Former President Jimmy Carter’s long, remarkable life has come to an end.
Carter, who turned 100 in October, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to his son James E. Carter III.
“His son confirmed the death but did not provide an immediate cause,” The Washington Post reported.
In a statement shared by The Carter Center, James Carter III praised his father’s work for peace.
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” he said. “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.”
Carter had battled cancer in recent years and had been on hospice care since early 2023.
Jimmy Carter as peacemaker
Carter was elected president in 1976 after serving as governor of Georgia and working as a peanut farmer. His time in the White House was marked by conflict abroad and at home.
“Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role,” per The Associated Press.
His most famous achievement as president was brokering a peace deal between Egypt and Israel, the Camp David Accords.
Carter only served one term in the White House, but he remained in the public eye after leaving Washington and became best known for his charitable work.
“For decades, the Carters spent a week a year building homes with Habitat for Humanity, the Georgia-based nonprofit organization that constructs housing for low-income people. Wearing their own tool belts, they helped build or renovate about 4,300 homes in 14 countries,” The Washington Post reported.
Carter also funded and participated in peacemaking initiatives as part of his effort to promote human rights around the world.
“That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan,” the AP reported.
Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his international peacemaking efforts.
Jimmy Carter’s religion
Throughout his life and career, Carter drew strength and inspiration from his Christian faith, as the Deseret News previously reported. It motivated his fight against racism and his service to others.
Well into his 90s, Carter continued to teach Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
Former President Barack Obama referenced those Sunday School lessons in his reflection on Carter’s life, which he shared on Medium Sunday afternoon.
He wrote about Carter care for others and love of God, noting that he embodied Christian values like grace, dignity and justice.
“Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did — advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection — things like integrity, respect, and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image,” Obama wrote.
In his own statement, President Joe Biden described Carter as an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian.”
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted and changed the lives of people all across the globe,” Biden said in the statement, which was co-signed by First Lady Jill Biden.
The Bidens urged young people today to look to Carter as an example of what it looks like to live a good life.
“He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people — decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong,” the statement said.
President-elect Donald Trump wrote in a social media post that that country owes Carter a “debt of gratitude.”
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans,” Trump wrote.