Jimmy Carter#Americas

File:The Carter family store in the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park.jpg, in Plains, Georgia]]

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, at the Wise Sanitarium, where his mother worked as a registered nurse.{{sfn|Godbold|2010|p=9}} Carter was the first U.S. president born in a hospital.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=11–32}} He was the eldest child of Bessie Lillian Gordy and James Earl Carter Sr., and a descendant of English immigrant Thomas Carter, who settled in the Colony of Virginia in 1635.{{sfn|Kaufman|Kaufman|2013|p=70}}{{sfn|Carter|2012|p=10}} In Georgia, numerous generations of Carters worked as cotton farmers.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=9}} Carter's father was a successful local businessman who ran a general store and was an investor in farmland;{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=114}} he had served as a reserve second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps during World War I.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=114}}

During Carter's infancy, his family moved several times, settling on a dirt road in nearby Archery, which was almost entirely populated by impoverished Black families.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=11–32}}{{sfn|Biven|2002|p=57}} His family eventually had three more children, Gloria, Ruth, and Billy.{{sfn|Flippen|2011|p=25}} Carter had a good relationship with his parents, even though his mother was often absent during his childhood since she worked long hours. Although his father was staunchly pro-segregation, he allowed Jimmy to befriend the Black farmhands' children.{{sfn|Newton|2016|p=172}} Carter was an enterprising teenager who was given his own acre of Earl's farmland, where he grew and sold peanuts.{{sfn|Hamilton|2005|p=334}} Carter also rented out a section of tenant housing he had purchased.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=11–32}}

Carter attended Plains High School from 1937 to 1941, graduating from the 11th grade; the school did not have a 12th grade.{{sfn|National Park Service|2020}} By that time, Archery and Plains had been impoverished by the Great Depression, but the family benefited from New Deal farming subsidies, and Carter's father became a community leader.{{sfn|Hamilton|2005|p=334}}{{sfn|Hayward|2004|loc=The Plain Man from Plains}} Carter was a diligent student with a fondness for reading.{{sfn|Hobkirk|2002|p=8}} According to a popular anecdote, he was passed over for valedictorian after he and his friends skipped school to venture downtown in a hot rod (although it is not clear he would otherwise have been valedictorian).{{sfnm|Bourne|1997|1pp=33–43|Alter|2020|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QwAAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 45]}} Carter played on the Plains High School basketball team and joined Future Farmers of America, which helped him develop a lifelong interest in woodworking.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=33–43}}

Carter had long dreamed of attending the United States Naval Academy.{{sfn|Hamilton|2005|p=334}} In 1941, he started undergraduate coursework in engineering at Georgia Southwestern College in nearby Americus, Georgia.{{sfn|Panton|2022|p=99}} The next year, Carter transferred to the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, where civil rights icon Blake Van Leer was president.{{sfn|Rattini|2020}} While at Georgia Tech, Carter took part in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.{{sfn|Balmer|2014|p=34}} Van Leer encouraged Carter to join the Naval Academy.{{cite web |last1=Archives |title=The Colonel |url=https://vanleerarchives.org/the-colonel/ |website=Van Leer Family Archives & History |date=January 21, 2020 |access-date=January 8, 2025 |archive-date=January 12, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112012827/https://vanleerarchives.org/the-colonel/ |url-status=live }} In 1943, he received an appointment to the Naval Academy from U.S. Representative Stephen Pace, and Carter graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1946.{{sfn|Hobkirk|2002|p=38}}{{sfn|Balmer|2014|p=34}} He was a good student, but was seen as reserved and quiet, in contrast to the academy's culture of aggressive hazing of freshmen.{{sfn|Kaufman|Kaufman|2013|p=62}} While at the academy, Carter fell in love with Rosalynn Smith, a friend of his sister Ruth.{{sfn|Wertheimer|2004|p=343}} The two wed shortly after his graduation in 1946, and were married until her death on November 19, 2023.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=44–55}}{{sfn|Barrow|Warren|2023}} Carter was a sprint football player for the Navy Midshipmen and a standout freshman cross country runner.{{sfn|Hingston|2016}}{{cite web |title=On the road with Carter ROADRUNNER Continued from Page A1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-on-the-road-with-carter/161959991/ |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=December 31, 2024 |page=91 |date=November 11, 1979}} He graduated 60th out of 821 midshipmen in the class of 1947{{efn|The Naval Academy's Class of 1947 graduated in 1946 as a result of World War II.{{sfn|Argetsinger|1996}}}} with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as an ensign.{{sfn|Alter|2020|p=59}}

File:Graduation of Jimmy Carter from U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, Rosalynn Carter and Lillian Carter Pinning on Ensign Bars - DPLA - e1b1f2b5b4e38fc82cfe091678fc112a.jpg and his mother at his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, June 5, 1946]]

From 1946 to 1953, the Carters lived in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, and California, during his deployments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|pp=11–12}} In 1948, he began officer training for submarine duty and served aboard {{USS|Pomfret|SS-391|6}}.{{sfn|Thomas|1978|p=18}} Carter was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 1949. His service aboard Pomfret included a simulated war patrol to the western Pacific and Chinese coast from January to March of that year.{{sfn|Nijnatten|2012|p=77}} In 1951, Carter was assigned to the diesel/electric {{USS|K-1|SSK-1}}, qualified for command, and served in several positions, including executive officer.{{sfn|Jimmy Carter Library and Museum|2004}}

In 1952, Carter began an association with the Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program, led by then-Captain Hyman G. Rickover.{{sfn|Hambley|2008|p=202}} Rickover had high standards, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on his life.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=72–77}} Carter was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C., for three-month temporary duty, while Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=74}}

On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown.{{sfn|Frank|1995|p=554}} Carter was ordered to Chalk River to lead a U.S. maintenance crew to assist in the shutdown of the reactor.{{sfn|Martel|2008|p=64}} The painstaking process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor.{{sfn|Marguet|2022|p=262}} During and after his presidency, Carter said that his experience at Chalk River had shaped his views on atomic energy and led him to cease the development of a neutron bomb.{{sfn|Milnes|2009}}

In March 1953, Carter began a six-month nuclear power plant operation course at Union College in Schenectady.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|pp=11–12}} His intent was to eventually work aboard {{USS|Seawolf|SSN-575|6}}, which was intended to be the second U.S. nuclear submarine.{{sfn|Naval History and Heritage Command|1997}} His plans changed when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July, two months before construction of Seawolf began, and Carter obtained a release from active duty so he could take over the family peanut business.{{sfn|Wead|2005|p=404}}{{sfn|Panton|2022|p=100}} Deciding to leave Schenectady proved difficult, as Rosalynn had grown comfortable with their life there.{{sfn|Wooten|1978|p=270}}{{sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2005|p=310}} She later said that returning to small-town life in Plains seemed "a monumental step backward".{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=79}} Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=77–81}}{{sfn|Hayward|2009|p=23}} He served in the inactive Navy Reserve until 1961 and left with the rank of lieutenant.{{sfn|Eckstein|2015}} Carter's awards include the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.{{sfn|Suciu|2020}} As a submarine officer, he also earned the "dolphin" badge.{{sfn|Gherman|2004|p=34}}

After debt settlements and division of his father's estate, Jimmy inherited comparatively little.{{sfn|Mukunda|2022|p=105}} For a year, he, Rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in Plains.{{efn|Carter was the only U.S. president to have lived in subsidized housing before he took office.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=83–91}}}} Carter set out to expand the family's peanut-growing business.{{sfn|Kaufman|2016|p=66}} Transitioning from the Navy to farming was difficult as his first-year harvest failed due to drought, and Carter had to open several lines of credit to keep the farm afloat.{{sfn|Gherman|2004|p=38}} He took classes and studied agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage the business's books.{{sfn|Morris|1996|p=115}} Though they barely broke even the first year, the Carters grew the business and became quite successful.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=83–91}}{{sfn|Morris|1996|p=115}}

As racial tension inflamed in Plains by the 1954 Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Brown v. Board of Education,{{sfn|Gherman|2004|p=40}} Carter favored integration but often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. By 1961, Carter began to speak more prominently of integration as a member of the Baptist Church and chairman of the Sumter County school board.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=92–108}}{{sfn|Donica|Piccotti|2018}} In 1962, he announced his campaign for an open Georgia State Senate seat.{{sfn|Carter|1992|pp=83–87}} Rosalynn, who had an instinct for politics and organization, was instrumental in his campaign. While early counting of the ballots showed Carter trailing his opponent, Homer Moore, this was later proven to be the result of fraudulent voting.{{sfn|Carter|1992|pp=83–87}} Another election was held, in which Carter defeated Moore as the sole Democratic candidate.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=108–132}} He served in both the 127th Georgia General Assembly and the 128th Georgia General Assembly.

The civil rights movement was well underway when Carter took office. Carter remained relatively quiet on the issue at first, even as it polarized much of the county, to avoid alienating his segregationist colleagues. Carter did speak up on a few divisive issues, giving speeches against literacy tests and against an amendment to the Georgia Constitution that he felt implied a compulsion to practice religion.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=132–140}} Carter entered the state Democratic Executive Committee two years into office, where he helped rewrite the state party's rules. He became the chairman of the West Central Georgia Planning and Development Commission, which oversaw the disbursement of federal and state grants for projects such as historic site restoration.{{sfn|Ryan|2006|p=37}}

When Bo Callaway was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1964, Carter immediately began planning to challenge him. The two had previously clashed over which two-year college would be expanded to a four-year college program by the state, and Carter saw Callaway—who had switched to the Republican Party—as representing aspects of politics he despised.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=132–145}} Carter was reelected to a second two-year term in the state Senate,{{sfn|Georgia General Assembly|1965}} where he chaired its Education Committee and sat on the Appropriations Committee. He contributed to a bill expanding statewide education funding and getting Georgia Southwestern State University a four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make himself more visible to potential voters. On the last day of the term, Carter announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=145–149}} Callaway decided to run for governor instead;{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=150}} Carter decided to do the same.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=154–155}}

{{See also|1966 Georgia gubernatorial election|1970 Georgia gubernatorial election}}

In the 1966 gubernatorial election, Carter ran against liberal former governor Ellis Arnall and conservative segregationist Lester Maddox in the Democratic primary. In a press conference, he described his ideology as "Conservative, moderate, liberal and middle-of-the-road ... I believe I am a more complicated person than that."{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=149–153}} He lost the primary but drew enough votes as a third-place candidate to force Arnall into a runoff election with Maddox, who defeated Arnall.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=153–165}} In the general election, Republican nominee Callaway won a plurality of the vote but less than a majority, allowing the Democratic-majority Georgia House of Representatives to elect Maddox as governor.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=153–165}} Maddox's victory—due to his segregationist stance—was seen as the worst outcome for the indebted Carter.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=153–165}} Carter returned to his agriculture business, carefully planning his next campaign. This period was a spiritual turning point for Carter; he declared himself a born again Christian. His last child, Amy, was born during this time.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=165–179}}{{sfn|Hayward|2009|pp=39–46}}

In the 1970 gubernatorial election, liberal former governor Carl Sanders became Carter's main opponent in the Democratic primary. Carter ran a more modern campaign, employing printed graphics and statistical analysis. Responding to polls, he leaned more conservative than before, positioning himself as a populist and criticizing Sanders for both his wealth and perceived links to the national Democratic Party. He also accused Sanders of corruption, but when pressed by the media, he did not provide evidence.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=180–199}}{{sfn|Hayward|2009|pp=46–51}} Throughout his campaign, Carter sought both the black vote and the votes of those who had supported prominent Alabama segregationist George Wallace. While he met with black figures such as Martin Luther King Sr. and Andrew Young and visited many black-owned businesses, he also praised Wallace and promised to invite him to give a speech in Georgia. Carter's appeal to racism became more blatant over time, with his senior campaign aides handing out a photograph of Sanders celebrating with Black basketball players.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=180–199}}{{sfn|Hayward|2009|pp=46–51}}

Carter came ahead of Sanders in the first ballot, leading to a runoff election. The subsequent campaign was even more bitter. Despite his early support for civil rights, Carter's appeal to racism grew, and he criticized Sanders for supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Carter won the runoff election and won the general election against Republican nominee Hal Suit. Once elected, Carter began to speak against Georgia's racist politics. Leroy Johnson, a black state senator, voiced his support for Carter: "I understand why he ran that kind of ultra-conservative campaign. I don't believe you can win this state without being a racist."{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=180–199}}

