Jimmy Carter reached his 100th birthday Tuesday, reports the AP, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the son of a Depression-era farmer to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy. Living the last 19 months in home hospice care in Plains, Georgia, the 39th president has continued to defy expectations, just as he did through a remarkable rise from his family peanut farm to the world stage. He served one presidential term from 1977 to 1981 and then worked more than four decades leading the Carter Center, which he and wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to "wage peace, fight disease, and build hope."
"Not everybody gets 100 years on this earth, and when somebody does, and when they use that time to do so much good for so many people, it's worth celebrating," said Jason Carter, the former president's grandson and chair of the Carter Center governing board. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924 in Plains, where he has lived more than 80 of his 100 years. He is expected to mark his birthday in the same one-story home he and Rosalynn built in the early 1960. President Biden, the first sitting senator to endorse Carter's 1976 campaign, praised his longtime friend in a tribute video filmed in front of Carter's portrait at the White House for an "unwavering belief in the power of human goodness." Carter has asked Biden to eulogize him at his state funeral when the time comes.
Jason Carter said the 100th birthday was not something the family expected to see once his grandmother died. "We frankly didn't think he was going to go on much longer," Jason Carter said. "But it's a faith journey for him, and he's really given himself over to what he feels is God's plan. He knows he's not in charge. But in these last few months, especially, he has gotten a lot more engaged in world events, a lot more engaged in politics, a lot more, just engaged, emotionally, with all of us." Jason Carter said the centenarian president is eager to cast his 2024 presidential ballot. "When we started asking him about his 100th birthday, he said he was excited to vote for Kamala Harris." Early voting in Georgia begins Oct. 15, two weeks into Carter's 101st year. More on the birthday here.
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