Jimmy Carter becomes the first president ever to live to be 100 years old

Former Democratic President Carter turns 100 on Tuesday, earning the distinction of being the first president to ever live a full century.

Carter, the nation’s 39th president, was a man of several firsts. Among other achievements, he was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital, the first Naval Academy graduate to become president, and he was the first president to make an official state visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Now Carter is the first US president in history to live to be 100 years old.

Carter remains in home hospice care in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he has lived since the height of his presidency in 1981. Next February, the former president, who survived his wife Rosalynn, will spend two years in hospice care. She died last year at the age of 96.

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Former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn are shown taking a walk in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. (Matt McClain/Washington Post via Getty Images/File)

“It’s funny, President Carter has accomplished so much and rarely fails. But the one thing he wasn’t good at is hospice,” said Jill Stuckey, a family friend of the Carters for more than 30 years and director of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park in Plains. “He lives on and we are so thrilled about that. So if there’s something he’s not good at, we’re glad it’s in hospice.”

When asked what distinguished Stuckey Carter from other previous presidents who lived to old age, she said it was “tenacity.”

“He and Mrs. Carter were interested in living as long as possible and being as healthy as possible so they could help as many people as possible,” Stuckey told Fox News Digital. “They ate every single meal right. They exercised every day. They simply take care of themselves tirelessly so that they can live as long as possible and take care of others. And that’s what President Carter is proving today.” that all of these things make a difference.

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Stuckey said events commemorating Carter’s 100th birthday have been held in Plains since Saturday, when the city held its annual Peanut Festival.

“We celebrate peanut harvest season here in Plains, and it coincides with President Carter’s birthday every year, so we kind of combine them,” Stuckey said.

A float travels down Main Street during the 26th annual Plains Peanut Festival leading up to former President Carter’s birthday on October 1. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

She also noted that on Tuesday, Carter’s birthday, there will be several other events commemorating his birthday in Plains, including a naturalization ceremony for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, which both Jimmy and Rosalynn attended.

After the ceremony, there will be a flyover in honor of the former president, organized with the help of Marine Secretary Carlos Del Toro. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for new statues dedicated to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution will also be held in Plains later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, to celebrate Carter’s birthday, volunteers gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build 30 new homes in five days. Attendees reportedly included country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

“You are one of the most influential statesmen in our history,” President Biden said in a video released Tuesday ahead of Carter’s birthday.

Over the weekend, Grand Ole Opry member and country music legend Charlie McCoy performed a special rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” in honor of the former president.

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Snow covers a statue of former President Carter on March 21, 2023 in Rapid City, SD (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

“I remember the first time I saw him and I was in awe and the feeling was always there. “You can be around presidents all the time, but the first time is the most meaningful,” said Cathie Skoog, a former member of the White House Communications Agency. “He didn’t care what people thought. He did what he thought was right for the country.”

Carter’s presidency was marked by efforts to protect the environment, advance human rights and raise the American education system to new levels. Carter overhauled the civil service system, deregulated the airline industry to stimulate competition, and created the Departments of Energy and Education. It was also Carter’s administration that mandated both seat belts and airbags in cars.

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However, Carter’s presidency was also marked by litigation, including high inflation, an energy crisis and failed negotiations to release dozens of American hostages held in Iran. Carter’s Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, ultimately resigned in protest over the administration’s handling of the hostage crisis.

During the Iranian Revolution, oil prices in the USA rose significantly. In July 1979, Carter blamed Americans, discouraged by rising inflation and the energy crisis, for the loss of confidence in the country.

“The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us,” Carter said in his speech. “For the first time in our country’s history, a majority of our population believes the next five years will be worse than the last five years. Two thirds of our population don’t even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually declining, and Americans’ willingness to save for the future has fallen below that of everyone else in the Western world.

“We have to face the truth, then we can change course,” he continued. “We just have to believe in each other, in our ability to govern ourselves and in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and trust in America is the most important task facing us now.”