File:Jimmy Carter official portrait as Governor.jpg

Carter was sworn in as the 76th governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971. In his inaugural speech, he declared that "the time for racial discrimination is over",{{sfn|Berman|2022}} shocking the crowd and causing many segregationists who had supported his candidacy to feel betrayed. Carter was reluctant to engage with fellow politicians, making him unpopular with the legislature.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=204}}{{sfn|Hayward|2009|pp=55–56}} He expanded the governor's authority by introducing a reorganization plan submitted in January 1972. Despite an initially cool reception in the legislature, the plan passed at midnight on the last day of the session.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=214–220}} Carter merged about 300 state agencies into 22, although it is disputed whether that saved the state money.{{sfn|Freeman|1982|p=5}} On July 8, 1971, during an appearance in Columbus, Georgia, he stated his intention to establish a Georgia Human Rights Council.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1971a}}

In a July 1971 news conference, Carter announced that he had ordered department heads to reduce spending to prevent a $57 million deficit by the end of the 1972 fiscal year, specifying that each state department would be affected and estimating that five percent over government revenue would be lost if state departments continued to fully use allocated funds.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1971b}} In January 1972, he requested that the state legislature fund an early childhood development program along with prison reform programs and $48 million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|48,000,000|1972|r=-7}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in paid taxes for nearly all state employees.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1972a}}

In March 1972, Carter said he might call a special session of the general assembly if the Justice Department struck down any reapportionment plans by either the House or Senate.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1972b}} He pushed several reforms through the legislature, providing equal state aid to schools, setting up community centers for mentally disabled children, and increasing educational programs for convicts.{{sfn|Sidey|2012}}{{sfn|World Book|2001|p=542}} In one of his more controversial decisions, he vetoed a plan to build a dam on Georgia's Flint River, which attracted the attention of environmentalists nationwide.{{sfn|NBC News|2008}}{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=250–251}}

File:Jimmy Carter and wife with Reubin Askew and his wife.jpg and his wife in 1971; as president, Carter appointed Askew as U.S. trade representative.]]

Civil rights were a high priority for Carter, who added black state employees and portraits of three prominent black Georgians to the capitol building. This angered the Ku Klux Klan.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=250–251}} He favored a constitutional amendment to ban busing for the purpose of expediting integration in schools on a televised joint appearance with Florida Governor Reubin Askew on January 31, 1973,{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1973a}} and co-sponsored an anti-busing resolution with Wallace at the 1971 National Governors Conference.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1971c}}{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=212–213}} After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Georgia's death penalty statute in Furman v. Georgia (1972), Carter signed a revised statute that reintroduced the practice. He later regretted endorsing the death penalty, saying, "I didn't see the injustice of it as I do now."{{sfn|Pilkington|2013}}

Ineligible for a second consecutive term under the 1945 Georgia Constitution, Carter considered running for president and engaged in national politics. He was named to several southern planning commissions and a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where U.S. Senator George McGovern was the likely nominee. Carter tried to ingratiate himself with conservative and anti-McGovern voters. He was fairly obscure at the time, and his attempt at triangulation failed.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=221–230}}{{efn|Eagleton was later replaced on the ticket by Sargent Shriver.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=230}}}} On August 3, Carter met with Wallace in Birmingham, Alabama, to discuss preventing the Democrats from losing in a landslide,{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1972c}} but they did.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=234}}

Carter regularly met with his fledgling campaign staff and decided to start putting together a presidential campaign for 1976. He tried unsuccessfully to become chairman of the National Governors Association to boost his visibility. With David Rockefeller's endorsement, he was named to the Trilateral Commission in April 1973. The next year, he was named chairman of the Democratic National Committee's congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|pp=237–250}} In May 1973, Carter warned his party against politicizing the Watergate scandal,{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1973b}} which he attributed to president Richard Nixon's isolation from Americans and secretive decision-making.{{sfn|Rome News-Tribune|1973c}}

{{main|Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign}}

{{Further|1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}

File:Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign logo from poster.jpg

On December 12, 1974, Carter announced his presidential campaign at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His speech contained themes of domestic inequality, optimism, and change.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-announcing-candidacy-for-the-democratic-presidential-nomination-the-national-press |title=Address Announcing Candidacy for the Democratic Presidential Nomination at the National Press Club in Washington, DC |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |date=December 12, 1974 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816181829/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-announcing-candidacy-for-the-democratic-presidential-nomination-the-national-press |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CG0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3DIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6942%2C5857919 |title=Carter a candidate for the presidency |publisher=Lodi News-Sentinel |date=December 13, 1974 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521142244/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CG0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3DIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6942,5857919 |url-status=live}} Upon his entrance in the Democratic primaries, he was competing against sixteen other candidates and was considered to have little chance against the more nationally known politicians such as Wallace.{{Cite web|last1=E. Zelizer|first1=Julian|date=September 7, 2015|title=17 Democrats Ran for President in 1976. Can Today's GOP Learn Anything From What Happened?|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/2016-election-1976-democratic-primary-213125/|access-date=September 1, 2021|website=Politico|archive-date=October 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015022313/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/2016-election-1976-democratic-primary-213125/|url-status=live}} His name recognition was very low, and his opponents derisively asked "Jimmy Who?".{{Cite web|url=https://www.manythings.org/voa/history/220.html|title=American History: Jimmy Carter Wins the 1976 Presidential Election|access-date=September 1, 2021|archive-date=June 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616094954/https://www.manythings.org/voa/history/220.html|url-status=live}} In response to this, Carter began to emphasize his name and what he stood for, stating "My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president."{{Cite web |last1=Setterfield |first1=Ray |date=December 31, 2020 |title='My Name is Jimmy Carter and I'm Running for President' |url=https://www.onthisday.com/articles/my-name-is-jimmy-carter-and-im-running-for-president |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521142231/https://www.onthisday.com/articles/my-name-is-jimmy-carter-and-im-running-for-president |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |website=On This Day}}

This strategy proved successful. By mid-March 1976, Carter was not only far ahead of the active contenders for the presidential nomination, but led incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford by a few percentage points.{{cite book |last=Shoup |first=Laurence H. |title=The Carter Presidency, and Beyond: Power and Politics in the 1980s |url=https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/70 |year=1980 |publisher=Ramparts Press |isbn=978-0-87867-075-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/70 70]}} As the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, Carter's position as an outsider proved helpful. He promoted government reorganization. In June, Carter published a memoir titled Why Not the Best? to introduce himself to the American public.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/16/archives/choice-of-mondale-helps-to-reconcile-the-liberals-choice-of-mondale.html |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Charles |last=Mohr |title=Choice of Mondale Helps To Reconcile the Liberals |date=July 16, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531062839/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/16/archives/choice-of-mondale-helps-to-reconcile-the-liberals-choice-of-mondale.html |url-status=live}}

