ATLANTA (AP) 鈥 Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old.
The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, roughly 22 months , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
President Joe Biden mourned Carter鈥檚 death, saying the world lost an 鈥渆xtraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian鈥 and he also lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter鈥檚 work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections and house the homeless as an example for others.
Biden spoke later Sunday evening about Carter, calling it a 鈥渟ad day鈥 but one that 鈥渂rings back an incredible amount of good memories."
鈥淚鈥檝e been hanging out with Jimmy Carter for over 50 years,鈥 Biden said in his remarks.
He recalled the former president being a comfort to him and his wife Jill when their son Beau died in 2015 of cancer. The president remarked how cancer was a common bond between their families, with Carter himself having cancer later in his life.
鈥淛immy knew the ravages of the disease too well,鈥 said Biden.
The president has ordered a state funeral for Carter in Washington.
A moderate Democrat, as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon鈥檚 disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia.
鈥淚f I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don鈥檛 vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,鈥 Carter said.
Carter鈥檚 victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women鈥檚 rights and America鈥檚 role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978.
But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn鈥檛 release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election.
Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to as one of many health initiatives. the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity.
The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased he lived long enough to see biographers and historians and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time.
Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he 鈥渉ad looked on many women with lust. I鈥檝e committed adultery in my heart many times,鈥 voters weary of political cynicism found it endearing.
The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band鈥檚 traditional 鈥淗ail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter Amy in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats.
But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders.
, he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon鈥檚 outreach to Beijing.
But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll.
When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome 鈥渁 crisis of confidence.鈥 Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his 鈥渕alaise" speech, even though he never used that word.
After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed.
Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan鈥檚 鈥渕ake America great again鈥 appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states.
Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that 鈥渢he time for racial discrimination is over.鈥
Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia鈥檚 2020 presidential election results.
After Carter said he felt 鈥減erfectly at ease with whatever comes.鈥
鈥淚鈥檝e had a wonderful life,鈥 鈥淚鈥檝e had thousands of friends, I鈥檝e had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.鈥
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Sanz is a former Associated Press reporter.
