After narrowly winning the 1976 election against Gerald Ford, Carter led a tumultuous political era defined by his "malaise" speech, the long hostage situation at Iran's U.S. embassy and the triumphant signing of the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.
A single-term president following his 1980 loss to Ronald Reagan, public opinion of Carter soared in the decades after he left the White House and established The Carter Center -- the framework through which he continued his work as a champion of human rights and public health.
Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, dedicated their time to these humanitarian efforts, which kept the couple involved in domestic and international policy work alongside successive presidents.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
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AP
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., seen at seven years of age in 1932, in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
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AP
Georgia State Sen. Jimmy Carter hugs his wife, Rosalynn, at his Atlanta campaign headquarters, Sept. 15, 1966. The state senator would eventually become Governor of Georgia, then, President of the United States.
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AP
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jimmy Carter casts his vote in Plains, Georgia’s, first joint primary, Sept. 9, 1970.
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AP
Jimmy Carter, the new Governor of Georgia, shown at his desk in Atlanta, Feb. 19, 1971.
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AP
Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter signs a Georgia Senate House resolution opposing forced busing to achieve integration in the classrooms of the United States, Feb. 25, 1972. The resolution asks Congress to call a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing an antibusing amendment.
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Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter announces his qualification for federal matching funds to help finance his campaign for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, Aug. 14, 1975, in Washington, D.C.
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AP
Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, right, with a crowd of 5,000 people at Youngstown’s Federal Plaza in Youngstown, Ohio, in his quest for support in Tuesday’s Ohio Democratic primary, June 7, 1976.
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AP
Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter gives an informal press conference in Los Angeles during a campaign tour through the West and Midwest, Aug. 23, 1976.
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AP
Jimmy Carter stands in a large mound of peanuts at the Carter Peanut Warehouse in Plains, Georgia, Sept. 22, 1976.
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AP
President-elect Jimmy Carter leans over to shake hands with some of the people riding the “Peanut Special” to Washington D.C., Jan. 19, 1977. They will travel all night, arriving in Washington in time for Carter’s inauguration as President the day after.
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AP
Jimmy Carter takes the oath of office as the nation’s 39th president during inauguration ceremonies in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1977. Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, holds the Bible used in the first inauguration by George Washington as U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger administers the oath. Looking on at left are, Happy Rockefeller, Betty Ford, Joan Mondale, Amy Carter and outgoing President Gerald Ford. Behind Carter is Vice President Walter Mondale. At far right is former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
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Suzanne Vlamis/AP
President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd while walking with his wife, Rosalynn, and their daughter, Amy, along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House following his inauguration in Washington, Jan. 20, 1977.
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AP
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter stand with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife Margaret, at the White House in Washington, Feb. 21, 1977. Carter hosted a State Dinner for the visiting Canadian leader.
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Associated Press
President Jimmy Carter, right, and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II are photographed in 1977 with French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, at Buckingham Palace in London.
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Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Left to right: Pierre Trudeau, Prince Charles, Princess Margaret, Takeo Fukuda, James Callaghan, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, President Jimmy Carter, Giulio Andreotti, Helmut Schmidt converge as part of the 1977 G7 meeting.
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Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Jimmy Carter and family celebrate Christmas at home, Dec. 25, 1978.
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AP
President Jimmy Carter rides with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt on a visit to West Germany in 1978 during a review of United States Forces at a base near Frankfurt.
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Thierry Campion/AP
Demonstrators burn an American flag, Nov. 9, 1979, atop the wall of the U.S. Embassy where American hostages have been held since Nov. 4. The Iranian hostage crisis, which ended in failure for Carter, was one of the reasons why he lost his reelection bid to Ronald Reagan.
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AP
David Roeder shouts and waves as he and others arrive at Rhein-Main U.S. Air Force base in Frankfurt, West Germany from Algeria on Jan. 21, 1981. He was among 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days after their capture at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The crisis was one of the defining moments of Carter’s presidency that led to the loss of his reelection bid for the White House.
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John Bazemore/AP
President Bill Clinton presents former President Jimmy Carter, right, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during a ceremony at the Carter Center in Atlanta Monday, Aug. 9, 1999.
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Bjoern Sigurdsoen/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter receives the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo City Hall, Norway on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002. He became the only man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for work done after his time in office.
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Carolyn Kaster/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007.
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
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Adalberto Roque/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter signs his name in the guest book at the Jewish Community center in Havana, Cuba, March 28, 2011. Carter arrived in Cuba to discuss economic policies and ways to improve Washington-Havana relations, which were more tense than usual over the imprisonment of Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor, on the island.
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Mark Humphrey/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter, left, and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, work at a Habitat for Humanity building site Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in Memphis, Tenn. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have volunteered a week of their time annually to Habitat for Humanity since 1984, events dubbed “Carter work projects” that draw thousands of volunteers.
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Mark Humprey/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, works at a Habitat for Humanity building project Monday, Oct. 7, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. Carter wears a bandage after a fall the day before at his home in Plains, Georgia.
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Carter Center
President Joe Biden (far right) and first lady Jill Biden (far left) visit former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, May 3, 2021, in Plains, Georgia.
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John Bazemore/AP
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Georgia.
