Former President Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29. He was 100 years old.
He was the longest living president in U.S. history, and the first to live to 100 years old.
A Georgia native and a Democrat, Carter was elected president in 1976, defeating the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Carter served one term before losing re-election in 1980 to Ronald Reagan.
Opposing racial segregation, Carter supported the growing civil rights movement, and became an activist within the Democratic Party. He served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967 and then as Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter successfully pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also confronted stagflation. His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education.
He is the only president to serve a full term without appointing a justice to the Supreme Court. The end of his presidency was marked by the Iran hostage crisis, an energy crisis, the Three Mile Island accident, the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending détente, imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciating the Carter Doctrine, and leading the multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
After leaving the presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights. In 2002 he received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in relation to it. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and further the eradication of infectious diseases.
He was also known for his work with Habitat for Humanity. He only recently stopped building houses for the non-profit organization when his health began deteriorating.
