Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president of the United States, has died at the age of 100.
Carter, who was president between 1977 and 1981, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to The Carter Center.
“Our founder, former US President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the organisation, which Carter founded a year after leaving the White House, said in a post on X. The death was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No cause of death was immediately given, although Carter had spent almost two years under hospice care at his home after being treated for a form of skin cancer. He celebrated his 100th birthday at his home in October.
Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s wife of 76 years, died in November 2023.
Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/aqYmcE9tXi
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) December 29, 2024
Despite serving only one term, the former peanut farmer from Georgia left a lasting legacy during his post-presidential career. This included winning the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002 for The Carter Center’s work in fighting the Guinea worm disease in Africa and tracking elections across the world.
He also continued to volunteer with the Habitat for Humanity home-building organisation late into his life, burnishing a reputation for community service and humility that earned him plaudits from across the political aisle.
‘An extraordinary leader’
US President Joe Biden said a state funeral would be held for the former president on January 9, calling on Americans to “pay homage” at their places of worship on a National Day of Mourning to be observed on the same date.
Leading tributes to his predecessor, Biden described Carter as “an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian”, who had “saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe”.
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us,” he said.
“We’d all do well to try and be a little more like Jimmy Carter,” he added.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “we all owe [Carter] a debt of gratitude … The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans,” he said.
All of the current living former US presidents also weighed in. Bill Clinton said Carter “worked tirelessly for a better world”, while Barack Obama said Carter “taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice and service”. George W Bush said Carter’s life would “inspire Americans for generations”.
International tributes
Over the border, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Carter had left a legacy of “compassion, kindness, empathy, and hard work … He was always thoughtful and generous with his advice to me.”
Further afield, China’s foreign ministry said Carter was the “driving force” behind the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations more than 40 years ago, alluding to his administration’s decision to withdraw recognition from the Republic of China in Taipei, recognising instead the People’s Republic of China in Beijing as the sole legal government of China.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Carter had been “a steadfast advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable”, who had “tirelessly fought for peace”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the US had “lost a committed fighter for democracy. The world has lost a great mediator for peace in the Middle East and for human rights.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Carter “redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad”, while King Charles expressed “sadness”, noting that the former US president’s “dedication and humility” had “served as an inspiration to many”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Carter’s “heart stood firmly with us in our ongoing fight for freedom”.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi praised Carter for his work in brokering the 1978 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel – known as the Camp David Accords – saying it would remain “etched in the annals of history”.
Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed Carter as “a lover of democracy and defender of peace”, noting his pressuring of Brazil’s dictatorship to release political prisoners and his criticism of “unilateral military action by superpowers”.
In Panama, where Carter reached an agreement in 1977 to hand back the Panama Canal, then under US control, President Jose Mulino praised the Democrat for helping his country achieve “full sovereignty”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Carter’s leadership had “contributed significantly to international peace and security, noting “his solidarity with the vulnerable, his abiding grace, and his unrelenting faith in the common good and our common humanity”.
Tumultuous presidency
Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a moderate Southern Democrat with little national name recognition.
Nevertheless, he saw an unexpected surge amid anger over US involvement in the Vietnam War and the scandal-ridden presidency of Richard Nixon.
But Cold War pressures and economic woes at home burdened his presidency, which was further marred after 52 Americans were taken hostage at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Republican challenger Ronald Reagan went on to handily defeat Carter in the 1980 election.
Still, Carter oversaw some major diplomatic victories while in office, including his brokering of the Camp David Accords between then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which saw Israel return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
While the agreement did not solve the Palestinian issue, Carter went on to be an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, publishing the book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in 2006. He was also a vocal critic of the pro-Israel lobby in the US.
Human Rights Watch said Carter “set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority, and he continued to fight for human rights after he left office”.
Human Rights Watch mourns the loss of Jimmy Carter, whose commitment to human rights left an indelible mark on the global human rights landscape.
Read more about his human rights legacy: https://t.co/SZEZau5xMH pic.twitter.com/NLcGQucz25
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) December 30, 2024
Carter should be praised for his “decades of untiring effort” to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts and to advance democracy and human rights, the body awarding the Nobel Peace Prize said on Monday.
His work “will be remembered for another 100 years”, it added.
