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Honoring the Life and Legacy of President Jimmy Carter.
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WHEREAS, On December 29, 2024, former President Jimmy Carter passed away in his Plains, Georgia at 100 years old after nearly two years in hospice care; and
WHEREAS, Carter was the longest living ex-President in U.S. history, carving an esteemed legacy from his post-presidential humanitarian advocacy that exceeded his accomplishments as the 39th President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The first U.S. President born in a hospital, Carter had a rural upbringing, working as a peanut farmer in his teens. Generations of Carters worked the land as cotton farmers, and the Carter moved several times in his infancy, often living alongside and befriending African American families in his youth; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Georgia Tech as an ROTC cadet, Carter received an appointment to the Naval Academy from Congressman Stephen Pace. While at the Naval Academy, Carter met his future wife Rosalynn Smith, and they married after Carter graduated from the Naval Academy; and
WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Navy for seven years, Carter returned to Plains, Georgia to take over his family’s peanut farm after his father’s passing, using his scientific and technological education to expand the business; and
WHEREAS, Carter entered politics in the 1960s, rising to become Governor of Georgia in 1970. Term-limited, he announced a groundbreaking campaign for President of the United States in December 1974; and
WHEREAS, Carter was given no chance to win against Party favorites such as Ted Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Henry “Scoop” Jackson. However, the nation’s appetite for a Washington outsider in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal led little known Carter’s anti-establishment campaign to gain momentum through his early primary and caucus victories, beginning in Iowa and New Hampshire. His strategy paid off and became the blueprint by which every presidential campaign has sought their party’s nomination since; and
WHEREAS, Carter received the Democratic nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, and went on to narrowly defeat President Gerald Ford in the 1976 Election. Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States on January 20, 1977; and
WHEREAS, As President, Carter sought to improve the environment by expanding the national parks system to include 103 acres of Alaskan lands. To increase human and social services, President Carter established the Department of Education and bolstered Social Security. Energy conservation was one of President Carter’s major focuses, and he created the Department of Energy in 1977. President Carter also deregulated several industries, most notably the airline industry in 1978; and
WHEREAS, President Carter was perhaps most renowned for his foreign policy work, negotiating the Camp David Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to attain Egyptian recognition of the State of Israel, the withdrawal of Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, and increased political sovereignty for the West Bank and Gaza. President Carter also signed the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union, and provided military support to the Afghan opposition after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979; and
WHEREAS, The persistence of the energy crisis, economic “stagflation,” divisions in the Democratic Party over President Carter’s unwillingness to work with Congress, and the Iran Hostage Crisis led to the demise of the Carter presidency, and in 1980 he was defeated in his reelection efforts by Ronald Reagan. President Carter spent the last days of his presidency securing the release of the hostages from Iran; and
WHEREAS, President Carter returned to Plains and spent his post-presidency championing human rights and promoting humanitarianism across the world. In 1982 he established the Carter Center, a non-governmental and nonprofit organization with the purpose of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering. Four years later, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum opened near the site; and
WHEREAS, President Carter and The Carter Center engaged in conflict mediation in over a dozen nations, sending 107 election-observation missions to the Americas, Africa and Asia. Carter’s work alongside the World Health Organization led to the near eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. President Carter also worked with nonprofit Habitat for Humanity to construct and renovate homes for families, and authored dozens of books on faith, politics, humanitarianism, foreign policy; and
WHEREAS, In 2002 President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development; and
WHEREAS, For decades President Carter taught Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, embodying the timelessness of his commitment to his Christian faith; and
WHEREAS, In February 2023 President Carter entered hospice care, and months later First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away. Despite these heartbreaking emotional setbacks, he turned 99 and public anticipation for his 100th birthday began; and
WHEREAS, On October 1, 2019, President Carter became the longest-lived president in U.S history at 95, and five years later he became the first U.S. President live to one hundred years of age to an outpouring of approbation from across the country. Carter lived long enough to cast a ballot in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election; and
WHEREAS, The solemness of Carter’s passing for the nation has also reinvigorated debates about his life and presidency. While most remember Carter’s presidency as a failure, a greater appreciation for his service to our country through the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, the energy crisis, stagflation, and roiling crises across the Middle East and the world now emphasize his thoughtful, sober, and diplomatic approach to nearly unsolvable problems. His century on Earth was defined by moral conviction and commitment to the betterment of humanity, and may we hope all our leaders govern in the path which he did; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby honors the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter
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