection bid to Ronald Reagan.
Despite his notable achievements as a peacemaker, Carter’s presidency is largely remembered as an unfulfilled four years shaken by blows to America’s economy and standing overseas.
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” his son, Chip Carter, said in a statement.
“The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”
Carter is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Recall that his beloved wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023.
They had been inseparable during their 77-year marriage, and after she passed away, the former president said in a statement that “as long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
The former president attended his wife’s memorial events, including a private burial and a televised tribute service in Atlanta, where he was seated in the front row in a reclined wheelchair. He did not deliver any remarks.
His most enduring legacy, though, might be as a globetrotting elder statesman and human rights pioneer during an indefatigable 43-year “retirement.”
After leaving the White House with low approval ratings, his reputation was restored through humanitarian work, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Carter took office in 1977 with the earnest promise to lead a government as “good and honest and decent and compassionate and filled with love as are the American people” following what had started as an unlikely long-shot bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
