Jimmy Carter’s Extraordinary Life in Photos

Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, where he lived until his family moved to the nearby town of Archery when Carter was 4 years old. He was the oldest of four children.

Jimmy Carter pets a colt in a field. His boyhood home initially did not have electricity or running water, and Carter had many chores, including feeding livestock, cutting wood, and carrying water to workers in the field.

After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946, Jimmy Carter served in the Navy for more than seven years. One of his postings was in New York, where the lieutenant worked with Admiral Hyman Rickover to develop a nuclear submarine program. In October 1953, Carter was honorably discharged.

Jimmy Carter, seen here in 1976, assumed responsibility of the family peanut farm after his father died in 1953. Shortly after the Carter family moved to rural Georgia, Jimmy got involved in local politics.

As Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter presents a personalized license plate to Hank Aaron at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1974 to commemorate the baseball legend’s 715th home run, which broke Babe Ruth’s record. Carter lost his first race for the governor’s office but was elected in 1970.

Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter had four children: Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy. This photo, including the families of the Carters’ three sons, is circa 1976.

First row: daughter Amy
Second row: Rosalynn, Jimmy, daughter-in-law Annette, son Jeff
Third row: son Chip, daughter-in-law Caron, grandson Jason, son Jack, daughter-in-law Judy

Jimmy Carter and singer James Brown share a stage during one of Carter’s presidential campaign fundraisers at the Royal Coach Inn in Atlanta on February 14, 1976. The one-term former governor of Georgia was not as well-known as the other Democratic candidates, but in the wake of the Watergate scandal, his outsider status worked to his advantage.

Chief Justice Earl Burger swears in Jimmy Carter as the 39^th president of the United States on January 20, 1977, in Washington, D.C. First Lady Rosalynn Carter held the family bible, upon which Jimmy recited the oath of office.

Jimmy, Amy, and Rosalynn Carter walk during the inaugural parade on January 20, 1977. Jimmy was the first president to walk on Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, a tradition that continues today.

Amy Carter sits on her father’s lap at his desk in the Oval Office in 1978. Amy was 9 years old when her dad entered the White House.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin join hands after the Camp David Accords on September 18, 1978, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. The trio had spent the previous 13 days at the Maryland presidential retreat as Carter brokered the groundbreaking treaty.

On October 20, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signs the Extension of Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that guarantees equal rights for women. At the time, the ERA had be ratified by 35 states, three short of the necessary three-fourths majority for the amendment to take effect. Throughout his life and political career, Carter has advocated for gender and racial equality.

Pope John Paul II is welcomed to the White House by President Jimmy Carter, First Lady Rosalynn Cater, Second Lady Joan Mondale, and Vice President Walter Mondale on October 7, 1979. It was the first papal visit to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Jimmy Carter accepts the Democratic nomination for president at the 1980 convention on August 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent president, who would go on to lose to Ronald Reagan in the general election.

Amy and Jimmy Carter hold The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, which Jimmy wrote based on a story he used to tell his kids. Amy illustrated the book, which was published in 1996. During his lifetime, Jimmy wrote 32 books.

Jimmy Carter, who was leading an international delegation to observe the Palestinian elections, checks a ballot box in the West Bank’s Daheisha refugee camp on January 20, 1996. The Carter Center has monitored 125 elections in 40 countries since 1989.

Jimmy Carter walks past a Naval Honor Guard during a dedication ceremony for the nuclear submarine that bears his name at the Pentagon on April 27, 1998, in Washington D.C. The USS Jimmy Carter was commissioned in 2005.

In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” He accepted the honor in Oslo, Norway.

Jimmy Carter attaches siding to the front of a Habitat for Humanity home being built on June 10, 2003, in LaGrange, Georgia. Jimmy and Rosalynn began volunteering with the nonprofit for one week each year in 1984.