Jimmy Carter accomplished something no other former US president var – he celebrated his 100th birthday.
Carter, who served a term in the White House, celebrated the milestone Tuesday at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he has been receiving hospice care for the past 19 months.
The proud democrat, who has been weakening in recent months, has told his relatives that he wants to wait until October 15, when early voting begins in Georgia, so that he can vote in the 2024 presidential elections.
“I’m just trying to vote for Kamala Harris,” Carter said of her grandson, Jason Carter Atlanta journal-Constitution.
Carter, a former peanut farmer and Navy veteran, outlived any other age-defying former president by nearly six years. George HW BushRepublican who was 94 and 171 days old when he died on November 30, 2018.
Carter celebrated his 100th birthday 10 days after his life and legacy were celebrated at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The concert featured Georgia’s own B-52s performing “Love Shack” and covers of some of their most popular songs. by The Allman BrothersA Southern rock band that raised money for Carter’s successful 1976 presidential campaign.
Carter’s involvement in the campaign of one of the country’s most popular bands at the time earned the notoriously boring candidate the nickname “the president of rock and roll.”
Although the guest of honor could not be in Atlanta for his party, the concert was intended to be a tribute to the 39th president, and Carter was expected to watch a special on Georgia Public Television as part of a private family celebration.
Absent from his 100th birthday celebration were his long, long-time love, his wife, Rosalyn Carterwho died last November 96. She gave him a look respect service in a wheelchair, her legs covered with a decorated blanket on both sides.
Their last public appearance together was in September 2023, when they were spotted together getting into a black SUV at the Plains Peanut Festival.
Carter served a term in the White House from 1977 to 1981, during which he helped end years of conflict between Israel and Egypt, made human rights an integral part of US foreign policy, and took a tough line against the Soviet Union. David led the deal. .
After losing his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan, Carter helped turn things around Habitat for Humanity has become a worldwide force for good. And he founded the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, an effort that earned him the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.
Promoting democracy was in many ways Carter’s life’s work. A year after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to block the confirmation of President Joe Biden, he wrote in an op-ed for Carter. The New York Times “Those who spread the lie of stealing elections have taken over a political party and created distrust in our electoral systems.”
Ever the Southern gentleman, Carter did not mention Trump.