Capitalism: A Love Story
2009
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician and humanitarian who was the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, Carter was the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, and a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967.
- Lester Maddox
- Ronald Reagan
Oct 1, 2023 · 6 min PLAINS, Ga. — The crowds gathered in Jimmy Carter’s tiny hometown last weekend knew the former president hadn’t been seen in public this year. After seven months in hospice, on the eve of...
1 day ago · Jimmy Carter, the 99-year-old former U.S. president who entered hospice care in February, made a rare public appearance on Tuesday, looking frail as he attended a memorial service in Atlanta for ...
1 day ago · Mr. Carter went to Nashville to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity despite having a black eye from a fall in 2019. Mark Humphrey/Associated Press Mr. Carter’s family expressed concerns...
- Overview
- Early life and political career
Jimmy Carter (born October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia, U.S.) 39th president of the United States (1977–81), who served as the country’s chief executive during a time of serious problems at home and abroad. His perceived inability to deal successfully with those problems led to an overwhelming defeat in his bid for reelection. However, for his work in diplomacy and advocacy, both during and after his presidency, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002.
(Read Britannica’s interview with Jimmy Carter.)
The son of Earl Carter, a peanut warehouser who had served in the Georgia state legislature, and Lillian Gordy Carter, a registered nurse who went to India as a Peace Corps volunteer at age 68, Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1946. After marrying Rosalynn Smith (Rosalynn Carter)—who came from Carter’s small hometown, Plains, Georgia—he embarked on a seven-year career in the U.S. Navy, serving submarine duty for five years. He was preparing to become an engineering officer for the submarine Seawolf in 1953 when his father died. Carter resigned his commission and returned to Georgia to manage the family peanut farm operations.
Beginning his political career by serving on the local board of education, Carter won election as a Democrat to the Georgia state senate in 1962 and was reelected in 1964. In 1966 he failed in a bid for the governorship and, depressed by this experience, found solace in Evangelical Christianity, becoming a born-again Baptist.
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Prior to running again for governor and winning in 1970, Carter at least tacitly adhered to a segregationist approach. However, in his inaugural address he announced that “the time for racial discrimination is over” and proceeded to open Georgia’s government offices to Blacks—and to women. As governor, he reorganized the existing maze of state agencies and consolidated them into larger units while introducing stricter budgeting procedures for them. In the process he came to national attention, finding his way onto the cover of Time magazine as a symbol of both good government and the “New South.”
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jimmy Carter 76th Governor of Georgia Governorship 39th President of the United States Presidency Timeline Transition Inauguration Appointments Cabinet Judiciary Tenure Camp David Accords Egypt–Israel peace treaty Torrijos–Carter Treaties Rabbit incident Iran hostage crisis Operation Eagle Claw Moral Equivalent of War speech 1979 oil crisis
