Jimmy Carter, the 100-year-old former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, has died, his nonprofit foundation said on Sunday.
Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February last year at his home in Plains, Georgia — the same small town where he was born and once ran a peanut farm before becoming governor of the state and running for the White House.
Carter died “peacefully” at his home in Plains, “surrounded by his family,” the Carter Center said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love,” Chip Carter said in the statement.
Jimmy Carter was the longest-lived US president — an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Democrat revealed he had brain cancer — but the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the odds to enjoy a long and fruitful post-presidency, after four years in the Oval Office often seen as disappointing.
During his single term, Jimmy Carter placed a commitment on human rights and social justice, enjoying a strong first two years that included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords, but his administration hit numerous snags — the most serious being the taking of US hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed attempt to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980.
Republican challenger former US president Ronald Reagan clobbered Jimmy Carter at the polls in November of that year, relegating the Democrat to just one term.
As the years passed, a more nuanced image of Jimmy Carter emerged — one that took into account his post-presidential activities.
He founded the Carter Center in 1982 to pursue his vision of world diplomacy, and he was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts to promote social and economic justice.
Jimmy Carter said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his presidency. He taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist, his church in Plains, well into his 90s.
As condolences came in, many focused on Jimmy Carter’s character, with US President Joe Biden, in televised remarks, saying he “lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds.”
“The rest of the world looks to us ... and he was worth looking to,” he said.
Biden later declared Thursday next week a national day of mourning, calling on Americans to visit their places of worship to “pay homage” and inviting “the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.”
In Taipei, the Presidential Office yesterday expressed its condolences following the death of Jimmy Carter, who oversaw the severance of formal diplomatic ties between the US and the Republic of China (Taiwan) during his presidency.
"We extend our sincere condolences to the family of former President Jimmy Carter and the people of the United States. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and the nation he faithfully served as they commemorate his legacy," the Presidential Office said on social media.
During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the US switched diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China, ending more than six decades of formal relations with the Republic of China in 1979.
Meanwhile, the US also adopted the Taiwan Relations Act, which has since served as a foundation for US policy toward Taiwan. Under the act, Washington is committed to providing Taiwan weapons to defend itself.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS