OPINION: Jimmy Carter Obituary

Jimmy Carter is dead, and with him, the end of an era. The centenarian had an incredible impact on the United States, both during his presidency and long afterward, despite being in office for only one term. In order to honor his incredible life and memory, let us revisit some of the things that made Jimmy Carter, well, Jimmy Carter. 

Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Naval Photographic Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Born on October 1, 1924, James Earl Carter, the son of a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, would grow up to become the 39th president of the United States of America. As a child, Jimmy already had connections to the world of politics. His father, Earl Carter, had served in the Georgia state legislature, and his mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, was a nurse who both  aided black women in the medical field during the Jim Crow era and volunteered for the Peace Corps later in life. At the age of four, Jimmy’s family relocated to Archery, a nearby town. As Jimmy grew older, he attended the Georgia Southwestern Junior College to study engineering, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He would then go on to enter the Naval ROTC program, eventually leading him to the Naval Academy. 

In the summer of 1946, Jimmy would reencounter the person who would help shape him for the majority of his life: Rosalynn Smith. The two were wed later in the year, on July 7. During his career in the Navy, Carter was given the rank of Lieutenant and served with  the Atlantic Fleet, Pacific Fleet, and later, worked as a senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of a nuclear submarine. Due to Carter’s career, he and Rosalynn moved across the country, presiding in Virginia, and even Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In July of 1953, Carter’s father passed away, leaving him to look after his mother and maintain the family farm. 

His service eventually let him into the world of politics. He settled down in Georgia and rose through the ranks. A part of the Democratic party, Carter was elected to the Georgia state senate in 1962, fiercely advocating against Jim Crow era segregationist laws. During his two terms as Georgia senator, Carter acted as a civil rights activist and “independent politician“. After a failed bid for election in 1966, Carter decided to change his approach for the 1970 election. He ditched the civil rights approach, pandering to racist ideals held at the time. Nevertheless, once elected, Carter returned to being a progressive leader, saying that “the time for racial discrimination is over.”

This, of course, was leading him to the crux of his political career: his presidency. Carter jumped on the political unrest created during the Watergate scandal. Starting off as one of the least well-known Democratic candidates, Carter built his platform on slashing wasteful spending, equalizing the economy, and giving more aid to the impoverished. His truthful and honest reputation only aided him in rising above the political controversy caused by the Watergate scandal. 

Once elected, Jimmy Carter certainly made an impact on the world, including “the Panama Canal Treaties, the Camp David Accords, the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.” His campaign also focused on diminishing the United States’ dependence on the foreign oil market. Although he did improve it, the 1979 Iranian revolution negated these results. Despite losing to Ronald Reagan in the next election, this was not the end of Carter’s public life. 

After his presidency, he and his wife collaborated with Habitat for Humanity, as well as creating the Carter Center in 1982. They traveled around the globe, aiding those in poverty stricken areas, and, through his nonprofit, developed community healthcare systems in Africa and Latin America. 

His humanitarian efforts were enough to merit the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Rosalyn and Jimmy were married for over 77 years, and Rosalyn passed away on November 19, 2023. Jimmy died a year later, leaving behind an impressive and lasting legacy. 

Photo via Getty Images.

Sources:

Jimmy Carter Biography, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jimmy-Carter 

Jimmy Carter Biography, BIOGRAPHY, https://www.biography.com/political-figures/jimmy-carter 

Official Bio for President Jimmy Carter, The Carter Center, https://www.cartercenter.org/about/experts/jimmy_carter.html.