Jimmy Carter died on Sunday. During his one time in office, inflation rose, and he is remembered for his humanitarian work around the world. He was 100 years old and the 39th president of the country.
There was peace at Carter’s home in Plains, Ga., where he was with his family, the Carter Center said in a statement Sunday.
In his message, President Joe Biden said that the world had lost a “extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.” He also said that he had lost a close friend.
Biden said in a statement, “To all of our young people and anyone else who wants to know what it means to live a life with purpose and meaning—the good life—study Jimmy Carter. He was a man of principle, faith, and humility.” “He showed that we are a great country because we are a good people—honest and decent, brave and caring, strong and humble.”
It will be a National Day of Mourning in the U.S. on January 9, which is also the day of the funeral.
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, in 1924. From 1977 to 1981, he was president. He was the son of a nurse and a businessman and went on to become a navy officer and governor of Georgia. In 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Carter died in February 2023 and was 100 years old, making him the longest-living president.
A lot of people remember Carter’s presidency for the energy problem and rising prices, which the Federal Reserve tried to stop by sharply raising interest rates.
Carter’s “crisis of confidence” speech on July 15, 1979, was later called the “malaise speech” by some. In it, he asked Americans to work together to solve the country’s issues, especially the energy crisis. But Carter lost the 1980 presidential election by a huge margin because voters were worried about the economy and there was a political standoff with Iran.
“Carter’s inability to deal with rampant inflation, the Iranian hostage crisis, and oil shocks doomed his 1980 re-election race against an eternally optimistic Ronald Reagan,” said Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “Carter’s record of concern for the environment, energy conservation, human rights, and the Israeli-Egyptian peace accords were all positive.”
Carter’s choice of Paul Volcker as Fed head would turn out to be very important. Mark Volcker’s death in 2019 was written about by Greg Robb of MarketWatch. Volcker’s war on inflation did not make him any friends. As soon as Volcker became head of the Fed in 1979, interest rates were raised to levels that had never been seen before. This was done to stop prices from going too high. One history of the time says that farmers protested at the Federal Reserve’s offices in Washington, D.C., and that car dealers, who were hurt by high interest rates, sent coffins with the keys to cars that they hadn’t sold.
Carter made the U.S. departments of energy and education, helped Egypt and Israel come to an agreement at Camp David, and signed the SALT II nuclear deal with the Soviet Union while he was president.
Carter was known for his work as a humanitarian around the world and as an advocate for democracy through the Carter Center. The Center’s purpose statement says it “seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee gave him the prize “for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” They specifically mentioned the Camp David accords, Carter’s work as a global election observer, and his fight against tropical diseases.
Perry from the University of Virginia told MarketWatch that Carter’s impact “will even out history’s ledger.”
She said that he made “the perfect post-presidency model,” dedicated to goals of peace, promoting democracy, getting rid of diseases, and building affordable housing all over the world. There were no openings on the Supreme Court during Carter’s one-term presidency, but he did promote Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the D.C. Circuit, which paved the way for her to the highest court in the land. There, she established a progressive legacy that came about because Carter made the federal judiciary more diverse.
In 2023, Biden said that he was going to give the speech at Carter’s funeral. Biden has known Carter since he was a young senator from Delaware and backed Carter’s bid for president in 1976.
Saturday, the Carter Center said there would be public ceremonies in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. On Sunday, there would be a private burial in Plains, Ga.
Monday morning, the New York Stock Exchange will hold a minute of quiet to remember Carter.
Carter’s wife Rosalynn died before him. She died on November 19, 2023, at the age of 96. They had a daughter, three boys, and a wife.
Chip Carter, the son of the former president, said in a statement, “My father was a hero to me and to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and free love.” “They were the beliefs that my brother, sister, and I shared with the rest of the world about him.” Because he brought people together, the world is now our family. We thank you for continuing to live by these shared values in his honor.
