Happy Birthday Jimmy Carter
President James Earl Carter Jr. turns 86 today. He was born on October 1, 1924, in the tiny southwest Georgia hamlet of Plains, and was the first president to be born in a hospital. He was the oldest of four children of James Earl Carter and Bessie Lillian Gordy. Carter's father was a prominent business owner in the community and his mother was a registered nurse.
Carter served on surface ships and on diesel-electric submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. As a junior officer, he completed qualification for command of a diesel-electric submarine. He applied for the US Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program run by then Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on him.
He served one term as Governor of Georgia before becoming President. A Washington outsider, Carter capitalized on the discontent in the nation following Watergate. He would only serve one term as President. Carter was elected over Gerald Ford in 1976. His tenure was a time of continuing inflation and recession, as well as an energy crisis. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 bailing out Chrysler Corporation. He led the plan to deregulate the airline industry. He canceled military pay raises during a time of high inflation and government deficits and declared amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers. He encouraged energy conservation, and even installed solar panels on the White House. The final year of his administration was marred by the Iran hostage crisis, which contributed to his losing his 1980 re-election campaign to Ronald Reagan.
In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development" through The Carter Center. Three sitting presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama, have received the prize; Carter is unique in receiving the award for his actions after leaving the presidency. He is, along with Martin Luther King, Jr., one of only two native Georgians to receive the award.
Carter has been a prolific author in his post-presidency, writing 21 of his 23 books. His most recent book is White House Diary, which came out this year. He is the second oldest living President. George H. W. Bush is three and a half months older.
Carter served on surface ships and on diesel-electric submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. As a junior officer, he completed qualification for command of a diesel-electric submarine. He applied for the US Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program run by then Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on him.
He served one term as Governor of Georgia before becoming President. A Washington outsider, Carter capitalized on the discontent in the nation following Watergate. He would only serve one term as President. Carter was elected over Gerald Ford in 1976. His tenure was a time of continuing inflation and recession, as well as an energy crisis. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 bailing out Chrysler Corporation. He led the plan to deregulate the airline industry. He canceled military pay raises during a time of high inflation and government deficits and declared amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers. He encouraged energy conservation, and even installed solar panels on the White House. The final year of his administration was marred by the Iran hostage crisis, which contributed to his losing his 1980 re-election campaign to Ronald Reagan.
In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development" through The Carter Center. Three sitting presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama, have received the prize; Carter is unique in receiving the award for his actions after leaving the presidency. He is, along with Martin Luther King, Jr., one of only two native Georgians to receive the award.
Carter has been a prolific author in his post-presidency, writing 21 of his 23 books. His most recent book is White House Diary, which came out this year. He is the second oldest living President. George H. W. Bush is three and a half months older.