File:1976-07-15CarterMondaleDNC.jpg at the Democratic National Convention in New York City, July 1976]]

Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. His strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there, traveling over {{convert|50000|mi|km|abbr=off}}, visiting 37 states, and delivering over 200 speeches before any other candidate had entered the race.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/carter/#transcript |title=Jimmy Carter |series=The American Experience |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |date=November 11, 2002 |access-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626060507/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/carter/#transcript |url-status=live}} In the South, he tacitly conceded certain areas to Wallace and swept them as a moderate when it became clear Wallace could not win the region. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters. While he did not achieve a majority in most Northern states, he won several by building the largest singular support base. Although Carter was initially dismissed as a regional candidate, he would clinch the Democratic nomination.{{cite news|last1=Broder|first1=David|author-link1=David Broder|date=December 18, 1974|title=Early Evaluation Impossible on Presidential Candidates|page=16|work=Toledo Blade|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yMgwAAAAIBAJ&pg=7214%2C2087680|access-date=January 3, 2016|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204092325/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yMgwAAAAIBAJ&pg=7214%2C2087680|url-status=live}} In 1980, Laurence Shoup noted that the national news media discovered and promoted Carter, and stated:

{{Blockquote|What Carter had that his opponents did not was the acceptance and support of elite sectors of the mass communications media. It was their favorable coverage of Carter and his campaign that gave him an edge, propelling him rocket-like to the top of the opinion polls. This helped Carter win key primary election victories, enabling him to rise from an obscure public figure to President-elect in the short space of 9 months.{{cite book |last=Shoup |first=Laurence H. |title=The Carter Presidency, and Beyond: Power and Politics in the 1980s |url=https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/94 |year=1980 |publisher=Ramparts Press |isbn=978-0-87867-075-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/94 94]}}}}

File:Carter and Ford in a debate, September 23, 1976 (cropped).jpg debating at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, September 1976]]

During an interview in April 1976, Carter said, "I have nothing against a community that is... trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods."{{cite news |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,914056,00.html |title=The Campaign: Candidate Carter: I Apologize |magazine=Time |date=April 19, 1976 |volume=107 |issue=16 |access-date=July 13, 2018 |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323002443/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,914056,00.html |url-status=live}} His remark was intended as supportive of open housing laws, but specifying opposition to government efforts to "inject black families into a white neighborhood just to create some sort of integration". Carter's stated positions during his campaign included public financing of congressional campaigns,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19741213&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Officially Enters Demo Presidential Race |work=Herald-Journal |date=December 13, 1974 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119213258/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19741213&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} supporting the creation of a federal consumer protection agency,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19760810&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Backs Consumer Plans |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=August 10, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140455/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19760810&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} creating a separate cabinet-level department for education,{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32680 |title=Bardstown, Kentucky Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at a Town Meeting. (July 31, 1979) |publisher=The American Presidency Project |quote=THE PRESIDENT. Could you all hear it? The question was, since it appears that the campaign promise that I made to have a separate department of education might soon be fulfilled, would I consider appointing a classroom teacher as the secretary of education. |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107014653/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32680 |url-status=live}} signing a peace treaty with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761014&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Berates Lack Of New A-Arm Pact |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=October 14, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816013118/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761014&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} reducing the defense budget,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761003&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Positions on Amnesty, Defense Targets of Dole Jabs |first=Frank |last=Kane |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=October 3, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816100742/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761003&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} a tax proposal implementing "a substantial increase toward those who have the higher incomes" alongside a levy reduction on taxpayers with lower and middle incomes,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19760919&printsec=frontpage |title=GOP Raps Carter On Tax Proposal |date=September 19, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |work=Herald-Journal |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011183951/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19760919&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} making multiple amendments to the Social Security Act,{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7035 |date=December 20, 1977 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |publisher=American Presidency Project |title=Social Security Amendments of 1977 Statement on Signing S. 305 Into Law |archive-date=October 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019060428/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7035 |url-status=live}} and having a balanced budget by the end of his first term.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19760904&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Would Delay Programs If Necessary |date=September 4, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |work=Herald-Journal |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816085328/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19760904&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}

On July 15, 1976, Carter chose U.S. senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19760715&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Nominated, Names Mondale Running Mate |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=July 15, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |first=Frank |last=Kane |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816164136/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19760715&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} Carter and Ford faced off in three televised debates, the first United States presidential debates since 1960.{{cite news |last1=Howard |first1=Adam |title=10 Presidential Debates That Actually Made an Impact |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-presidential-debates/10-presidential-debates-made-impact-n650741 |publisher=NBC News |date=September 26, 2016 |access-date=December 31, 2016 |archive-date=May 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504003847/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-presidential-debates/10-presidential-debates-made-impact-n650741 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Kraus |first1=Sidney |title=The Great Debates: Carter vs. Ford, 1976 |date=1979 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |page=3 |url=https://www.questia.com/read/94445794/the-great-debates-carter-vs-ford-1976 |access-date=December 31, 2016 |archive-date=January 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101162639/https://www.questia.com/read/94445794/the-great-debates-carter-vs-ford-1976 |url-status=live}}

For the November 1976 issue of Playboy, which hit newsstands a couple of weeks before the election, Robert Scheer interviewed Carter. While discussing his religion's view of pride, Carter said: "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times.""The Playboy Interview: Jimmy Carter." Robert Scheer. Playboy, November 1976, Vol. 23, Iss. 11, pp. 63–86.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Psu5UNg1jEUC&pg=PA216 |title=A Year in My Pajamas with President Obama, The Politics of Strange Bedfellows |last=Casser-Jayne |first=Halli |publisher=Halli Casser-Jayne |isbn=978-0-9765960-3-5 |page=216 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705115615/https://books.google.com/books?id=Psu5UNg1jEUC&pg=PA216 |url-status=live}} This response and his admission in another interview that he did not mind if people uttered the word "fuck" led to a media feeding frenzy and critics lamenting the erosion of boundary between politicians and their private intimate lives.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/carter.htm?noredirect=on |title=Washingtonpost.com Special Report: Clinton Accused |first1=Larry J. |last1=Sabato |year=1998 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=June 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627042800/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/carter.htm?noredirect=on |url-status=live}}

