Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old.
The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said.
"Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia," the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
Carter was the first U.S. president to host a Super Bowl champion at the White House when he welcomed the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1980.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement on Sunday that he was "deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend and role model, President Jimmy Carter."
"President Carter's kind and uniting spirit touched so many lives. He was a man of deep faith, and did everything with principal and grace, doing things the right way for the right reasons," Blank said. "We first met at The Home Depot, and I will remember him as an enthusiastic do-it-yourselfer who was willing to roll up his own sleeves to build homes for others. He was also an avid sports fan of our Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United teams. But mostly, I will remember President Carter as my friend, a guiding light and someone who served humanity day in and day out -- a quality he exhibited daily throughout his remarkable life."
Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world -- Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation's highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s.
"My faith demands -- this is not optional -- 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 once said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
