Jimmy Carter Bio
Thirty-Ninth President 1986-1981
Jimmy Carter - Biography of the 39th President of the United
States
Founder, The Carter Center
Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.), thirty-ninth president of the United
States, was born Oct. 1, 1924, in the small farming town of Plains, Ga., and
grew up in the nearby community of Archery. His father, James Earl Carter, Sr.,
was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, a registered
nurse.
He was educated in the public school of Plains, attended Georgia Southwestern
College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a bachelor of
science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. In the Navy he
became a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and rising
to the rank of lieutenant. Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the nuclear
submarine program, he was assigned to Schenectady, N.Y., where he took graduate
work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics, and served as
senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf, the second nuclear
submarine.
On July 7, 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith of Plains. When his father died in
1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned with his family to Georgia.
He took over the Carter farms, and he and Rosalynn operated Carter's Warehouse,
a general-purpose seed and farm supply company in Plains. He quickly became a
leader of the community, serving on county boards supervising education, the
hospital authority, and the library. In 1962 he won election to the Georgia
Senate. He lost his first gubernatorial campaign in 1966, but won the next
election, becoming Georgia's seventy-sixth governor on Jan. 12, 1971. He was the
Democratic National Committee campaign chairman for the 1974 congressional and
gubernatorial elections.
President Jimmy Carter
On Dec. 12, 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States.
He won his party's nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic
National Convention, and was elected president on Nov. 2, 1976.
Jimmy Carter served as president from Jan. 20, 1977, to Jan. 20, 1981.
Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the
Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt
and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of
U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. He championed
human rights throughout the world. On the domestic side, the administration's
achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new
Department of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications,
and finance; major educational programs under a new Department of Education; and
major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Books & Accomplishments
Mr. Carter is the author of 23 books, many of which are now in revised editions:
"Why Not the Best?" 1975, 1996; "A Government as Good as Its People," 1977,
1996; "Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President," 1982, 1995; "Negotiation: The
Alternative to Hostility," 1984, 2003; "The Blood of Abraham," 1985, 1993, 2007;
"Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life," written with
Rosalynn Carter, 1987, 1995; "An Outdoor Journal," 1988, 1994; "Turning Point: A
Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age," 1992; "Talking Peace: A Vision
for the Next Generation," 1993, 1995; "Always a Reckoning," 1995; "The Little
Baby Snoogle-Fleejer," illustrated by Amy Carter, 1995; "Living Faith," 1996;
"Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith," 1997; "The
Virtues of Aging," 1998; "An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood,"
2001; "Christmas in Plains: Memories," 2001; "The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture,"
2002; "The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War," 2003; "Sharing Good
Times," 2004; "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, 2005; "Palestine
Peace Not Apartheid," 2006; "Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting
Disease, Building Hope," and, "A Remarkable Mother," 2008.
The Carter Center
In 1982, he became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in
Atlanta, Ga., and founded The Carter Center. Actively guided by President
Carter, the nonpartisan and nonprofit Center addresses national and
international issues of public policy. Carter Center fellows, associates, and
staff join with President Carter in efforts to resolve conflict, promote
democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease and other afflictions.
Through the Global 2000 programs, the Center advances health and agriculture in
the developing world. It has spearheaded the international effort to eradicate
Guinea worm disease, which will be the second disease in history to be
eliminated.
President Carter and The Carter Center have engaged in conflict mediation in
Ethiopia and Eritrea (1989), North Korea (1994), Liberia (1994), Haiti (1994),
Bosnia (1994), Sudan (1995), the Great Lakes region of Africa (1995-96), Sudan
and Uganda (1999), Venezuela (2002-2003), Nepal (2004-2008), and Ecuador and
Colombia (2008). Under his leadership, The Carter Center has sent 70
election-monitoring missions to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. These include
Panama (1989), Nicaragua (1990), Guyana (1992), China (1997), Nigeria (1998),
Indonesia (1999), East Timor (1999), Mexico (2000), Guatemala (2003), Venezuela
(2004), Ethiopia (2005), Liberia (2005), the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(2006), and Nepal (2008).
The permanent facilities of The Carter Presidential Center were dedicated in
October 1986, and include the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, administered by
the National Archives. Also open to visitors is the Jimmy Carter National
Historic Site in Plains, administered by the National Park Service.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter volunteer one week a year for Habitat for Humanity, a
nonprofit organization that helps needy people in the United States and in other
countries renovate and build homes for themselves. He also teaches Sunday school
and is a deacon in the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains. For recreation, he
enjoys fly-fishing, woodworking, cycling, tennis, and skiing. The Carters have
three sons, one daughter, eight grandsons, three granddaughters, and one
great-grandson.
On Dec. 10, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
for 2002 to Mr. Carter "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful
solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and
to promote economic and social development."
Carter Family
Parents: James Earl Carter, born 1894, Arlington, Ga.; died 1953. Lillian Gordy
Carter, born 1898, Richland, Ga.; died 1983. They married Sept. 26, 1923.
Sisters and Brother: Ruth Carter Stapleton (Mrs. Robert T.), died 1983. Gloria
Carter Spann (Mrs. Walter G.), died 1990. William Alton (Billy) Carter III, died
1988.
Wife: Rosalynn Smith Carter, born Aug. 18, 1927, Plains, Ga.
Children, Grandchildren, and Great-Grandchild: John William (Jack) Carter, born
July 3, 1947, Portsmouth, Va. He is married to Elizabeth Sawyer of Cleveland,
Miss. Their children are: Jason James Carter, born Aug. 7, 1975, Sarah Rosemary
Carter, born Dec. 19, 1978, John Michael Chuldenko, born Mar. 21, 1975, and
Sarah Elizabeth Chuldenko, born Mar. 22, 1978. Jason and Kate Carter's son,
Henry Lewis Carter, was born Sept. 2, 2006.
James Earl (Chip) Carter III, born April 12, 1950, Honolulu, Hawaii. He is
married to Becky Payne of Parkersburg, W.V. Their children are: James Earl
Carter IV, born Feb. 25, 1977, Margaret Alicia Carter, born Sept. 23, 1987, and
Casey Payne Gallagher, born May 7, 1986.
Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff) Carter, born Aug. 18, 1952, New London, Conn. He is
married to Annette Jene Davis of Arlington, Ga. Their children are: Joshua
Jeffrey Carter, born May 8, 1984, Jeremy Davis Carter, born June 25, 1987, and
James Carlton Carter, born April 24, 1991.
Amy Lynn Carter, born Oct. 19, 1967, Americus, Ga. Her son, Hugo James Wentzel,
was born July 29, 1999.
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