President Jimmy Carter, the only Georgian to ever occupy the White House, died Sunday Dec. 29, 2024, after spending over a year in hospice care.

Carter, who turned 100 on Oct. 1 and is the longest-lived president in American history, died at his home in Plains on Sunday surrounded by family, according to the Carter Center.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” Chip Carter, the former president’s son, said in a statement. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

Public services are planned for Atlanta and Washington, with a private burial service following in Plains. A full schedule has not yet been released.

President Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were beloved residents of Plains, the small town in southwest Georgia where the couple grew up. Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19, 2023 at 96.

Their affection for one another never seemed to fade during their 77-year marriage, which spanned Carter’s ever-changing career, from peanut farmer to state senator, governor and president, as well as his post-White House roles as diplomat, humanitarian and volunteer.

The former president’s passion for helping others and devotion to his faith, family and country garnered praise from Georgia’s political leaders.

In a statement, Gov. Brian Kemp praised Carter’s dedication to the state and the nation as well as his humanitarian work and love for the former first lady.

“Their family continues to be in our prayers as President Carter is reunited with his beloved wife and the world mourns this native Georgian, former state and national leader, and proud peanut farmer from Plains,” Kemp said.

Carter’s 1976 win marked the only election in the last 60 years that South Carolina voted to put a Democrat in the White House.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Carter “will be remembered for his decency and his humanitarian efforts.”

“He achieved major Middle East reconciliation during his presidency and proved once again that coming from humble roots in one of the most rural areas of America is no barrier to becoming president and living out big dreams,” Graham said. “As a committed Christian, he has now rejoined the love of his life, Rosalynn. May he rest in peace.”

As president, he helped broker the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, established diplomatic relations with China, and oversaw the creation of the departments of Energy and Education.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn also noted that Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office and negotiated the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty. The controversial agreement relinquished control of the 50-mile-long U.S. Canal Zone to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, during the Clinton administration. Clyburn called it part of Carter’s “enduring legacy of international peace and diplomacy.”

“He was ardently committed to preventing and resolving state conflict, promoting freedom and democracy, and fostering the health of millions of people around the world,” said the South Carolina Democrat.

But Carter would serve only one term as president, losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980 amid a struggling economy and the Iranian hostage crisis.

His popularity increased after leaving the White House, becoming the face of Habitat for Humanity – and even showing up at his namesake build after suffering injuries in a fall – and taking on global crises and strife with his Atlanta-based Carter Center.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 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.”

This handout file photo provided by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) on March 25, 2009, shows Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin (R) and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (L) shaking hands after signing the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty under the watch of U.S. President Jimmy Carter on the White House lawn on March 26, 1979 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ya’akov Sa’ar/GPO via Getty Images)

Carter was also a prolific author who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for a memoir about growing up on a Georgia farm in the rural South after the Great Depression and before the civil rights movement. He has won a Grammy three times for his audio books and was nominated another nine times.

The Carters returned to their hometown after leaving the White House, moving back into the same modest ranch-style home they first purchased in 1961. A devout Christian, Carter famously continued to teach Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church until 2020, ending a four-decade run that became part of Georgia political lore.

The Atlanta-based Carter Center announced Feb. 18, 2023 that Carter had decided to enter hospice care and spend his remaining time at home with his family. The announcement triggered an outpouring of tributes and fond remembrances from Georgians on both sides of the aisle.

Carter overcame brain cancer in 2015 and several accidents in recent years.

The former president also continued to wield influence in politics – especially in Georgia. He continued to endorse candidates in high-profile races, including Vice President Kamala Harris. His grandson Jason Carter told reporters he was hanging on to cast a ballot for Harris.

Carter also threw his endorsement behind top Democrats including Sen. Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams – and hosted the Bidens at their home in Plains in 2021. Back in 1976, Biden, then a senator, was one of the first elected officials outside Georgia to back Carter’s presidential run.

Warnock called Carter a hero, a friend and one of his favorite people, who moved the country “closer toward our highest ideals.”

“A former president, he got his hands dirty, literally building people’s homes while helping them build their lives. President Carter was a Matthew 25 Christian. He believed, as I do, that the true test of your faith is the depth of your commitment to the most marginalized members of the human family. I believe he passed that test and has now graduated into immortality. Democracies around the world are stronger and children across the globe are alive today because of President Carter’s work—what a legacy to leave.”

(Source: BBC)