James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.[1][2] A Democrat, he previously served as a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center. He is currently the earliest-serving living former U.S. President.[3]
Jimmy Carter39th President of the United StatesIn office January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981Vice PresidentWalter MondalePreceded byGerald FordSucceeded byRonald Reagan76th Governor of GeorgiaIn office January 12, 1971 – January 14, 1975LieutenantLester MaddoxPreceded byLester MaddoxSucceeded byGeorge BusbeeMember of the Georgia Senate from the 14th districtIn office January 14, 1963 – January 10, 1967Preceded byConstituency establishedSucceeded byHugh CarterConstituencySumter CountyPersonal detailsBornJames Earl Carter Jr. October 1, 1924 (age 94) Plains, Georgia, U.S.Political partyDemocraticSpouse(s)
Rosalynn Smith (m. 1946)
Children
Jack
James III
Donnel
Amy
Parents
James Earl Carter Sr.
Bessie Lillian Gordy
ResidencePlains, Georgia, U.S.Alma materGeorgia Institute of Technology United States Naval Academy (B.S.)Profession
Naval officer
farmer
politician
author
Civilian awardsNobel Peace Prize (2002) See moreSignatureMilitary serviceAllegiance United StatesService/branch United States NavyYears of service1943–53 (Navy) 1953–61 (Navy Reserve)Rank LieutenantMilitary awards American Campaign Medal  World War II Victory Medal  China Service Medal  National Defense Service Medal
Raised in a wealthy family of peanut farmers in the southern town of Plains in Georgia, Carter graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and joined the United States Navy, where he served on submarines. After the death of his father in 1953, Carter left his Naval career and returned home to Georgia to take on the reins of his family's peanut-growing business. Despite his father's wealth, Carter inherited comparatively little due to his father's forgiveness of debts and the division of the estate among the children. Nevertheless, his ambition to expand and grow the Carters' peanut business was fulfilled. During this period, Carter was motivated to oppose the political climate of racial segregation and support the growing civil rights movement. He became an activist within the Democratic Party. From 1963 to 1967, Carter served in the Georgia State Senate, and in 1970, he was elected as Governor of Georgia, defeating former Governor Carl Sanders in the Democratic primary on an anti-segregation platform advocating affirmative action for ethnic minorities. Carter remained as Governor until 1975. Despite being little-known outside of Georgia at the start of the campaign, Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination and entered the presidential race as a dark horse candidate. In the presidential election, Carter defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in a close election.
On his second day in office, Carter pardoned all the Vietnam War draft evaders. During Carter's term as president, two new cabinet-level departments, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, were established. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. On the economic front he confronted persistent stagflation, a combination of high inflation, high unemployment and slow growth. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending détente, imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciating the Carter doctrine, and leading an international boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In 1980, Carter faced a primary challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy, but he won re-nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention. Carter lost the general election in an electoral landslide to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan. Polls of historians and political scientistsusually rank Carter as a below-average president.
In 2012, Carter surpassed Herbert Hoover as the longest-retired president in U.S. history. He is the first president to mark the 40th anniversary of his inauguration. He established the Carter Center in 1982 to promote and e
