Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100, almost two years after announcing he would spend his final days in hospice care.
The Democrat former peanut farmer, who served one term in the White House and dedicated the rest of his life to charity, decided against more medical treatment in February after a string of hospital stays.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner lived out his final months in Plains, Georgia. He had beloved wife of 77 years Rosalynn by his side until her passing on November 19, 2023 at the age of 96.
One of his final public appearances was in a wheelchair to celebrate his 100th birthday on October 1 at his Georgia home surrounded by family and friends.
The beloved Democrat also fulfilled his dying wish, to cast his vote for Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Carter – the first American president to reach the century mark – was able to watch a flyover of four F-18 jets and several vintage planes that graced the skies over Plains, Georgia as part of the town’s celebrations, per CBS News.
Last year, he attended his wife’s funeral alongside former first ladies including Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
Rosalynn was diagnosed with dementia and spent her remaining days with her husband at home with regular trips from beloved family members.
Carter’s four years as president were blighted by an oil crisis that forced Americans to line up for gas and the Iran hostage situation that stretched into the final minutes of his administration before Ronald Reagan took over.
But the Navy veteran’s dedication to philanthropy meant he quickly became one of the most beloved figures in American politics.
The Carter Center announced February 18 that the former president had made the decision to decline ‘additional medical intervention’ and move to his home for end-of-life care following a ‘series of short hospital stays.’
The statement, however, did not elaborate on what conditions had prompted the recent hospital visits.
Carter lived for a year and two months after deciding to decline additional medical help.
With Carter’s death, there are now only five living presidents – Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.
Carter battled a few health issues over the years, but for a man in his 90s was relatively spry, continuing his work building homes with Habitat for Humanity well into his later years.
In August 2015, he was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver. It also spread to his brain. The following year, about six months after the diagnosis, Carter announced that he needed no further treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any sign of cancer.
A few years later, in 2019, when Carter was 95, he helped build a home in Nashville for Habitat for Humanity.
Only a handful of former presidents have lived past 90 years, including Ronald Reagan, Carter’s successor, who lived to be 93.
Carter’s grandson Jason tweeted in February that he visited his grandparents, saying they ‘are at peace and — as always — their home is full of love.’
The Secret Service also sent a moving message to Carter in February, wishing him well after it was announced he was receiving hospice care.
‘Rest easy Mr. President,’ tweeted the Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi following the announcement of his condition.
‘We will be forever by your side.’
Carter, a Navy veteran and Nobel Peace Prize winner, became the 39th U.S. president when he defeated Gerald R. Ford in 1976.
At the time, the country was still reeling from the Watergate scandal under President Richard Nixon.
He served a single term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Carter committed himself to philanthropy post-presidency, living a humble life with his wife, his four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Despite receding from public view due to health issues in later life, he remained a quiet force in politics at home and, through The Carter Center, in public health and human rights advocacy around the world.
The Carters founded the Carter Center in 1982, two years after he lost his re-election bid to Reagan.
He remained neutral in the Democrats’ 2020 presidential primary, but fielded calls and visits from multiple candidates.
He and Rosalynn recorded audio addresses for the Democrats’ virtual national convention, urging the election of nominee Joe Biden, who was a young senator from Delaware when Carter won the presidency in 1976.
‘Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate,’ Carter told the convention in 2020. ‘For decades, he’s been my loyal and dedicated friend.’
Perhaps most notable among Carter’s 2020 election maneuvering was the Carter Center’s designating the United States as a ‘backsliding’ democracy.
The Center announced after the Democratic convention that it would devote resources to ensuring free and fair U.S. elections.