Jimmy Carter becomes first former US president to celebrate 100th birthday

The 39th president of the United States has turned 100 years old.

Jimmy Carter celebrates the century mark Tuesday, making history as the first commander-in-chief to reach the milestone. He is expected to spend his special birthday in the same one-story home he's lived in since the early 1960s in Plains, Georgia.

“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," Jason Carter, the former president's grandson and chair of The Carter Center governing board, said in an interview with The Associated Press

Carter held the highest office in the country from 1977 to 1981. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work as a global humanitarian in mediating international conflicts and advancing human rights.

“Because we are free, we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere," Carter said in his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1977. "Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference for those societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights.”

By the end of his tenure, Carter had increased the U.S. workforce by creating eight million new jobs. Unfortunately, the president's one term was marred by inflation and interest rates that hit near record highs in the late 1970s before eventually leading to a short recession.

Carter was an early environmentalist who pushed to expand the national park system to include protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands.

Additionally, he was a leader who carried a passion for better human and social services. As president, he created the Department of Education, bolstered the Social Security system, and appointed record numbers of women, Blacks and Latinos to Government jobs.

Critics would be quick to point to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as an area where Carter failed as president.

The invasion caused the suspension of plans for ratification of the SALT II pact, with the seizure as hostages of the United States embassy staff in Iran dominating the news during the last 14 months of Carter's administration.

Carter's defeat to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election was viewed as a bit of an inevitability as Iran continued holding Americans captive, combined with continuing inflation at home.

Despite how historians might remember the conflict in Iran, Carter continued the difficult negotiations over the hostages.

The 52 Americans were released on Jan 20, 1981 — the same day Carter left office.

Historian and journalist Jonathan Alter wrote the biography of Carter, “His Very Best," and tracked how the U.S. commander-in-chief worked to reset the balance between values and hard-nosed cynicism in foreign policy.

“His bigger point was that the traditional tension between idealism and realism — morality versus power — was a false choice,” wrote Alter, who argues that Carter’s human rights policies had lasting influence.

The concept of human rights “became permanently encoded in the global conversation" during Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s and subsequent decades, wrote Alter.

What did Jimmy Carter do after his presidency?

Forty-three years is a lot of time, and Carter — the first president to go by his nickname of "Jimmy" — took full advantage of his position both domestically and abroad.

In 1982, he founded the Carter Center with the purpose of advancing human rights in more than 80 countries.

Working hand-in-hand with the World Health Organization, the Carter Center helped reduce the number of estimated global cases of Guinea worm disease from 3.5 million in 1986 to four through September 2004.

He was also instrumental in founding the New Baptist Covenant and served as an honorary chair on the World Justice Project.

Outside of his humanitarian activities, Carter's diplomatic efforts began in the Middle East in the early 1980s. He was eventually sent him as far as east as North Korea and Taiwan in the 1990s.

The next decade saw Carter in Africa where he visited Darfur and Sudan before joining Nelson Mandela in South Africa to help unveil a group of independent global leaders called, The Elders.

He also taught Sunday School for decades at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.

When did Jimmy Carter become the oldest U.S. president?

Other than Carter, there are five U.S. presidents — Herbert Hoover, John Adams, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush — who hold the distinction of celebrating their 90th birthday.

None though got to blow out the candles at 95, other than Carter.

The 39th president became the longest-lived American commander-in-chief on March 22, 2019, when he officially surpassed George H.W. Bush's lifespan of 94 years and 171 days. Bush died on Nov. 30, 2018.

He took over Hoover's mantle of longest-retired president. The record, previously 31 years and 230 days, is now at an outstanding 43 years and 255 days (and counting). Other than Hoover, nobody spent more than 30 years in retirement after serving as president.

A few other presidential milestones from Carter in the 21st Century include: The first to live to see the 40th anniversary of his inauguration and the oldest former president to attend an American presidential inauguration at age 92.

Where is Jimmy Carter now?

The former president has been in hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023.

At age 90, Carter was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma — skin cancer that had spread to his liver and brain. He also suffered several falls, breaking his hip in May 2019 before fracturing his pelvis later that year. He had hip replacement surgery in his mid-90s.

He was also admitted for brain bleeding suffered after falls.

Carter's declining health has taken him away from life-long hobbies like fly fishing and woodwork; however, according to his grandson, he still has plans to vote in this year's election.

Jimmy Carter 100th birthday celebration plans

The Carter Center hosted a star-studded musical gala in Atlanta on Sept. 17 with performances from Angelique Kidjo, BeBe Winans, the B-52s, Chuck Leavell, D-Nice, Eric Church, Maren Morris, The War And Treaty, and The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus.

The benefit concert included a video of former president's wishing Carter a happy birthday. "Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song," will be aired in full on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Oct. 1.

During the last weekend of the month, Carter was feted at the annual Plains Peanut Festival in Plains, Georgia, and at the JC100 Film Festival at the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta.

The Presidential Library also has an exhibit for "the Peanut Farmer" – 100 Portraits for 100 Years of Jimmy Carter – on display in honor of the former president. 

The 100-year marker will live on for another century, if not longer.

And that's because 101 trees are being planted in memory of Carter's advocacy for the environment. The first two trees in the project are scheduled to be planted at the Carter Center in Georgia and the State Capitol building Tuesday.

Did Joe Biden acknowledge Jimmy Carter's birthday?

President Joe Biden was featured in the video at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta last month, but he still went ahead and sent his long-time friend special birthday message this past weekend.

Biden praised Carter's "hopeful vision" for the country and his life-long belief in human goodness.

Biden is the oldest sitting president in U.S. history, and made sure to applaud Carter’s role as the oldest living U.S. president.

Will Joe Biden deliver Jimmy Carter's eulogy?

Carter has tapped Biden to deliver his eulogy, according to the 46th president.

Carter's wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023, and he plans to buried next to her in front of their home in Plains.

"Plains is where our hearts have always been," the former president said in 2006.

In addition, he mentioned there will be a funeral in Washington and a display of his body in Atlanta.