{{Further|1976 United States presidential election}}

File:ElectoralCollege1976.svg

Carter once had a sizable lead over Ford in national polling, but by late September his lead had narrowed to only several points.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-carters-lea/156473356/ Carter's lead narrows] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091537/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-carters-lea/156473356/ |date=October 7, 2024 }}. The Springfield News-Leader. September 29, 1976. October 3, 2024.Harris, Louis (October 30, 1976). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-harris-poll-says-carter/156324701/ Harris Poll says Carter holds only a 1-point lead]. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 30, 2024. In the final days before the election, several polls showed that Ford had tied Carter, and one Gallup poll found that he was slightly ahead.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-argus-presidential-contenders/156330083/ Presidential Contenders Strain At Finish]. United Press International. The Times Argus. November 1, 1976. Retrieved September 30, 2024. Most analysts agreed that Carter was going to win the popular vote, but some argued Ford had an opportunity to win the electoral college and thus the election.Larrabee, Don (October 31, 1976). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-presidency-seems-to/156365167/ Presidency seems to be up for grabs]. The Greenville News. Retrieved October 1, 2024.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-recorder-fords-brother-sees-elector/156365939/ Ford's brother sees electoral college victory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226111644/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-recorder-fords-brother-sees-elector/156365939/ |date=December 26, 2024 }}. Associated Press. The Recorder. November 1, 1976. Retrieved October 1, 2024.

Carter and Mondale ultimately defeated Ford and his runningmate (Senator Bob Dole), receiving 297 electoral votes and 50.1% of the popular vote.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761103&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Appears Victor Over Ford |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=November 3, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122194136/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761103&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} Carter's victory was attributed in partKaplan, Seth; Kaplan, James I. (November 3, 1976). [https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1976/11/3/many-factors-figured-in-carters-win/ Many Factors Figured in Carter's Win] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224163527/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1976/11/3/many-factors-figured-in-carters-win/ |date=December 24, 2024 }}. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 30, 2024. to his overwhelming support among black voters in states decided by close margins.{{cite news |last=Delaney |first=Paul |date=November 8, 1976 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-parsons-sun-blacks-line-up-for-carte/156325287/ |title=Blacks Line Up For Carter Plums |newspaper=The New York Times |via=The Parsons Sun |access-date=September 30, 2024 |archive-date=December 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226011233/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-parsons-sun-blacks-line-up-for-carte/156325287/ |url-status=live }} In Ohio and Wisconsin, where the margin between Carter and Ford was under two points, the black vote was crucial for Carter; if he had not won both states, Ford would have won the election.Kornacki, Steve (July 29, 2019). [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/journey-power-history-black-voters-1976-2020-n1029581 Journey to power: The history of black voters, 1976 to 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005072534/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/journey-power-history-black-voters-1976-2020-n1029581 |date=October 5, 2024 }}. NBC News. Retrieved September 30, 2024.

{{Main|Presidential transition of Jimmy Carter}}

File:President Ford and President-Elect Jimmy Carter Walking Through the Rose Garden Prior to Their Meeting to Discuss the Presidential Transition - NARA - 45644333 (1).jpg following the election, November 22, 1976]]

Preliminary planning for Carter's presidential transition had been underway for months before his election.{{cite journal |last1=Burke |first1=John P. |title=The Contemporary Presidency: The Obama Presidential Transition: An Early Assessment |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |year=2009 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=574–604 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2009.03691.x |jstor=41427379 |issn=0360-4918|doi-access=free}}{{cite web |last1=Skinner |first1=Richard |title=Jimmy Carter changed presidential transitions forever |url=https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2016/10/5/13142390/jimmy-carter-changed-presidential-transitions |website=Vox |access-date=February 4, 2021 |date=October 5, 2016 |archive-date=March 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311161151/https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2016/10/5/13142390/jimmy-carter-changed-presidential-transitions |url-status=live}} Carter had been the first presidential candidate to allot significant funds and a significant number of personnel to a pre-election transition planning effort, which then became standard practice.{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=John P. |title=Becoming President: The Bush Transition, 2000–2003 |date=2004 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |location=Boulder, Colo. |pages=12, 18 |isbn=978-1-58826-292-9}} He set a mold that influenced all future transitions to be larger, more methodical and more formal than they were.

On November 22, 1976, Carter conducted his first visit to Washington, D.C. after being elected, meeting with director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) James Lynn and United States secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House, and holding an afternoon meeting with President Ford at the White House.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761122&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter in Washington, Meets Lynn, Rumsfield |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=November 22, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126211046/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761122&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} The next day, he conferred with congressional leaders, saying that his meetings with cabinet members had been "very helpful" and that Ford had offered his assistance if he needed anything.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761123&printsec=frontpage |title=Ford Promises Carter Transition Cooperation |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=November 23, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140500/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19761123&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} Relations between Ford and Carter were relatively cold during the transition.{{cite journal |last1=Eksterowicz |first1=Anthony J. |last2=Hastedt |first2=Glenn |title=Modern Presidential Transitions: Problems, Pitfalls, and Lessons for Success |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |year=1998 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=299–319 |jstor=27551861 |issn=0360-4918}} During his transition, Carter announced the selection of numerous designees for positions in his administration.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19770119&id=UQxPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6092,1318484 |title=Carter Announces Nominees For 6 More Top Posts |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=January 19, 1977 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109062316/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19770119&id=UQxPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6092%2C1318484 |url-status=live}}

A few weeks before his inauguration, Carter moved his peanut business into the hands of trustees to avoid a potential conflict of interest.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19770104&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter to quit peanut business |newspaper=The Register-Guard |date=January 4, 1977 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817013657/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19770104&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}} He also asked incoming members of his administration to divest themselves of assets through blind trusts.{{cite news |last=McCarthy |first=James |date=January 6, 1977 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-carter-ethics-cod/156494024/ |title=Carter Ethics Code Leaves Loopholes |newspaper=The Charlotte Observer |access-date=October 3, 2024 |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091812/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-carter-ethics-cod/156494024/ |url-status=live }}

{{main|Presidency of Jimmy Carter}}

{{hatnote group|

{{For timeline|Timeline of the Jimmy Carter presidency}}

{{see also|Inauguration of Jimmy Carter}}

}}

File:President Carter National Portrait Gallery.jpg, Washington, D.C. Portrait by Robert Templeton.]]

