The former president is still receiving hospice care in Plains, Georgia, his hometown.
On Tuesday, Jimmy Carter, the former Democratic president, will turn 100, making history as the first president to live to be 100.
As the 39th president of the United States, Carter has experienced several firsts. Among his many firsts were becoming the first president to be born in a hospital, the first person to graduate from the Naval Academy to hold the office, and the first president to visit Sub-Saharan Africa as a head of state. Currently, Carter is the first American president to reach the age of 100.
Since the end of his presidency in 1981, Carter has stayed in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he is now receiving home hospice care. The former president, who outlived his wife Rosalynn, will be entering hospice care for the second time this coming February. 96 years old, she passed away last year.
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It’s funny how much President Carter has done and how seldom he fails. However, Jill Stuckey, the manager of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Plains and a longtime family friend of the Carters, said that “hospice care is the one area he has struggled with.” It brings us great joy that he continues to live. We are happy that he is on hospice care if he is unable to do anything.
When asked what she believed set Carter apart from other presidents who had lived to be quite old, Stuckey said, “tenacity.”
“He and Mrs. Carter were concerned about living as long as they possibly could, being as healthy as they possibly could, so they could help as many people as they possibly could,” Stuckey stated to Fox News Digital. “Every meal has been properly consumed by them. They have worked out each and every day. They just never stop taking care of themselves in order to extend their lives and have more time to care for others. And that’s what President Carter is showing today, that all those things make a difference.”
According to Stuckey, Plains has been celebrating Carter’s historic 100th birthday since Saturday, when the town held its yearly peanut festival.
“We celebrate peanut harvest season here in Plains, and it happens to coincide with President Carter’s birthday every year, so we kind of combine them,” Stuckey explained.
She also mentioned that there would be several celebrations in Plains on Tuesday, Carter’s birthday. Jimmy and Rosalynn attended the Plains High School naturalization ceremony, among the festivities honouring Carter’s birthday.
Following the event, with the assistance of Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, there will be a flyover to commemorate the former president. In the late afternoon, Plains will also hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new monuments devoted to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Meanwhile, volunteers in St. Paul, Minnesota, came together to construct thirty new houses over five days in honour of Carter’s birthday. Stars of the country music genre, including Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, were reportedly among the attendees.
President Biden sent Carter a video message ahead of his birthday on Tuesday, saying, “You’re one of the most influential statesmen in our history. “
Charlie McCoy, a country music icon and member of the Grand Ole Opry, performed a special version of “Georgia On My Mind” to honour the former president.
“I’ve always felt this way about him; I was in awe the first time I met him. Even when you spend a lot of time with presidents, the first encounter has the most significance “, according to Cathie Skoog, a former White House Communications Agency employee. “He didn’t give a damn what others said. He acted in the nation’s best interests, in his opinion.”
Throughout his administration, Carter worked to protect the environment, expand human rights, and modernize the American educational system. He established the Departments of Energy and Education, reformed the civil service, and deregulated the aviation sector to promote competition. Carter’s administration also required both seat belts and airbags in autos.
Carter’s administration was not without its difficulties, though, with rising inflation, an energy crisis, and unsuccessful talks to secure the release of several American hostages held captive in Iran. Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State under Carter, finally quit in disapproval of the way the government handled the hostage situation.
The Iranian Revolution at the time significantly increased oil prices in the United States. In July 1979, Carter attributed Americans’ declining faith in the nation to their demoralization by the country’s skyrocketing inflation and energy problems.
In his address, Carter stated, “The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us.” “Most Americans, for the first time in our nation’s history, think that the coming five years will be worse than the previous five. Not even two thirds of our population cast ballots. Americans are becoming less productive than those in any other country in the West, and they are also becoming less eager to invest for the future.”
“We must face the truth, and then we can change our course,” he said. “All we need to do is have faith: in one another, in our capacity to rule ourselves, and in our country’s destiny. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is perhaps the most crucial challenge we face.”
