Former Democratic President Carter turned 100 on Tuesday, earning him the distinction of being the first president to live for a century.
Mr. Carter, the 39th president of the United States, is a man who has accomplished many “firsts.” He was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital, the first Naval Academy graduate to become president, and the first to make an official visit to sub-Saharan Africa, among other things. Carter is now the first US president to reach the age of 100.
Mr. Carter continues to receive home hospice care in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he has lived since the height of his presidency in 1981. February will mark two years in hospice care for the former president, who outlived his wife Rosalyn. She passed away last year at the age of 96.
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Former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn are pictured taking a walk in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. (Matt McClain/Washington Post via Getty Images/File)
“The funny thing is, President Carter accomplished a lot and rarely failed. But the one thing he was bad at was hospice,” said Jimmy, a family friend of the Carter family for more than 30 years. said Jill Stuckey, the hospital's superintendent. Carter National Historical Park on the Plains. “He's still alive and we're thrilled about that fact. So if something went wrong with him, we're glad it was in hospice.”
When asked what he thought separated Carter from other presidents who lived into old age, Stuckey said it was “persistence.”
“He and Mrs. Carter were concerned about living as long as possible and staying as healthy as possible to help as many people as possible,” Stuckey told FOX News Digital. “They eat well every meal, they exercise every day. They work relentlessly on taking care of themselves so they can live as long as possible to take care of others. And that's today. As President Carter has proven, all of those things make a difference.”
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Stuckey said events marking Carter's 100th birthday have been held in Plains since Saturday, when the town held its annual peanut festival.
“We celebrate the peanut harvest here in the Plains, and it coincides with President Carter's birthday every year, so we combine those,” Stuckey said.
A float moves down Main Street during the 26th Annual Plains Peanut Festival in advance of former President Carter's birthday on October 1st. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
She also attended several other events to commemorate Carter's birthday, including a naturalization ceremony for 100 new citizens at Plains High School that Jimmy and Rosalynn attended on Tuesday. He also hinted that the event would be held in the Plains.
Following the ceremony, there will be a flight in honor of the former president, with assistance from Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro. Later in the afternoon, Plains will also hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new statue dedicated to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Meanwhile, to celebrate Carter's birthday, volunteers in St. Paul, Minn. Gathered to build 30 new homes in 5 days. Attendees reportedly included country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.
“You are one of the most influential political figures in the history of our country,” President Biden said in a video released ahead of Carter's birthday on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, Grand Ole Opry member and country music legend Charlie McCoy made an appearance. played a special performance “Georgia on My Mind” was produced in honor of the former president.
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Former President Carter's statue covered in snow (March 21, 2023, Rapid City, South Dakota) (Mark Makera/Getty Images)
“I remember the first time I met him, I was in awe. That feeling was always there. You can be with the president all the time, but the first is the most meaningful. It’s a thing.” Kathy Skoog saidformer White House communications official. “He didn't care what people thought. He did what he thought was right for the country.”
President Carter's term was marked by efforts to protect the environment, advance human rights, and push America's education system to new heights. Carter overhauled the civil service, deregulated the airline industry to increase competition, and created the Energy and Education departments. It was also the Carter administration that required both seat belts and airbags in cars.
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But Carter's presidency was also marked by challenges, including high inflation, an energy crisis, and failed negotiations to win the release of dozens of American hostages held in Iran. Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State in the Carter administration, ultimately resigned in protest of the administration's response to the hostage crisis.
At the time, during the Iranian revolution, U.S. oil prices rose significantly. In July 1979, President Carter accused Americans of becoming discouraged and losing faith in the country by soaring inflation and the energy crisis.
“Signs of a crisis in the American spirit are all around us,” Carter said in his speech. “For the first time in our nation's history, a majority of Americans believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of Americans have not even voted. Americans' willingness to save for the future is lower than that of all other people in the Western world.
“We have to face the truth so we can change course,” he continued. “We just have to have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern our country, and faith in the future of this country. We must now restore that faith and confidence to America. This is the most important challenge we face.”
