Jimmy Carter's Life in Photos
Carter is the longest living president in American history.
Former president Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United State, was born on October 1, 1924 in rural Georgia. After serving as president from 1977 to 1981, he and his wife Rosalynn Carter returned to their hometown of Plains, where they have lived ever since.
He didn't want to "capitalize financially on being in the White House," he said in 2018, instead choosing to focus on humanitarian efforts. The former peanut farmer and Navy man shared, "it just never had been my ambition to be rich."
He's been an ex-president longer than anyone else in history; Carter became the oldest living former president in American history on his 95th birthday three years ago, and he makes history every single day. "I think the best explanation for [a long life] is to marry the best spouse: someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you and keep you alive and interested in life," Carter said in 2019. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been married for 78 years.
As Jimmy Carter celebrates his 99th birthday this weekend while in hospice care, we look back on the best photos of him throughout his life.
Circa 1920s
Jimmy Carter was born James Earl Carter, Jr. in October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia.
Circa 1920s
Jimmy is pictured here with his sisters Gloria and Ruth, and his father James Earl Carter Sr. His father ran a general store.
Circa 1920s
He grew up in Plains and attended college in Georgia.
Pictured: Carter petting a colt in a field.
1928
Jimmy and his sister Gloria in a portrait.
1944
Carter was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943.
"When I was five years old, if anybody asked me what I wanted to do in the future, I would say I want to go to the Naval Academy and be a naval officer. My daddy was a first lieutenant in the First World War, and my uncle—my favorite uncle, my youngest brother of my mother, was in the Navy. And he traveled in the Philippines and Japan and China and so forth and sent me a lot of mementos and letters back," Carter later recalled. "So between the two, between West Point and Annapolis, which was the only two free universities we knew about in those days, I chose Annapolis. So that was my longtime commitment."
Circa mid-1940s
Carter's Naval Academy yearbook picture.
Circa mid-1940s
Another photograph of Carter at the Naval Academy.
1946
Carter at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis with a classmate.
1946
On his graduation, Jimmy's mom Lillian (right) and Rosalynn (left) pinned on his Ensign bars.
Circa late 1940s
After graduation, Carter was assigned to the U.S.S. Wyoming, where he worked for two years and then transferred to the submarine force during the Korean war.
"I was in battleships first which did experimental gun programs. And I was the electronics officer and the photography officer. And that was on two battleships, the Wyoming and the Mississippi," he shared. "And then I went in the submarine force and I was in the Pacific almost all the time."
Circa 1950s
Jimmy and Rosalynn married right after his graduation, and quickly welcomed three sons, John William "Jack" (b. 1947), James Earl III "Chip" (b. 1950) and Donnell Jeffrey "Jeff" (b. 1952). Their daughter, Amy, was born in 1967.
1971
After his father died, he moved home to Plains, and soon entered politics in Georgia. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1962, and as Georgia's governor in 1970.
1970s
He remained a peanut framer until his election to the presidency.
1970s
Carter pets his dog behind a tractor on his peanut farm in Plains.
1974
Plains has always been his home throughout his entire political career. "The Georgia governorship is one of the most powerful in the nation. And I enjoyed being Governor. That was one of the most pleasant four years of my life," he would later reflect.
1975
He declared his candidacy for presidency in 1974, and began campaigning soon after.
1976
Carter, his wife Rosalynn Carter, and their daughter Amy in Plains.
1976
During a break from his presidential campaign, Carter played softball in (you guessed it!) Plains.
1976
Carter hugs his wife after learning he won the presidential election. He won the popular vote by 50.1 percent, and received 297 electoral votes.
1977
A photo from Carter's inauguration, as Rosalynn looks lovingly at her husband.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
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