Summary
Jimmy Carter was the longest-lived president in US history. He only served one term in the White House and was soundly beaten by Ronald Reagan in 1980. He spent the decades afterward focused on international relations and human rights.
Hopes for the Carter presidency were dashed by economic and foreign policy crises. A botched rescue attempt left eight US servicemen dead and fed doubts about Carter’s leadership.
The Carters had four children and 11 grandchildren, among them James Carter IV. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize for “decades of untiring effort” for human rights and peacemaking.
A graduate of the US Naval Academy, he rose to the rank of lieutenant and worked on the nascent nuclear submarine program. After his father’s death in 1953, he took up peanut farming. He was elected to the Georgia senate then won the governorship in 1970.
