James Earl Carter Jr., elected the 39th President of the United States in 1976, has died. He was 100.
Carter was born 1 October, 1924, Plains, GA to Bessie and James Carter Sr. After starting university at Georgia Southwestern, Carter received an appointment to the Naval Academy. He graduated 60th out of 821 midshipmen in the class of 1947 and was commissioned as an ensign.
Carter would become a submariner and worked for admiral Hyman Rickover in the development of the US nuclear sub force. He continued on active duty until the death of his father in 1953.
Carter would enter politics in the early 1960’s, running for state Senate in 1962. He won that race after it was discovered there was vote fraud committed by his opponents backers. He lost his first run for Governor of Georgia in 1966, but won in 1970. He would remain governor until 1976.
In 1974, Carter announced he was running for President. Carter had entered into a crowded field and had little name recognition outside the south. His opponents derisively asked “Jimmy Who?”. In response to this, Carter began to emphasize his name and what he stood for, stating “My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president.”
The tactic worked. Carter won the Democrat nomination and faced Gerald Ford in the 1976 Presidential election. He won, receiving 297 electoral votes and 50.1% of the popular vote to Ford’s 240 electoral votes and 48.0% of the popular vote.
He went on to be one of the worst Presidents in American history. The list of policy failures is too long to parse here, but generally speaking, if it was the wrong thing to do, Carter and his administration did it.
In the 1980 Presidential election, Carter would face Ronald Reagan. It would turn into a bloodbath. Reagan would carry 44 states and get 489 electoral votes to Carter’s 6 and 49.
After leaving the Presidency, Carter embarked on a journey of charitable works. He worked with several charity groups, most notably Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center.
At 100, Carter was the longest living former President. He had been in hospice care since February 2023. He was diagnosed with melanoma that had metastasized to his brain prompting the move to the care facility. He celebrated his 100th birthday in Georgia on 24 October this year.
Carter will be buried outside his home in Plains Georgia.
Resquiecat in Pace.