Key events
Carter took office in 1977 after serving just one term as governor of Georgia.
His unfamiliarity with Washington was seen as a virtue after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam war years. And his time in office started off with some early successes.
In 1977 Carter completed a treaty that returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama – an agreement that had eluded his predecessors.
In 1978, Carter facilitated Camp David talks between the then Israeli prime minister, Menachem Begin, and the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, that led to a peace deal between the two countries.
But his presidency ultimately became riddled with economic and foreign policy crises, starting with high unemployment and double-digit inflation and culminating in the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A rolling energy crisis saw the price of oil triple from 1978 to 1980, leading to lines at US gas stations.
Jimmy Carter, who was a tireless advocate for global health and human rights, was the longest-lived president in US history. He only served one term in the White House after being beaten by Ronald Reagan in 1981.
But Carter spent the decades afterward focused on international relations and human rights, efforts that won him the Nobel peace prize in 2002.
Carter’s death comes after his wife, Rosalynn Carter passed away in November 2023 at the age of 96.
Jimmy Carter, former US president and rights advocate, dies at 100
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, a broker of peace in the Middle East in his time, and a tireless advocate for global health and human rights, has died, it was announced Sunday. He was 100 years old.
A Georgia Democrat, Carter was the longest-lived president in US history. He only served one term in the White House and was soundly beaten by Ronald Reagan in 1981. But Carter spent the decades afterward focused on international relations and human rights, efforts that won him the Nobel peace prize in 2002.
