Today, America said goodbye to a president. Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, passed away today, December 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100 years old. This follows the death of his wife Rosalynn just over a year ago, and his entry into hospice care back in February 2023.
Carter lived for 40% of U.S. history. Born a few years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Carter served in the U.S. Navy during the 1940s, working on submarines. After his military stint, he went back home and worked in the family’s peanut business. He entered politics as a Democrat when he entered the Georgia State Senate in 1963 and was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970. In 1976, Carter ran a dark-horse campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and won, later narrowly defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in that year’s general election.
Carter’s one-term presidency occurred in an America that was increasingly becoming more conservative. While the well-meaning Carter had some successes in his term such as the Camp David Accords establishing peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978, establishing the Departments of Energy and Education, and deregulating airlines, his presidency was ultimately overshadowed by the Iran hostage crisis, a subsequent oil crisis, and the not-so-good economy. Americans booted him out of office in a landslide in the 1980 election, handing the White House to Republican Ronald Reagan. When he left Washington in 1981, he was regarded at best as a mediocre president. His harshest critics deemed him a failure.
Carter eventually lived to see his reputation undergo a more positive rehabilitation. He founded the Carter Center in 1982, dedicated to monitoring elections worldwide and eradicating diseases such as Guinea worm. For this, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter also actively participated in Habitat for Humanity, a volunteer organization that builds affordable housing. He wrote numerous books, including two books on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and taught Sunday school at his local church. Carter fought off brain cancer and outlasted hospice care against the odds. With most Americans having been born after Carter’s presidency, the ex-president garnered a positive image as an old, elder statesman and humanitarian.
Jimmy Carter may have been a mediocre president, but he was a good man with good intentions. America is better off because of him. Farewell, Mr. President.
Emil Ordonez, a rising college freshman, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Polinsights. He has been deeply passionate about politics and history since learning every U.S. President at the age of five. He was compelled to start this blog after meeting many people who were misinformed or had become apathetic about how society worked. He hopes to provide factual knowledge and insights that will encourage people, especially the young, to get more engaged in their respective communities. In his free time, he edits for Wikipedia and makes maps for elections. He aspires to work in Congress or even the White House in the future.
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