Jimmy Carter's Life in Photos
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Former president Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United State, was born on October 1, 1924 in rural Georgia. After serving as president from 1977 to 1981, he and his wife Rosalynn Carter returned to their hometown of Plains, where they have lived ever since.
He didn't want to "capitalize financially on being in the White House," he said in 2018, instead choosing to focus on humanitarian efforts. The former peanut farmer and Navy man shared, "it just never had been my ambition to be rich."
He's been an ex-president longer than anyone else in history; Carter became the oldest living former president in American history on his 95th birthday three years ago, and he makes history every single day. "I think the best explanation for [a long life] is to marry the best spouse: someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you and keep you alive and interested in life," Carter said in 2019. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been married for 78 years.
As Jimmy Carter celebrates his 99th birthday this weekend while in hospice care, we look back on the best photos of him throughout his life.
Circa 1920s
Jimmy Carter was born James Earl Carter, Jr. in October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia.
Circa 1920s
Jimmy is pictured here with his sisters Gloria and Ruth, and his father James Earl Carter Sr. His father ran a general store.
Circa 1920s
He grew up in Plains and attended college in Georgia.
Pictured: Carter petting a colt in a field.
1928
Jimmy and his sister Gloria in a portrait.
1944
Carter was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943.
"When I was five years old, if anybody asked me what I wanted to do in the future, I would say I want to go to the Naval Academy and be a naval officer. My daddy was a first lieutenant in the First World War, and my uncle—my favorite uncle, my youngest brother of my mother, was in the Navy. And he traveled in the Philippines and Japan and China and so forth and sent me a lot of mementos and letters back," Carter later recalled. "So between the two, between West Point and Annapolis, which was the only two free universities we knew about in those days, I chose Annapolis. So that was my longtime commitment."
Circa mid-1940s
Carter's Naval Academy yearbook picture.
Circa mid-1940s
Another photograph of Carter at the Naval Academy.
1946
Carter at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis with a classmate.
1946
On his graduation, Jimmy's mom Lillian (right) and Rosalynn (left) pinned on his Ensign bars.
Circa late 1940s
After graduation, Carter was assigned to the U.S.S. Wyoming, where he worked for two years and then transferred to the submarine force during the Korean war.
"I was in battleships first which did experimental gun programs. And I was the electronics officer and the photography officer. And that was on two battleships, the Wyoming and the Mississippi," he shared. "And then I went in the submarine force and I was in the Pacific almost all the time."
Circa 1950s
Jimmy and Rosalynn married right after his graduation, and quickly welcomed three sons, John William "Jack" (b. 1947), James Earl III "Chip" (b. 1950) and Donnell Jeffrey "Jeff" (b. 1952). Their daughter, Amy, was born in 1967.
1971
After his father died, he moved home to Plains, and soon entered politics in Georgia. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1962, and as Georgia's governor in 1970.
1970s
He remained a peanut framer until his election to the presidency.
1970s
Carter pets his dog behind a tractor on his peanut farm in Plains.
1974
Plains has always been his home throughout his entire political career. "The Georgia governorship is one of the most powerful in the nation. And I enjoyed being Governor. That was one of the most pleasant four years of my life," he would later reflect.
1975
He declared his candidacy for presidency in 1974, and began campaigning soon after.
1976
Carter, his wife Rosalynn Carter, and their daughter Amy in Plains.
1976
During a break from his presidential campaign, Carter played softball in (you guessed it!) Plains.
1976
Carter hugs his wife after learning he won the presidential election. He won the popular vote by 50.1 percent, and received 297 electoral votes.
1977
A photo from Carter's inauguration, as Rosalynn looks lovingly at her husband.
1977
The Carters dance at a ball.
Circa late 1970s
A portrait of Carter with his mother Lilian, his brother Billy, and his sisters Gloria and Ruth. All three of his siblings died of pancreatic cancer.
Circa late 1970s
And here is a portrait of President Carter with his extended family. Left to right: Jack's wife Judy, grandson Jason, son Jack, Jeff's wife Annette, son Jeff, wife Rosalynn, daughter Amy, President Carter himself, Chip's wife Caron, grandson James IV, and son Chip.
1977
During his time as president, he normalized relations with China, helped oversee the Camp David Accords, signed the Panama Canal Treaty, and advocated for human rights worldwide.
1977
"During my administration, we tried to keep the peace. And we cherished our human rights," Carter said in July 2021. "We came out of the White House completely satisfied with the way we had acted in the trial that we made to overcome difficulties. And most of the time, we succeeded. At least we thought we did."
1977
The Carters' first White House Christmas; they pose with a Christmas tree located in the Blue Room of the White House.
1978
Carter fly fishes on a private trout stream during a brief vacation.
1978
One of Carter's notable foreign policy achievements during his presidency was the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. Here, Carter walks with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David.
1978
Carter with his wife Rosalynn at Camp David.
1980
Jimmy Carter's official presidential portrait.
1980
Carter was the Democratic nominee again for the 1980 presidential election, but he lost to Ronald Reagan.
1981
After his term as president ended, former president Jimmy Carter returned to his hometown of Plains.
1981
The original caption here is worth reading: "the former President thoroughly enjoys the woodworking tools given to him as a going away gift from his Cabinet and staff. Carter is sanding a table he built for Rosalyn to use as a typewriter stand when she starts to write her book." Rosalynn wrote First Lady from Plains about growing up in small-town Georgia and her role in the White House.
1988
The Carters founded the Carter Center in 1982, with the goal of advancing human rights.
1992
Carter, a longtime Braves fan, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game One of the 1992 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays.
1992
In 1984, Jimmy and Rosalynn began working with Habitat for Humanity. "Habitat has successfully removed the stigma of charity by substituting it with a sense of partnership," Carter said.
1993
He also kept woodworking; he made this chess set.
1994
"I have one life and one chance to make it count for something... My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference," Carter said.
1996
The Carters pictured at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum in Atlanta.
1998
Carter playing softball in Plains wearing a t-shirt that says "Jimmy Carter and the Secret Service."
2002
Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
2005
Until 2020, the Carters spent one week a year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.
2013
Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Michelle Obama, and Bill Clinton at the Lincoln Memorial celebrating the anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech.
2014
Carter frequently taught Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church.
2015
In 2015, he was diagnosed with melanoma and started immunotherapy and radiation therapy. By the end of the year, his scans no longer showed cancer.
2018
Jimmy Carter walks hand-in-hand with his wife former First Lady Rosalynn Carter towards their home in Plains.
2019
Carter smiles as he speaks to the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church, before teaching Sunday school. Carter has taught Sunday school for decades in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
You Might Also Like
