Former US president Jimmy Carter passes away at 100

Former US President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100, US media reported. Known as a champion of human rights and global peace, Carter served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote democracy and human rights worldwide. Carter, who had been in hospice care since early 2023, was surrounded by family at the time of his passing.
Carter’s post-presidential years were marked by his extensive humanitarian work through the Carter Center, focusing on conflict resolution, election monitoring, and disease eradication.

A President from Plains

Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as an unassuming candidate, a Georgia governor with a reputation for integrity and a vision rooted in his engineering education. His campaign, funded publicly and focused on honesty, resonated deeply with a nation recovering from the Watergate scandal and the fallout from the Vietnam War.
He famously promised, “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me.” This pledge helped him narrowly defeat the unpopular incumbent, Gerald Ford.
During his presidency, Carter faced significant challenges—Cold War tensions, volatile oil prices, and domestic social movements advocating for racial equality, women’s rights, and a redefined global role for America. Yet his most enduring achievement was the Camp David Accords in 1978, a groundbreaking peace deal between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which solidified Carter’s reputation as a peacemaker.
Despite his successes, Carter’s presidency was marred by high inflation, energy shortages, and the Iranian hostage crisis, which ultimately led to his defeat in the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan. The failed rescue mission, which resulted in the deaths of eight Americans, was one of the most difficult moments of his presidency.
In his 2020 memoir, White House Diary, Carter admitted to being “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” which sometimes hindered his ability to navigate Washington’s complex political landscape. He later reflected on his incompatibility with Washington insiders, acknowledging his struggles with the media and lobbyists that shaped his presidency.
Nevertheless, Carter remained steadfast in his belief that his presidency had achieved its core goals: to protect the nation’s security peacefully and to advance human rights both domestically and abroad, even if his tenure was cut short.