the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. .
The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday, , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives.
A moderate Democrat, as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon91裸聊视频檚 disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia.
91裸聊视频淚f I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don91裸聊视频檛 vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,91裸聊视频� Carter said.
Carter91裸聊视频檚 victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women91裸聊视频檚 rights and America91裸聊视频檚 role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978.
But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn91裸聊视频檛 release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election.
Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health.
Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia.
91裸聊视频� The Carter Center (@CarterCenter)
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to as one of many health initiatives. the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity.
The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time.
Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he 91裸聊视频渉ad looked on many women with lust. I91裸聊视频檝e committed adultery in my heart many times,91裸聊视频� voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing.
The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band91裸聊视频檚 traditional 91裸聊视频淗ail to the Chief91裸聊视频� and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats.
But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America91裸聊视频檚 dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders.
, he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon91裸聊视频檚 outreach to Beijing.
But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll.
When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome 91裸聊视频渁 crisis of confidence.91裸聊视频� Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his 91裸聊视频渕alaise91裸聊视频� speech, even though he never used that word.
READ MORE:
After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed.
Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter91裸聊视频檚 diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频渕ake America great again91裸聊视频� appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states.
Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that 91裸聊视频渢he time for racial discrimination is over.91裸聊视频�
Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia91裸聊视频檚 2020 presidential election results.
After Carter said he felt 91裸聊视频減erfectly at ease with whatever comes.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e had a wonderful life,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e had thousands of friends, I91裸聊视频檝e had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.91裸聊视频�
___
Contributors include former AP staffer Alex Sanz in Atlanta.
Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
