Former president Jimmy Carter has just reached a milestone that no other United Stated commander in chief has hit. He’s turned 100 years old and is still going strong. He hit it on October 1st, 2024 at 7:00 AM. That means his journey from a peanut farmer has now reached the pinnacle of centenarian and that’s not something that many other people can claim.
Last year we did a biography for his 99th birthday. So, with the achievement of this new milestone, it only makes sense to take a look back at his life and see what happened in the year of and month close to his birth. We’ll focus on U.S. history, given his status as a former president.
1924 October – December
- Calvin Coolidge elected president
- William Randolph Hearst rumored to have committed murder of Thomas Ince
- First Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held
Oldest Living President
Hitting an age milestone is nothing new for Jimmy Carter. He became the oldest living former president back in 2018 when he surpassed George H. W. Bush. Both men were born in the same year, but former president Bush passed away at the age of 94 in November of that year. Since Carter’s presidency ended on January 20th, 1981, let’s take a look at what he’s done with public life since then.
Greatest Former President
Mr. Carter provided what most see as the ideal model of what a post-presidency should look like for an individual. He spent so much time working toward humanitarian causes that many consider him to be the greatest former president the country has ever known. His seemingly endless amount of energy has seen him through everything from founding the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia to working with Habitat for Humanity International. There was a time when turning on the television always meant seeing Jimmy Carter working on a house and talking about the mission of HHI and that’s something that few other former presidents have done in their private lives.
Former president Carter also took time to focus on international issues by serving as a freelance ambassador for the United States. He worked to solve disputes between foreign nations, advised presidents on issues in the Middle East, observed elections in nations with fears about fraudulent voting, and worked as a mediator between the United States and North Korea and Libya. In fact, he was a major player in the 1994 nuclear weapons dispute between the U.S. and Kim Jong-Il.
Still Part of Democracy
Even at the age of 100 years old, Jimmy Carter is still an active part of the democracy of the United States of America. After losing his wife of 77 years in November 2022, he was admitted into hospice care in February 2023, but that wasn’t the end for him. While most people spend about 63 days in hospice before they pass, Jimmy has been in it for 19 months and counting and he’s still setting milestones for himself. What’s even more impressive is the fact that he’s actually hitting those milestones at a time when most would be withdrawing.
Chip Carter, Jimmy’s son, asked him if he was trying to live to be 100 and he said, “No, I’m trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris” and that’s exactly what he did. The former president cast his absentee ballot by mail from his Georgia home on the second day of early voting his state. His grandson, Jason, told CBS “[He is] excited about his 100th birthday, he said, ‘I’m excited about that but I’m really excited to vote for Kamala Harris.’ And so, he is still engaged, he’s still paying attention, and he’s, you know, he’s got his views” That’s pretty impressive for a hospice patient!
Books and Future
With so much time dedicated to humanitarian and diplomatic causes, it’s a surprise that Carter has also been able to author three books in his post-presidential life. Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President was published in 1983. Turning Point came out in 1992, and An Hour Before Daylight: Memories on a Rural Boyhood was released in 2001. Jimmy Carter has certainly earned his retirement and he’s now enjoying life out of the public eye. There’s no telling what he’ll get up to next, but at the age of 100, he’s able to look back on a full life.