Carter was inaugurated as the 39th president on January 20, 1977.{{cite web|url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/48th-inaugural-ceremonies/|title=48TH INAUGURAL CEREMONIES|publisher=United States Senate|access-date=September 2, 2021|archive-date=September 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913210846/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/48th-inaugural-ceremonies/|url-status=live}} One of Carter's first acts was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by issuing Proclamation 4483 declaring unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War–era draft evaders.{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11967.html |title=Executive Orders |date=October 25, 2010 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |website=archives.gov |archive-date=September 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922131219/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11967.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/vietnam_1-21-77.html |title=Online NewsHour: Remembering Vietnam: Carter's Pardon |publisher=PBS |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228161513/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/vietnam_1-21-77.html}} Carter's tenure in office was marked by an economic malaise, a time of continuing inflation and recession and the 1979 energy crisis. Under Carter, in May 1980, the Federal Trade Commission became "apparently the first agency ever closed by a budget dispute", but Congress took action and the agency opened the next day.{{Cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/a-history-of-us-government-shutdowns-2013-9|title=A Complete Guide To Every Government Shutdown In History|last=Cass|first=Connie|date=September 30, 2013|website=Business Insider|access-date=October 2, 2024|archive-date=January 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119235018/https://www.businessinsider.com/a-history-of-us-government-shutdowns-2013-9|url-status=dead}}

Carter attempted to calm various conflicts around the world, most visibly in the Middle East with the signing of the Camp David Accords;{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter Biography and Interview |publisher=American Academy of Achievement |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/#interview |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222200351/https://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/car0bio-1#interview |url-status=live}} giving the Panama Canal to Panama; and signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. His final year was marred by the Iran hostage crisis, which contributed to his losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_classroom/classroom_9-12-transitions-carter.html |title=Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis |publisher=White House Historical Association |access-date=December 28, 2014 |archive-date=September 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903061159/https://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_classroom/classroom_9-12-transitions-carter.html |url-status=live}} Whistleblowers have alleged, most recently in 2023, that people working on the Reagan campaign's behalf convinced Iran to prolong the crisis to reduce Carter's chance of reelection.{{cite news |author-link1=Peter Baker (journalist) |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |title=A Four-Decade Secret: The Untold Story of Sabotaging Jimmy Carter's Re-election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html |access-date=March 19, 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318200201/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html |url-status=live}}

In 1978, Carter signed into law a bill creating a celebration in May called Asian American Heritage Week. May 7 and 10 were designated for national observance and recognition of the contributions of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants to American society. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed a bill expanding the celebration into Asian American Heritage Month.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/jimmy-carter-asian-american-heritage-month-rcna71682|title=Jimmy Carter remembered for launching 1st Asian Pacific American Heritage Week|date=December 30, 2024|publisher=NBC News|access-date=January 6, 2025|archive-date=January 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106180121/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/jimmy-carter-asian-american-heritage-month-rcna71682|url-status=live}} In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill renaming this celebration Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.{{cite web |title=Proclamation 10189—Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 2021 |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-10189-asian-american-and-native-hawaiianpacific-islander-heritage-month-2021 |website=The American Presidency Project |access-date=January 6, 2025 |date=May 5, 2021 |archive-date=March 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326153417/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-10189-asian-american-and-native-hawaiianpacific-islander-heritage-month-2021 |url-status=live }}

File:Inflation Yen USD 1971-2009 de.svg and USD, 1971–2009]]

The first two years of Carter's presidency were a time of intense stagflation, primarily due to recovery from a previous recession that had left fixed investment at extreme lows and unemployment at 9%.{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1988-04.pdf |title=1988 Statistical Abstract of the United States |publisher=Department of Commerce |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1988-04.pdf |url-status=live}} Under Carter, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% when he took office to 5.7% by July 1978,[https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-sharp-drop-noted-in-un/156447735/ Sharp Drop Noted In Unemployment]. Associated Press. Spokane Chronicle. July 7, 1978. Retrieved October 2, 2024.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-patriot-news-jobless-level-up-slight/157880385/ Jobless Level Up Slightly]. The New York Times. The Patriot-News. October 7, 1978. Retrieved October 26, 2024. but during the early 1980s recession it returned to its pre-1977 level.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-jobless-rate-cou/156448077/ Jobless Rate Could Reach 7.5% This Year, 8% In 1981, Kahn Predicts]. Associated Press. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 1, 1980. Retrieved October 2, 2024. His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, very high interest rates,{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=447}} oil shortages, and slow economic growth.{{cite news |url=https://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/Is70sStyleStagflationComing.aspx |title=Is '70s-style stagflation returning? |author=Jim Jubak |work=Jubak's Journal |publisher=MSN |date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820042310/https://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/Is70sStyleStagflationComing.aspx |archive-date=August 20, 2011}} Due to economic stimulus legislation, such as the Public Works Employment Act of 1977, proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median income had grown by 5.2%, with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=422}}

The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, and as inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation and consumer confidence declined sharply.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=447}} Federal Reserve Board chairman G. William Miller's relatively loose monetary policy had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation,{{cite web |url=https://econ161.berkeley.edu/econ_articles/theinflationofthes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970219022512/https://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/theinflationofthes.html |archive-date=February 19, 1997 |title=The Inflation of the 1970s: November 21, 1978 |date=December 19, 1995 |publisher=University of California at Berkeley and National Bureau of Economic Research |access-date=March 18, 2012}} rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices{{cite web |url=https://www-cta.ornl.gov/cta/Publications/Reports/ORNL-6873%20.pdf |title=The Outlook for U.S. Oil Dependence |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |access-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513154741/https://www-cta.ornl.gov/cta/Publications/Reports/ORNL-6873%20.pdf |archive-date=May 13, 2017}} forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980. The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem and came to symbolize the crisis to the general public;{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=447}} the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of Amerada Hess refining facilities, led the federal government to sue the company that year.{{cite web |url=https://md.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%5CFCT%5CC04%5C1979%5C19791226_0040006.C04.htm/qx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120628221218/https://md.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%5CFCT%5CC04%5C1979%5C19791226_0040006.C04.htm/qx |archive-date=June 28, 2012 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |title=United States v. Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America}}

During his 1976 campaign, Carter promised to sign into law any bills Congress passed to regulate strip mining.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-ford-defends-vetoing/162054331/ Ford defends vetoing limits on strip mines]. The Courier-Journal. October 23, 1977. Retrieved January 1, 2025. In 1977, Carter signed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which regulated strip mining.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-coal-strip-mining-bill/162054756/ Coal strip mining bill signed into law by Carter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112020742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-coal-strip-mining-bill/162054756/ |date=January 12, 2025 }}. The New York Times. August 4, 1977. Retrieved January 1, 2025.

