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01
For his burial, Carter selected his hometown of Plains, Georgia, instead of Arlington National Cemetery, despite his eligibility as a World War II veteran.
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02
He issued a pardon for all Vietnam War draft dodgers.
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03
As of 2019, Carter is the only U.S. president to have completed his term without war, military attack or occupation.
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04
He was both fluent and literate in Spanish, writing his own speeches in Central and South American countries.
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05
He was the first U.S. president born in a hospital.
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06
He is related, on his mother’s side of the family, to Elvis Presley.
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07
He was a close friend of Gerald Ford despite their quite different political ideologies and the fact that he defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election.
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08
On October 11, 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.
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09
He served as President of the United States from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981.
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10
He is fortunately the only one of his immediate family not to get cancer in his pancreas and die. His father and all three of his younger siblings died of pancreatic cancer. His mother died from breast cancer that spread to her bones and other organs including the pancreas.
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11
He was the first U.S. president to use his nickname, Jimmy Carter, when signing official government documents.
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12
He and Rosalynn Carter were the longest married presidential couple, having been married for 77 years when Rosalynn died in 2023.
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13
He created the Department of Education.
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14
He did not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the first time he did not attend a presidential inauguration since his own in 1977.
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15
On March 22, 2019, aged 94 years, 172 days, he became the oldest ever and longest living president in U.S. history, surpassing George H.W. Bush who lived to 94 years, 171 days.
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16
He is the only U.S. president to have once lived in housing subsidized for the poor.
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17
Despite his progressive positions later in life, he initially leaned more conservative before and during his presidency. He supported the Vietnam War right up to the end, and controversially increased aid to El Salvador’s military junta amid reports of human rights abuses. After his presidency, however, he denounced El Salvador’s government as the bloodthirstiest in the hemisphere.
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18
He taught Baptist Sunday school.
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19
He is the first U.S. president to have a post-presidency spanning 40 years.
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20
He did extensive volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds houses for the homeless.
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21
He is the only U.S. president to win a Nobel Prize after leaving office.
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22
After leaving the White House he returned to Georgia, where in 1982 he founded the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta to promote peace and human rights worldwide. The Center has initiated projects in more than 65 countries to resolve conflicts, prevent human rights abuses, build democracy, improve health, and revitalize urban areas. He and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, continued to reside in Plains until their deaths.
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23
He is a distant cousin of singer June Carter Cash and Davin Stanley.
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24
He became the longest-lived U.S. president in 2019 after he surpassed the longevity of George H.W. Bush. On October 1, 2024, he became the first U.S. president to reach the age of 100.
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25
He enrolled himself in the Evelyn Wood speed reading course at the White House and could read 1,200 wpm.
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26
He is a former President of the United States. His children include John William Carter, James Carter, Donnel Jeffrey Carter, and Amy Carter. He attended Georgia Southwestern College 1941-1942, Georgia Tech 1942-1943, and the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946.
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27
He was born the same day as Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
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28
He is, along with Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman, one of only three presidents to outlive two of their successors: Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
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29
Carter had planned to make his career in the Navy, and might have retired to the family peanut farm, but his father’s death in 1953 at age 28 forced him to return to rescue the family business.
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30
While president, his Secret Service code name was Deacon.
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31
On January 30, 2018, aged 93 years, 121 days, Carter outlived his successor Ronald Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004, aged 93 years, 120 days.
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32
He helped mediate the historic Camp David Accords in 1978.
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33
He was the commencement speaker at the 1998 ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter were both awarded honorary doctorates from the university.
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34
To date 2009, he is the only U.S. president to have a National Historic Site named in his honor, located at 300 N Bond Street, Plains, GA 31780-5562, the site of his boyhood residential neighborhood.
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35
He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946 and then served in the Navy for 7 years.
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36
He was portrayed by Dan Aykroyd on Saturday Night Live.
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37
On October 17, 2019, he and Rosalynn Carter became the longest married presidential couple in U.S. history, surpassing George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush who were married for 73 years, 101 days.
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38
At his death in December 2024, he had lived the longest since leaving office of any president in American history, surpassing the previous 31-year record of Herbert Hoover.
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39
He was elected governor of Georgia in 1970, serving from January 12, 1971 to January 14, 1975.
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40
He is the son of James Earl Carter and Lillian Carter, the latter commonly referred to as Miss Lillian.
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41
While in the U.S. Navy, he attended Old Dominion University.
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42
On March 16, 2018, aged 93 years, 166 days, Carter outlived his close friend and predecessor Gerald Ford, who died aged 93 years, 165 days on December 26, 2006.
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43
He is eighth cousin twice removed of Barack Obama via William Terrell and Susannah Waters.
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44
A biography and bibliography appear in Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 155, pages 50-58, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2007.
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45
He was a member of the Georgia State Senate from January 14, 1963 to January 10, 1967.
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46
He performed at the One Less Tear cancer benefit with his wife Rosalynn Carter in Philipsburg, PA, on July 24, 2002.
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47
He led a major boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
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48
As of October 2002, he was running the Carter Center in Atlanta, GA, with his wife Rosalynn Carter.
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49
He holds the record for the longest retirement from the U.S. presidency, which began on January 20, 1981. The record was previously held by John Adams and Herbert Hoover.
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50
He was interviewed by Admiral Hyman Rickover, went through the U.S. Navy nuclear power training program, and was slated to serve aboard the Navy’s second nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Seawolf SSN-575, when he resigned his commission to return home and take over the family business.
