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Jimmy Carter, longest-living US president, dies at 100

by TRANS WORLD FEATURES | @twfindia 30 Dec 2024, 12:16 pm

Washington D.C./IBNS: Former US president Jimmy Carter, who lived longer than any of his predecessors and successors, died at the age of 100 on Sunday, media reports said.

Carter, who remained the president from 1977 to 1981, turned 100 in October.

The former president died at his home in Plains, George on Sunday afternoon, confirmed The Carter Center, non-profit organisation which was founded by Carter.

Mourning his demise, US secretary of defence Lloyd J. Austin said in a statement, "Americans will remember President Carter for his leadership in office and his distinguished post-presidency, but the Department also honors his sterling service in uniform. In his Nobel Peace Prize lecture, he noted that his "first chosen career was in the military."

The statement further reads, "We also honor President Carter for his contributions to global security. The Carter Doctrine still helps undergird our commitment to stability and security in the Gulf. His administration worked to strengthen NATO and U.S. alliances worldwide, grapple with the Iranian revolution, and confront Soviet aggression in Afghanistan.

"History will also remember President Carter for establishing official U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and for personally brokering peace between Israel and Egypt—the first peace treaty between the Jewish state and one of its Arab neighbors."

Carter, who had also served as the governor of Georgia, became the oldest surviving US president after the death of George HW Bush in 2018.

Carter's term as the president was about battling out the economic problems and foreign policy issues.

Though he had helped in signing an accord between Egypt and Israel in the Middle East, Carter's reputation as the president was deeply affected by the death of eight Americans in the Iran hostage crisis.

US president Joe Biden grieved Carter's demise in an X post writing, "Over six decades, Jill and I had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well."

Carter, a Democrat, was succeeded by Republican candidate Ronald Regan who became the 40th US president in 1981.

Carter suffered a defeat in the 1980 elections where he had won only six US states.

Before beginning his political career, Carter had joined the US Navy's submarine service.

After returning from military service, he had revived his family's peanut-growing business.

A supporter of the civil rights movement, Carter won the 1976 presidential elections defeating then incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford.

The highlights of his presidential term include pardoning of Vietnam War draft evaders, the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

In his post-presidency period, Carter concentrated on social issues, offered treatment for neglected tropical diseases, and assisted peace negotiations.

His post-presidency period received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

In 2007, Carter along with South Africa's first president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela along with some other global leaders had co-founded The Elders to be "independent moral voices for peace and ethical leadership".

Carter is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.