Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States of America, a mediator for peace in the Middle East during his tenure and a tireless advocate for global health and human rights, has died at the age of 100.
Carter was the longest-serving president in US history. Although he spent only one term in the White House and experienced a heavy defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1981, Carter dedicated his work to international relations and human rights in the decades after his presidency, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Last days in hospice care
After several hospital stays, Carter’s family announced on February 18 of last year that he had decided to spend his remaining time at home, under hospice care, surrounded by loved ones. This decision had the “full support of his family and medical team,” the family said in a statement.
Carter’s wife, Rosalynn Carter, died last November, two days after she herself was admitted to hospice care. The former first lady was 96. The couple married in 1946, and the former president attended her memorial service in Atlanta.
Carter took office in 1977 as governor of Georgia and a devout Christian whose obscurity in Washington was considered a virtue after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War. However, expectations for Carter’s presidency quickly declined due to economic and foreign policy crises, including high unemployment, double-digit inflation, an energy crisis, and the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Key moments of the presidency
Despite the challenges, Carter achieved significant successes . In 1977, he finalized an agreement that returned control of the Panama Canal to Panama. At Camp David in 1978, Carter brought together Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, resulting in a peace agreement that continues to this day.
Although unpopular during his presidency, Carter later became one of the most respected former presidents. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “decades of tireless work” in the fields of human rights and peacebuilding. His humanitarian work was carried out under the auspices of the Carter Center, founded in 1980. in Atlanta in the 1960s.
Carter traveled the world as a peace envoy, election observer, and public health advocate. His efforts helped to control diseases such as river blindness, trachoma, and Guinea worm, reducing the number of cases from millions to just a few today.
Controversies and criticism
Carter was a critic of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the use of drones, illegal government surveillance, and the Guantanamo Bay prison. His efforts for peace in the Middle East, including his advocacy of a two-state solution, have drawn both admiration and scorn. His book, “Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid,” was met with strong backlash, and Israeli leaders largely shunned him after its publication.
Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, a small town of fewer than 1,000 people. He graduated from the Naval Academy of the United States and served as a lieutenant on nuclear submarines before taking over the family peanut farming business after his father’s death. His political career included a term in the Georgia Senate and a 1970 run for governor, where he called for the end of racial segregation.
Carter is known and for his involvement with Habitat for Humanity and his promotion of renewable energy, including the installation of solar panels on the White House (which Reagan later removed).
Jimmy Carter will be buried in his native Georgia, leaving behind the legacy of a president whose post-presidential work and moral principles outweighed his political failures.
Source: Klix.ba
