The peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., was a dark-horse candidate who won the presidency.
JAMES Earl Carter was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Ga., and was the first president born in a hospital.
A gifted student and high school athlete, he attended Georgia Southwestern College and Georgia Institute of Technology. After graduating 59th in a class of 820 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Carter studied nuclear physics and reactor technology. He married Rosalynn Smith in 1946.
Carter returned to Plains to expand his family’s peanut business. He entered politics and, in 1970, was elected governor of Georgia.
During his inaugural speech, he declared that racial segregation had no place in the future of the state. He hung a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. in the State House.
Carter campaigned for president in 1975. He was far removed from the still-fresh Watergate scandal and, used that position to promote a platform of government reorganization.
He defeated incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first contender from the Deep South to be elected since 1848.
Carter’s greatest achievement was the Camp David Accord signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978. Other successes included the SALT II agreement with the Soviet Union, the Panama Canal Treaty, and for continuing Richard Nixon’s policy with the People’s Republic of China.
At home, he was faced with record-high inflation and interest rates. His effort to reduce them caused a short recession.
On July 15, 1979, Carter gave a televised address in which he spoke of the public’s lack of confidence in government.
The next day, he asked his Cabinet members for their resignations. He accepted five.
The result was a weak-looking administration. Carter’s popularity began to tumble.
Carter made great efforts to personally set the example for energy conservation. He wore sweaters, installed solar panels on the White House, and a woodburning stove inside. He ordered thermostats to control the temperature in all government buildings.
Carter’s government reorganization effort separated the Department of Health, Education and Welfare into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.
His Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act created 103 million acres of national parkland. He was also successful in deregulating the trucking, rail, oil, finance, airline and communications industries.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, a move seen as an attempt to control Middle Eastern oil. The Carter Doctrine would prevent any outside force from taking control of the Persian Gulf.
Carter ended the Russian Wheat Deal established by President Nixon, leading to more hardship for American farmers.
He also stopped America’s participation in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
Carter’s ultimate undoing would be Iran. An uprising against its leader, the Shah of Iran, was under way. The shah, an ally of America since World War II, was given political asylum and medical treatment in New York. In response, 52 American hostages were seized at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
In 1980, Carter lost his reelection bid to former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, but continued to fight for the return of the hostages. After being held for 444 days, they were finally released on Jan. 20, 1981, the day Carter left office.
In his post presidential life, Carter is known as a wellrespected elder statesman, skilled foreign-policy negotiator, human-rights advocate and for his work with the Habitat for the Humanity program. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn live in Plains, Ga.
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New York Post activities
* USE the Internet or reference book to learn more about the life and presidency of Jimmy Carter
* PRESIDENT Carter inherited many problems when he took over the White House. How would you have handled the country’s problems? Do you think Carter did a good or bad job under the circumstances?
* LEARN more about key events that occurred during the Carter presidency: the Camp David Accord, SALT II, invasion of Afghanistan, etc. How have these events and their outcomes affected our lives today?