JIMMY CARTER becomes first former US President to reach milestone age, turns 100 today

Tuesday, October 01, 2024 - Former US President, Jimmy Carter is 100 years old today, October 1, reaching a longevity milestone no US president has ever achieved.

Carter hit the milestone Tuesday at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he has been receiving hospice care for the last 19 months.

Born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, he was elected the 39th president of the United States in 1976.

“I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” Carter said, his grandson Jason Carter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

After serving as both Senator and governor of Georgia, Carter sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, running as a centrist reformer at a time when the country was still grappling with a crisis of confidence in government following the Watergate scandal.

Carter and running-mate Walter Mondale of Minnesota defeated incumbent President Gerald Ford by a margin of 297 to 241 electoral votes.

Carter served one term in the White House, from 1977 to 1981, during which he presided over the Camp David Accords that ended years of conflict between Israel and Egypt, made human rights integral to U.S. foreign policy and took a hard line against the Soviet Union.

After losing his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan, Carter helped turn Habitat for Humanity into a worldwide force for good. And he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, an effort that earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

At 100 years old, Carter has long outlived his closest rival as the longest-living ex-president, former President George H.W. Bush died in November 2018 at the age of 94.

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford both passed away at the age of 93, while John Adams and Herbert Hoover lived to age 90.

Carter marked his 100th birthday 10 days after his life and legacy was celebrated with a star-studded concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta that featured performances of “Love Shack” by Georgia’s own B-52’s and covers of some of the best-known songs by The Allman Brothers.

Not in attendance at his 100th birthday bash was the love of his long, long life, his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died last November at 96.