Former United States President Jimmy Carter passed away this Sunday at his home in Georgia.
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The passing of the 39th president was confirmed by the Carter Center through the social network X.
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Carter had entered palliative care over a year ago, after a series of health problems. His death occurred just a few months after the passing of his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023 at the age of 96. Both spent most of their lives in the small town of Plains.
Until his death, the American president was the oldest-serving president.
Jenniffer González Colón expresses herself regarding the death of former United States President, Jimmy Carter
After the death of former US President Jimmy Carter, the governor-elect, Jenniffer González Colón, expressed her condolences through platform X.
"It is sad to learn of the passing of President Jimmy Carter, a lifelong public servant whose humanitarian work transcended beyond the White House. José and I express our deepest condolences and send our prayers to his family. Rest in peace," Colón shared in a message written in English.
The former president, Barack Obama, also spoke.
Former United States President Barack Obama took to his social media to share his feelings after the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
"President Carter taught us all what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and to all who loved and learned from this extraordinary man," shared Obama in a post on X.
Jimmy Carter's Life
Carter, a moderate Southern Democrat and former governor of Georgia, defeated Republican President Gerald Ford in 1976, but in his reelection bid in 1980, he lost to Ronald Reagan, who won by a wide margin.
After his presidency, he began tireless activity in favor of human rights around the world, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
In 1976, an intense and intelligent campaign that highlighted his honesty propelled Carter from near anonymity to the White House in the first presidential election after the Watergate scandal. The man from the small town of Plains was portrayed as a symbol of the New South.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was the peace treaty he negotiated between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978.
But Carter had an ignominious return to Georgia, after a presidency undermined by double-digit inflation, an energy crisis that forced Americans to wait in long lines to fill up with gasoline, and the Iran hostage crisis that lasted 444 days. His darkest hour was the failed attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran in April 1980, in which eight Americans died.
Deeply embarrassed by the citizens' rejection, Carter diligently forged a new role on the world stage as a peacemaker, promoter of democracy, and defender of human rights. The stubbornness that harmed his presidency benefited him as a solitary peacemaker who bypassed diplomatic channels and, as he said in 1994, "went to places where others do not go," such as North Korea, Ethiopia, and Liberia.
"I can say what I want. I can meet with whoever I want. I can dedicate myself to projects that please me and reject those that don't," he said in an interview in 1990.
He helped defuse tense situations in the Koreas and prevent a US invasion of Haiti in 1994. These activities earned him immense prestige and multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he was awarded in 2002.
His detractors claimed that Carter was usurping US foreign policy, that he was often naive in his dealings with hostile dictators, and that his goal was to redeem himself in the eyes of history. But his admirers argued that he was driven by his strict Baptist faith and his desire to do what he could to benefit humanity.
"It's true that I get excited and deeply moved," Carter said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1994, when explaining why his voice choked up when talking about his work. "I'm a little embarrassed, but that's just who I am."
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, on October 1, 1924, as the oldest of four children. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946 and that same year he married Rosalynn Smith, a neighbor from Plains. They had four children.
After seven years in the submarine force, he requested retirement when his father died, returned to Plains, and took over the family business. He dedicated himself to local politics and in 1962 won a seat in the state Senate by challenging a series of irregularities in the voting after being defeated in the initial count.
He ran for governor in 1966, lost, and returned in 1970 to win. As the successor of the segregationist governor Lester Maddox, Carter said in his inaugural speech: "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over."
Scarcely known in the national scene, he ran for the presidency in 1974 with a modest campaign, staying in the homes of his supporters. After Richard Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate scandal, Carter based his campaign on restoring the citizens' trust in the government.
"If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a deceptive statement, do not vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president," Carter repeated in every speech.
Carter and Rosalynn walked to his inauguration, where he became the first president to be sworn in using his nickname: he always preferred to be called Jimmy.
Among the achievements of his government are the partial deregulation of air, rail, and truck transportation; the appointment of women and members of ethnic minorities to the judiciary and other positions; the reservation of millions of acres in Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges; the pardon of most of those who evaded military service during the Vietnam War; the creation of the Departments of Energy and Education; the ratification of the Panama Canal treaties, the normalization of relations with China, and the historic Camp David agreements, in which Egypt recognized the State of Israel.
In terms of foreign policy, he focused on promoting human rights, particularly in South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, which were governed by repressive military dictatorships.
But a series of events abroad paralyzed the final stage of his presidency.
When Carter agreed to allow the deposed and exiled Shah of Iran to receive medical treatment in the United States on November 4, 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took over the American embassy in Iran, sparking the hostage crisis. Negotiations with the chaotic Iranian regime to release the hostages were repeatedly stalled, and in April 1980, Carter ordered a failed military rescue attempt.
Exasperated by inflation and the confrontation with Iran, Americans responded to Republican Ronald Reagan's call for a "strong America once again." Carter lost the elections in all states except six, and the Republicans won the majority in the Senate.
After writing his presidential memoirs, Carter became a professor at Emory University in Atlanta and, along with Rosalynn, founded the Carter Center, an ambitious research and political activity institute. In his memoirs, Carter described that after the humiliating defeat, he and his wife "decided that it would be better to continue using my influence, perhaps with even greater freedom than before, to promote the same ideals that I had embraced during my presidency."
In that sense, he supervised democratic elections in countries such as Nicaragua and Haiti, as well as the first Palestinian elections.
Carter wrote a dozen books, including a children's story, a collection of poetry, and an account of his spiritual life.
Carter underwent surgery on August 3, 2015 to remove a tumor from his liver. On August 12, the Carter Center reported that the cancer had spread to other organs. His father, brother, and two sisters died of pancreatic cancer, and his mother also suffered from the illness.
During a press conference on August 20th, Carter humbly and humorously said that he felt "perfectly at peace with whatever happens."
“I have had a wonderful life,” he said. “I have had thousands of friends, I have led an exciting, adventurous, and fulfilling life. That’s why I felt surprisingly calm, much more than my wife.”