Jimmy Carter

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Biography

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States of America, was born in Plains, Georgia in October 1924. He trained and served as a naval officer but when Carter’s father died in 1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned with his family to Georgia. He operated Carter's Warehouse, a seed and farm supply company in Plains, until being elected to the Georgia Senate in 1962. In 1971, he became Georgia's 76th Governor.

Carter announced his candidacy for President of the United States on 12 December 1974. As the Democratic Party nominee, he was elected President on 2 November 1976, serving from 1977 to 1981. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration include the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

In 1982, Carter became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the Carter Center. Under his active guidance, this non-partisan and non-profit Center works to advance peace and health worldwide. Carter is also the author of 27 books.

President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2002 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."