Title
Honoring the Life and Legacy of President Jimmy Carter.
Body
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 no...
Click here for full text