Doctor explains what are the palliative treatments that Jimmy Carter receives 6:02
(CNN) --
Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter was born in 1924 in Plains, Georgia.
In 1946 he married Rosalynn (Smith) Carter, with whom he has lived ever since and with whom he had four children.
Here, a look back at his personal life and his public career, which he has continued for decades after his departure from the White House.
Personal information
President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn lead guests at the annual Congressional Christmas Ball at the White House in December 1978.
Date of birth:
October 1, 1924
Place of birth:
Plains, Georgia
Birth name:
James Earl Carter Jr.
Father:
James Earl Carter Sr., farmer and businessman
Mother:
Lillian (Gordy) Carter
Marriage:
Rosalynn (Smith) Carter
(July 7, 1946–present)
Children
: Amy Lynn, Donnel Jeffrey "Jeff", James Earl III "Chip", and John William "Jack".
Studies
: Georgia Southwestern College, 1941-1942;
Georgia Institute of Technology, 1942-1943;
US Naval Academy, 1946
Participation in the Armed Forces
: Lieutenant in the Navy, 1946-1953
Religion
: Christian
Other curious facts
Carter was the first American president to be born in a hospital.
Defender of human rights, especially in relation to the governments of South Korea, Iran, Argentina, South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
The Carter Center, created by the former president and his wife in 1982, has observed 113 elections in 39 countries since 1989.
He created the Department of Energy and established a national policy to deal with energy shortages.
He is the oldest living ex-president.
He has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has won three.
Timeline of Jimmy Carter's life
1953 -
Works on his own farm in Plains, Georgia, and runs Carter's Warehouse, a farm supply and seed company.
1962 -
Wins election to the Georgia State Senate.
1966 -
Runs for governor, loses to Lester Maddox.
November 3, 1970 -
Runs for governor a second time and wins.
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1974 -
Chairs the Democratic National Committee campaign for the 1974 congressional elections.
December 12, 1974 -
Officially announces his candidacy for President of the United States.
November 2, 1976 -
He is elected the 39th President of the United States.
Biden speaks with then-President Jimmy Carter at a fundraiser in Delaware in 1978. Later that year, Biden was re-elected to the Senate.
He kept getting reelected until he stepped down in 2009 and became Barack Obama's vice president.
(Credit: Barry Thumma/AP)
January 20, 1977 -
Takes office as president.
The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel and the hostage crisis in Tehran
March 26, 1979 -
In a ceremony in Washington, Egypt and Israel formally sign a peace treaty ending 31 years of war between the two countries.
The success of the Camp David Accords is one of the milestones of the Carter presidency.
November 4, 1979 -
The United States embassy in Tehran, Iran, is stormed and diplomatic personnel are taken hostage.
Carter's inability to successfully negotiate the release of the hostages becomes a major political liability.
The hostages are released on January 20, 1981, the day of Ronald Reagan's inauguration.
1982 -
Becomes a professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
1982 -
Founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, in collaboration with Emory University.
The Carter Center's initiatives include monitoring international elections, fighting disease in developing countries, and seeking international peace.
One of the major achievements of the Carter Center is the near eradication of Guinea worm disease, which went from more than 3 million cases in 1986 to 14 cases in 2021.
August 9, 1999 -
Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for an American civilian.
May 14, 2002 -
In a speech delivered in Cuba, Carter outlines his vision for improving trade relations between the United States and Cuba.
The speech is broadcast live and uncensored on Cuban state television.
October 11, 2002 -
Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jimmy Carter greets attendees of a torchlight procession in central Oslo, before the banquet of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee, December 10, 2002. (Credit: Erlend Aas/ Pool/ AFP/ Getty Images)
February 11, 2007 -
Wins a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Album for the audiobook "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis."
He shares the award with Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.
April 17, 2008 -
Meets with Hamas leaders in Cairo, Egypt.
US and Israeli government officials oppose the Carter meeting, as both governments classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
September 15, 2009 -
Carter causes controversy with a statement on NBC's Nightly News about President Barack Obama.
Says Carter, "An overwhelming part of the intensely displayed animosity toward President Obama is based on the fact that he's a black man, that he's African-American."
His negotiations with North Korea and Cuba
August 27, 2010 -
Carter negotiates the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes.
Gomes had been imprisoned in North Korea after entering illegally in January 2010. "At the request of President Carter, and for humanitarian reasons, the chairman of the National Defense Commission, Kim Jong-Il, granted amnesty to Mr. Gomes," says the Carter Center in a statement.
March 28, 2011 -
Carter arrives in Cuba on a three-day visit to meet with President Raúl Castro.
Castro and former US President Jimmy Carter listen to the US anthem after Carter visited Havana in 2002.
April 26, 2011 -
He visits Pyongyang, North Korea for talks aimed at easing tensions between North and South Korea, accompanied by former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
May 4, 2011 –
In an opinion piece in
The Washington Post
, Carter urges support for the Hamas-Fatah unity government.
June 24, 2012 –
In an op-ed in
The New York Times
, Carter asserts that the United States is no longer a champion of human rights in light of recent legislative moves and drone strikes.
July 7, 2015 -
His autobiography, “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety" is published
August 3, 2015 -
A "small mass" is removed from his liver during an operation.
Days later she announces that the surgery revealed that she has cancer, and that she will receive treatment at Emory University in Atlanta.
August 20, 2015 -
Carter holds a press conference to announce that doctors have found patches of melanoma on her brain and that she will undergo treatment.
December 6, 2015 -
Carter announces that according to his latest brain MRI, the cancer is gone.
February 15, 2016 -
Wins a Grammy Award in the Best Spoken Word Album category for the audiobook version of "A Full Life: Reflections on the Nineties."
It is his second win at the Grammys.
February 10, 2019 -
He wins his third Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album, this time for the audiobook version of "Faith - A Journey For All."
May 13, 2019 - The Carter Center says the former president is recovering from surgery to repair a broken hip after he fell at his home in Plains, Georgia.
June 3, 2019 -
Emory University announces that Carter has become a full faculty member after teaching at the Atlanta-based private university for 37 years.
On Trump and the age of presidents
June 28, 2019 -
Carter suggests that a full investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election would show that Donald Trump did not win the presidency.
In response, Trump later says that Carter is a Democrat and repeats a "typical talking point," calling him a "good man, terrible president."
September 17, 2019 -
During an event at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Carter says that if he were 80 he wouldn't be able to handle the responsibilities of being president and jokes that he hopes there will be an "age limit" on the role.
The comments are especially important at the moment, as the age of the top three Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2020, who are around 70, has been the subject of ongoing debate.
Former US President Jimmy Carter spoke to reporters on August 20, 2015, about his cancer.
(Credit: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images/File).
September 9, 2020 -
The documentary "Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President" opens in theaters.
February 18, 2023 -
The Carter Center announces that the former president, who has kept a low profile since the start of the pandemic, will begin receiving "hospice care in lieu of additional medical intervention."
Jimmy Carter