In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which was on top of a toxic waste landfill. The Superfund law was created in response to the situation.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v751AwAAQBAJ&q=carter+Love+Canal+in+the+city+of+Niagara+Falls,+New+York.+More+than+800+families+were+evacuated&pg=PT1417|title=Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society|first1=Robert|last1=W. Kolb|publisher=SAGE Publications|date=2008|page=1305|isbn=978-1-4522-6569-8|access-date=March 21, 2022|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407065100/https://books.google.com/books?id=v751AwAAQBAJ&q=carter+Love+Canal+in+the+city+of+Niagara+Falls%2C+New+York.+More+than+800+families+were+evacuated&pg=PT1417|url-status=live}} Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish about 500 houses and two schools built atop the dump, and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous waste. This was the first time such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dump sites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUTkicMAXuQC&q=one+of+the+grimmest+discoveries+of+our+modern+era+carter&pg=PR15|title=Risks of Hazardous Wastes|first1=Paul|last1=E. Rosenfeld|first2=Lydia|last2=Feng|first3=William|last3=Andrew|date=2011|publisher=William Andrew|isbn=978-1-4377-7843-4|access-date=March 21, 2022|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407071456/https://books.google.com/books?id=eUTkicMAXuQC&q=one+of+the+grimmest+discoveries+of+our+modern+era+carter&pg=PR15|url-status=live}}

In December 1978, Carter used the 1906 Antiquities Act and his executive order power to designate {{convert|56000000|acre}} of land in Alaska as a national monument. This executive order protected the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge until Congress codified it into law with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which doubled the amount of public land set aside for national parks and wildlife refuges.{{cite web | url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/ | title=The bold environmental vision of President Jimmy Carter | access-date=January 1, 2025 | archive-date=January 1, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101184520/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/ | url-status=live }}See [https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/02/archives/carter-designates-us-land-in-alaska-for-national-parks-56-million.html Seth S. King, "Carter Designates U.S. Land In Alaska For National Parks," The New York Times, December 2, 1978] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706164558/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/02/archives/carter-designates-us-land-in-alaska-for-national-parks-56-million.html |date=July 6, 2019 }}

{{Further|1979 oil crisis}}

File:Carter leaving Three Mile Island.jpg nuclear accident, April 1979]]

Moralism typified much of Carter's action.Kenneth Earl Morris, ed. Jimmy Carter, American Moralist ( University of Georgia Press, 1996). On April 18, 1977, he delivered a televised speech declaring that the energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged energy conservation and installed solar water heating panels on the White House.{{cite web |url=https://www.unity.edu/news/solar1004.htm |title=Maine college to auction off former White House solar panels |date=October 28, 2004 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122051251/https://www.unity.edu/News/solar1004.htm |archive-date=January 22, 2010}}{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Burdick |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |work=HuffPost |title=White House Solar Panels: What Ever Happened To Carter's Solar Thermal Water Heater? (VIDEO) |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |archive-date=September 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904023005/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |url-status=live}} He wore a cardigan{{Cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/|title=The bold environmental vision of President Jimmy Carter|first=Kai|last=Bird|access-date=January 1, 2025|archive-date=January 1, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101184520/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/|url-status=live}} to offset turning down the heat in the White House.{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/days-of-malaise-and-jimmy-carters-solar-panels|title=Days of 'Malaise' and Jimmy Carter's Solar Panels|first1=Craig|last1=Shirley|date=October 8, 2010|access-date=August 30, 2021|publisher=Fox News|archive-date=November 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122031809/https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/08/craig-shirley-jimmy-carter-white-house-energy-crisis-solar-panels-ronald-reagan/|url-status=live}} On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years.{{cite book |last1=Relyea |first1=Harold |title=The executive branch, creation and reorganization |year=2003 |publisher=Nova Publishers |page=29 |last2=Carr |first2=Thomas P. |isbn=978-1-59033-610-6}}

Carter emphasized that the House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months earlier and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program."{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |title=The President's News Conference (29 September 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816115250/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |url-status=live}} The next month, he called energy "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office".{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |title=The President's News Conference (13 October 2021) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105040157/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |url-status=live}}

On January 12, 1978, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous".{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |title=The President's News Conference (12 January 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140632/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |url-status=live}} In an April 11, 1978, news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing the energy reform bill in particular.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |title=The President's News Conference (11 April 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140501/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |url-status=live}} After much deliberation and modification, Congress approved the Carter energy legislation on October 15, 1978. It deregulated the sale of natural gas, dropped a longstanding pricing disparity between intra- and interstate gas, and created tax credits to encourage energy conservation and the use of non-fossil fuels.{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Burton Ira |title=The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. |date=1993 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-0572-9 |location=Lawrence, Kansas |page=108 |oclc=26359258}}

On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |title=Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan Message to the Congress Transmitting the Plan. (1 March 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140613/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |url-status=live}} On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation and increasing domestic production of energy sources such as coal and solar.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |title=Energy Address to the Nation. (5 April 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |url-status=live}}

On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "crisis of confidence" among American people,{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |title="Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) |publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia |format=text and video |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721024329/https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |archive-date=July 21, 2009 |date=October 20, 2016}} under the advisement of pollster Pat Caddell who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of the 1960s and 1970s, before his presidency.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |publisher=PBS |series=American Experience |title=Jimmy Carter |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019101602/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/}} Some later called this his "malaise speech", memorable for mixed reactions{{cite web |url=https://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |publisher=The Encyclopedia of Earth |title=Jimmy Carter's "malaise speech" |author=Cutler Cleveland |date=January 24, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711161737/https://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |title=Speech Lifts Carter Rating to 37%; Public Agrees on Confidence Crisis; Responsive Chord Struck |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |author=Adam Clymer |author-link=Adam Clymer |page=A1 |archive-date=May 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517074931/https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |url-status=live}} and his use of rhetoric. The speech's negative reception centered on a view that he did not emphasize his own efforts to address the energy crisis and seemed too reliant on Americans.{{cite book |last=Weintraub |first=Walter |title=Political Psychology 7: Profiles of American Presidents as Revealed in Their Public Statements: The Presidential News Conferences of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |year=1986 |publisher=International Society of Political Psychology |pages=285–295}}

