Jimmy Carter, former US president, dies aged 100
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Heartfelt tributes are pouring in from world leaders celebrating the life and humanitarian achievements of James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr, the former US president, who has died aged 100.
Carter, a naval officer, Nobel Peace Prize winner and peanut farm operator who became the 39th president of the United States, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, December 29, according to his son.
He served as president for one term from 1977 to 1981, but is just as well-known for his humanitarian service after leaving Washington, DC, working for Habitat for Humanity and negotiating peace deals.
President-elect Donald Trump said Carter is owed a “debt of gratitude”, while President Joe Biden described Carter as a “dear friend”. Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle lauded Carter as “the longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Carter’s “remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights” while King Charles III thanked the former president for “promoting peace”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the former president’s “heart stood firmly with us in our ongoing fight for freedom”. President Isaac Herzog of Israel called Carter “courageous and beloved”.
Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason breaks silence sharing touching cartoon on X
James Liddell30 December 2024 12:35
Did Jimmy Carter blow royal etiquette by kissing Queen Mother on the lips?
The late former US president Jimmy Carter was a relative novice at international diplomacy when made his first visit to the UK just four months into his term in the White House in 1977 – which resulted in him earning the displeasure of the Queen Mother after being said to have given her a parting kiss on the lips.
It was the year of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, marking her 25th year on the throne, and world leaders attending a G7 summit were invited for a state banquet in Buckingham Palace where they were to meet the Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
Photographs showed Mr Carter and the Queen Mother being all smiles as the president escorted her by her white-gloved hand to their places in a formal group portrait with the G7 leaders before dinner. But the evening would end with a short moment which would spark debate among British tabloids and the American media for decades afterwards, with the president accused of a total ignorance of royal protocol.
Alex Croft has the full story.
James Liddell30 December 2024 12:20
ICYMI: Trump, Biden and Obama pay tribute to ‘public servant’ Jimmy Carter after his death aged 100
Washington‘s political heavyweights paid tribute to former President Jimmy Carter after his death was announced on Sunday by his family.
The nation’s 39th president was renowned for his commitment to public service in the years after his exit from political life and earned a strong reputation for helping America’s neediest families in his post-presidential years.
After news of his passing was reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tributes began to swiftly pour in for the 100-year-old statesman.
John Bowden has collated the tributes below.
James Liddell30 December 2024 12:05
Where might former president Jimmy Carter’s savings go after he dies?
Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, was not an extravagant man.
He lived on a property in Plains, Georgia — where he died Sunday at age 100 — that was worth a fraction of the average U.S. house price, he shopped at budget stores, and he did not fly privately.
The least expensive former president for the U.S. government, Carter and his wife Rosalynn — who died in 2023 — lived a surprisingly average life after his term ended in 1981.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
James Liddell30 December 2024 11:50
Remants of the US embassy crisis in Tehran remain
Graffitti on the walls of the former US embassy headquarters in Theran photographed on Monday which was stormed and occupied by Iranian students in November 1979 (AFP via Getty Images)
Man walks past a graffiti depicting the Great Seal with a Star of David on top on the walls of the former US embassy in Theran on Monday (AFP via Getty Images)
James Liddell30 December 2024 11:35
Meeting Jimmy Carter — and getting a scoop about Bush, Blair and Iraq from the perfect gentleman
The thing that sticks in my mind — even now — was the welcoming eyes and the warm smile.
He stretched out his hand to offer it in greeting and said something along the measure of: “Thanks for coming down to see us.”
Jimmy Carter — who died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, at age 100 — was always known as a gentleman, a farmer from Georgia who had held the most powerful political office in the world. But it did not seem forced, it did not seem an act.
I’d flown to the offices of The Carter Center in Atlanta to interview him about his latest book, The Hornet’s Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War. He’d written plenty of books — he would go on to author more than 30 — but this was his first novel, one that the publisher Simon & Schuster described as “a sweeping novel of the American South and the War of Independence.”
Find out more about when Andrew Buncombe met the 39th president.
James Liddell30 December 2024 11:20
Carter never got to appoint a Supreme Court justice. Trump appointed three
Jimmy Carter served a full presidential term without the chance to appoint a Supreme Court justice.
Carter, who died on Sunday aged 100, sat in the White House from 1977 to 1981. While serving the single term before being succeeded by Ronald Reagan, Carter did not appoint a single justice to the higher court, as no vacancies occurred.
He marks the only one-term president to finish a full term without making an appointment and the fourth overall.
Donald Trump, however, appointed three in his first term: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. They make up half of the six justices appointed by GOP presidents, with nine making up the current Supreme Court.
James Liddell30 December 2024 11:07
Trump says he ‘strongly disagrees’ with Carter ‘philosophically and politically’ in second statment
Donald Trump released a second statement about Jimmy Carter’s death on Sunday evening on Truth Social (Donald Trump/Truth Social )
James Liddell30 December 2024 10:53
Watch: Biden says America lost ‘remarkable leader’ as he pays tribute to ‘dear friend’
Jimmy Carter death: Biden says America lost ‘remarkable leader’ as he pays tribute to ‘dear friend’
James Liddell30 December 2024 10:40
Continuing a life of public service, Jimmy Carter spent his final years building houses for the poor
He was the oldest living president and had been out of the White House for more than 35 years, but Jimmy Carter never stopped working to improve the lives of others — much of which included building homes for the needy.
Even well into his 90s, Carter put on a hard hat and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization he often partnered with through The Carter Center.
The one-term president — who died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia — worked alongside 103,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,331 homes with Habitat for Humanity for more than 35 years. Often, Carter and his late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, volunteered together.
Graeme Massie and Ariana Baio have the story.
Alex Croft30 December 2024 10:28
