Title
Honoring, recognizing, and congratulating President Jimmy Carter for his historic 100th birthday.
Body
WHEREAS, James Earl Carter, Jr. was born October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia to World War I veteran James Earl Carter, Sr. and Lillian Carter; 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, In 1941, Carter graduated from Plains High School and enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College to study engineering. He transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology the next year with dreams of attending the United States Naval Academy. After graduating from Georgia Tech as an ROTC cadet, Carter received an appointment to the Naval Academy from Congressman Stephen Pace; and
WHEREAS, While at the Naval Academy, Carter met his future wife, Rosalynn Smith, through his sister, Ruth. After graduating 60th out of 821 in his class in 1947, Carter married Rosalynn Smith; and
WHEREAS, Carter was commissioned as an Ensign and joined the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine program, traveling across the country for his Atlantic and Pacific deployments while studying nuclear power academically; 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, A quiet integrationist, Carter's Baptist faith led him to speak out more about the ills of segregation after the Brown v. Board decision, and in 1962 Carter ran for an open seat in the Georgia State Senate. Carter challenged his election loss due to voter fraud organized by the local Democratic Party establishment, and another election was held that he won, beginn...
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