🥜Jimmy Carter

39th President · 1977–1981 · Democratic

Jimmy Carter came to Washington as a Georgia peanut farmer and former governor with no federal experience, promising to restore trust after Watergate and Vietnam. His single term produced the Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal treaties but foundered on stagflation, long gas lines, and the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. His post-presidency — more than 40 years of humanitarian work — made him one of the most admired ex-presidents of all time.

Peanut Farmer Governor

Carter was a Naval Academy graduate and a submarine officer who returned to Plains, Georgia after his father's death to run the family peanut farm. He served two terms in the Georgia state senate and one term as governor before launching an unlikely 1976 presidential campaign. His honesty — "I will never lie to you" — and his outsider status appealed after Watergate. He defeated Gerald Ford narrowly.

Camp David Accords

In September 1978, Carter hosted Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at Camp David for 13 days of intense negotiation. The Camp David Accords led to the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty — the first between Israel and an Arab state and a diplomatic achievement that earned Begin and Sadat the Nobel Peace Prize. Carter also negotiated the SALT II arms control treaty, the Panama Canal treaties returning the canal to Panamanian control by 1999, and established full diplomatic relations with China.

Stagflation and Gas Lines

Carter's presidency was battered by economic hardship — the 1979 oil crisis produced gas lines and price spikes, inflation rose above 13%, and interest rates topped 20%. His July 1979 "Crisis of Confidence" speech (often called the "malaise" speech, though he never used the word) acknowledged a national mood of exhaustion. Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, whom Carter appointed, began aggressive inflation-fighting that eventually succeeded but caused a severe recession.

Iran Hostage Crisis

In November 1979, Iranian revolutionaries seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 American hostages. A failed military rescue attempt in April 1980 killed eight U.S. servicemen. The Iran Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days — the hostages were released minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981. The crisis doomed Carter's re-election; Reagan defeated him in a landslide.

The Longest Post-Presidency

Carter spent 43 years as a former president — longer than any in American history — and used the time remarkably. He founded the Carter Center, which has worked to eradicate Guinea worm disease (from 3.5 million cases a year in 1986 to fewer than 20 in recent years), monitor elections in more than 40 countries, and promote peace and public health. He built houses with Habitat for Humanity into his 90s. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He died at home in Plains on December 29, 2024, at age 100 — the longest-lived U.S. president ever.

Carter Trivia

• Carter was the first president born in a hospital.
• He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, dying at 100 years and 89 days.
• The Department of Energy and the Department of Education were created during his administration.
• He was the first U.S. president to be born in the state of Georgia.

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