Jimmy Carter, the 100-year-old former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to steer the nation from 1977 to 1981, has died, his nonprofit basis mentioned Sunday.

Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his house in Plains, Georgia — the identical small city the place he was born and as soon as ran a peanut farm earlier than changing into governor of the Peach State and operating for the White House.

Carter died “peacefully” at his house in Plains, “surrounded by his family,” the Carter Center mentioned in a press release.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love,” Chip Carter mentioned within the assertion.

Carter was the longest-lived US president – an end result that appeared unlikely again in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had mind most cancers.

But the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the percentages to take pleasure in a protracted and fruitful post-presidency, after 4 years within the Oval Office usually seen as disappointing.

During his single time period, Carter positioned a dedication on human rights and social justice, having fun with a robust first two years that included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords.

But his administration hit quite a few snags – essentially the most critical being the taking of US hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed try to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980. He additionally got here in for criticism for his dealing with of an oil disaster.

Republican challenger Ronald Reagan clobbered Carter on the polls in November of that 12 months, relegating the Democrat to only one time period. Reagan, a former actor and governor of California, swept into workplace on a wave of staunch conservatism.

Active post-presidency

As the years handed, a extra nuanced picture of Carter emerged — one which took into consideration his vital post-presidential actions.

He based the Carter Center in 1982 to pursue his imaginative and prescient of world diplomacy, and he was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts to advertise social and financial justice.

He noticed quite a few elections world wide and emerged as a distinguished worldwide mediator, tackling international issues from North Korea to Bosnia.

Carter, identified for his toothy smile, mentioned primary Christian tenets similar to justice and love served because the bedrock of his presidency. He taught Sunday college at Maranatha Baptist, his church in Plains, effectively into his 90s.

Outside the White House, the place the flag was lowered to half-staff, vacationer Yoni Neirman remembered Carter, for whom she voted, as “a real statesman, and that kind of person doesn’t seem to exist, at least not in the near future.”

In Georgia, retiree Dorner Carmichael expressed the identical sentiment.

“Every time you lose a person of such integrity, who spent his life in service, you just wonder who will fill his shoes,” the 75-year-old advised AFP.

Carter was ‘leader, statesman and humanitarian’

As condolences got here in, many centered on Carter’s character, with President Joe Biden, in televised remarks, saying he “lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds.”

“The rest of the world looks to us… and he was worth looking to.”

Biden later declared 9 January as a nationwide day of mourning, calling on Americans to go to their locations of worship to “pay homage” and welcoming “the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.”

White House leaders previous and future joined the president in issuing remembrances, with Bill Clinton saying in a press release that Carter “worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world.”

George W. Bush mentioned Carter’s legacy would “inspire Americans for generations,” whereas Barack Obama mentioned the previous chief “taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service.”

Donald Trump mentioned Americans owed the Democrat “a debt of gratitude,” including later in a second social media put up that “I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically.”

One of Carter’s defining overseas coverage achievements – negotiating the return of the Panama Canal to Panama – has come again into focus as Trump has threatened to retake the channel.

Egyptian chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hailed Carter on Sunday as “a symbol of humanitarian efforts” for his function in brokering the 1978 Camp David Accords, predicting his work would “remain etched in the annals of history.”

Carter was preceded in loss of life by Rosalynn, his spouse of 77 years. She died on November 19, 2023, at age 96.

The former president, who seemed frail, poignantly appeared at her memorial service in a wheelchair, with a blanket on his lap bearing their likenesses.

Carter is survived by the couple’s 4 kids – three sons and a daughter.

Clinton hospitalised

Last week, one other former US president experienced health issues that warranted hospitalisation.

Bill Clinton, who has confronted a sequence of well being points through the years, was admitted to hospital final Monday in Washington after growing a fever, his workplace mentioned.

“President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever,” the 78-year-old’s deputy chief of employees Angel Urena mentioned on social media platform X, including Clinton “remains in good spirits.”

Clinton was discharged on Tuesday.

© Agence France-Presse

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