Worthy Christian News > US News > Jimmy Carter, 39th President, Dies At 100

Jimmy Carter, 39th President, Dies At 100

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Worthy News) -Jimmy Carter, the dedicated Christian who was America’s 39th president and won the Nobel Peace Prize, has died at age 100, his son says.

Friends and commentators remembered him on Sunday as a president whose term was beset by crises while in office.

Carter brought together Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accords.

However, his time in office was marked by a slumping economy and a hostage crisis in Iran.

During the Carter presidency, some 53 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage in Tehran from November 4, 1979, to their release on January 20, 1981.

All of the hostages were released the day U.S. President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. At the same time, the U.S. unfroze $8 billion in Iranian assets.

Although Carter’s presidency was remembered by critics more for its failures than successes, his post-presidency was seen by friends and foes many as a model for future chief executives.

DYING AT HOME

He passed away peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, the Carter Center said.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” added Chip Carter, the former president’s son. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs,” he stressed.

“The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs,” Chip Carter added in an emotionally charged statement.

A Democrat, Jimmy Carter served as president from January 1977 to January 1981 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 U.S. election.

Carter was swept from office four years later in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Reagan, the former actor and California governor.

Yet, a dedicated Christian, Carter continued as a Bible teacher and missionary, supporting faith-based organizations such as Habitat for Humanity (HfH), which built homes for the homeless.

A Worthy News reporter recalled an encounter with Carter, who was working for HfH in Hungary shortly after the collapse of Communism.

TWO DEDICATED HUMANITARIANS

“We have been deeply honored to have two of the world’s most distinguished humanitarians as dedicated Habitat volunteers for more than 35 years,” HfH said.

“Throughout their involvement with the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter were tireless advocates, active fundraisers, and some of our best hands-on construction volunteers.”

In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts “to promote human rights and resolve conflicts” worldwide, from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Bosnia and Haiti.

Some of that work also started during his presidency: Earlier this year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, “The Hungarian nation would always think of Carter as the U.S. president who had returned the Holy Crown, the symbol of Hungary’s 100-year statehood and Christian tradition,” to Hungary.

Carter decided to return to Budapest “the Crown of King St. Stephen”, which had been in American custody since the last days of World War II, to improve relations with then Communist-run Hungary.

Orbán said Carter had shown “brave commitment” to the Hungarian nation, which Russian forces had occupied for decades.

He congratulated former U.S. Carter on his 100th birthday this year, saying he was “proud to join thousands worldwide on this significant day in expressing my respect and appreciation of a family man, a devoted Christian, and a unique life journey.”

HOLDING ‘SPECIAL PLACE’

Orbán said Carter held a “special place” in the hearts of Hungarians, having earned their respect and “won our hearts.”

He added that the former president had shown “brave commitment” to the Hungarian nation, which Russian forces had occupied for decades.

In recent years, Carter has experienced several health issues, including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain.

Carter decided to receive hospice care in February 2023 instead of undergoing additional medical intervention.

His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on November 19, 2023, at age 96. He looked frail when he attended her memorial service and funeral in a wheelchair.

As the nation reflects on his legacy, specifically that of his faith, Maranatha Baptist Church deacon Zac Steele recalled Carter attending the Plains, Georgia, church where he famously taught Sunday School.

“He paid attention to people,” Steele said. “If people think it was a theatrical show for many years for him to just use the church as a platform to speak, that is absolutely false.”

STRONG CHRISTIAN FAITH

The former peanut farmer-turned-world-famous leader had a strong faith in Christ.

As the son of a church deacon who taught Sunday school and was baptized at age 11, Carter experienced a Christian conversion in 1967 that, he said, became the basis for his social and political ethic.

Following his 1966 defeat in Georgia’s gubernatorial election, Carter said at the time he came to realize “my relationship with God was a very superficial one,”

He went on eye-opening mission trips to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and continued to study theologians like Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr.

“It was clear that he knew his Bible and he read his Bible very seriously and consistently,” said Randall Balmer, author of “Redeemer” and a Dartmouth College historian. “I think that shaped him in many ways personally but also politically throughout his career.”

Carter would say he is now with his “Savior,” Jesus Christ.

As the mourning began, Carter was remembered Sunday as a man who impacted generations in America and beyond.

(With additional reporting from Washington and the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest.)