File:President Carter addresses a Joint Session of Congress.jpg

Carter typically refused to conform to Washington's rules.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|pp=53–55}} He avoided phone calls from members of Congress and verbally insulted them. He was unwilling to return political favors. His negativity led to frustration in passing legislation.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/georgia-mafia/ |title=The 'Georgia Mafia'. Jimmy Carter |work=WGBH American Experience |publisher=PBS |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215065641/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/georgia-mafiahttps://}} During a press conference on February 23, 1977, Carter stated that it was "inevitable" that he would come into conflict with Congress and added that he had found "a growing sense of cooperation" with Congress and met in the past with congressional members of both parties.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-119 |title=The President's News Conference (23 February 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815112634/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-119 |url-status=live}} Carter developed a bitter feeling following an unsuccessful attempt at having Congress enact the scrapping of several water projects.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/zelizer.hundred/index.html |publisher=CNN|title=Commentary: New president's 100 days of pressure – CNN.com |date=October 28, 2008 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-date=December 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203002100/https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/zelizer.hundred/index.html |url-status=live}}

As a rift ensued between the White House and Congress afterward, Carter noted that the Democratic Party's liberal wing opposed his policies the most ardently, attributing this to Ted Kennedy's wanting the presidency.Carter, Jimmy Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, p. 8, (2005), Simon & Schuster Thinking he had support from 74 Congressmen, Carter issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending that he said he would veto if they were included in legislation.{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/143163782.html?dids=143163782:143163782&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+1%2C+1977&author=By+Walter+Pincus+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post+(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=When+a+Campaign+Vow+Crashes+Into+a+Pork+Barrel |last=Pincus |first=Walter |title=When a Campaign Vow Crashes into a Pork Barrel |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 1, 1977 |access-date=July 5, 2008 |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525152206/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/143163782.html?dids=143163782:143163782&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+1,+1977&author=By+Walter+Pincus+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post+(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=When+a+Campaign+Vow+Crashes+Into+a+Pork+Barrel}} He found himself again at odds with Congressional Democrats, as House Speaker Tip O'Neill found it inappropriate for a president to pursue what had traditionally been the role of Congress. Carter was also weakened by signing a bill that contained many of the "hit list" projects he had intended to veto.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6799 |publisher=presidency.ucsb.edu |title=Jimmy Carter: Water Resource Projects Message to the Congress |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828215048/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6799}}

File:President Jimmy Carter with Senator Joe Biden.jpg in 1978]]

In an address to a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee on June 23, 1977, Carter said, "I think it's good to point out tonight, too, that we have evolved a good working relationship with the Congress. For eight years we had government by partisanship. Now we have government by partnership."{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/democratic-national-committee-dinner-remarks-the-fundraising-dinner-new-york-city |title=Democratic National Committee Dinner Remarks at the Fundraising Dinner in New York City. (23 June 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012010116/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/democratic-national-committee-dinner-remarks-the-fundraising-dinner-new-york-city |url-status=live}} At a July 28 news conference, assessing the first six months of his presidency, Carter spoke of his improved understanding of Congress:

I have learned to respect the Congress more in an individual basis. I've been favorably impressed at the high degree of concentrated experience and knowledge that individual members of Congress can bring on a specific subject, where they've been the chairman of a subcommittee or committee for many years and have focused their attention on this particular aspect of government life which I will never be able to do.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-104 |title=The President's News Conference (28 July 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140513/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-104 |url-status=live}}

On May 10, 1979, the House voted against giving Carter authority to produce a standby gas rationing plan.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=436}} The following day, Carter described himself as shocked and embarrassed for the U.S. government by the vote and concluded "the majority of the House Members are unwilling to take the responsibility, the political responsibility for dealing with a potential, serious threat to our Nation." He added that most House members were placing higher importance on "local or parochial interests" and challenged the House to compose its own rationing plan in the next 90 days.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32325 |title=Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan Remarks on the House of Representatives Disapproval of the Plan (10 May 1979) |date=May 11, 1979 |publisher=American Presidency Project |first=Jimmy |last=Carter |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926085905/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32325 |url-status=live}}

Carter's remarks were met with criticism by House Republicans, who accused his comments of not befitting the formality a president should have in their public remarks. Others pointed to 106 Democrats voting against his proposal and the bipartisan criticism potentially coming back to haunt him.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/15/archives/carters-clash-with-congress-on-gas-plan-news-analysis-some.html |title=Carter's Clash With Congress on Gas Plan |date=May 15, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531084739/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/15/archives/carters-clash-with-congress-on-gas-plan-news-analysis-some.html |url-status=live}} At a news conference on July 25, 1979, Carter called on believers in the future of the U.S. and his proposed energy program to speak with Congress as it bore the responsibility to impose his proposals.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32653 |title=The President's News Conference (25 July 1979) |date=July 25, 1979 |publisher=American Presidency Project |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926090001/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32653 |url-status=live}} Amid the energy proposal opposition, The New York Times commented that "as the comments flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue illustrate, there is also a crisis of confidence between Congress and the President, sense of doubt and distrust that threatens to undermine the President's legislative program and become an important issue in next year's campaign."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/carter-and-the-congress-doubt-and-distrust-prevail.html |title=Carter and the Congress: Doubt and Distrust Prevail |first=Steven V. |last=Roberts |date=August 5, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817111437/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/carter-and-the-congress-doubt-and-distrust-prevail.html |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Airline Deregulation Act}}

File:Jimmy Carter signs Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 - NARA - 182032.tif, 1978]]

In 1977, Carter appointed Alfred E. Kahn to lead the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading think tanks in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform, the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978.{{cite book |title=Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America |last=Vietor |first=Richard H. K. |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-43679-4 |oclc=897163998}}

Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from commercial aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the Federal Aviation Administration's regulatory powers over airline safety.{{cite book |title=Practical Applications in Business Aviation Management |isbn=978-1-60590-770-3 |last1=Cannon |first1=James R. |last2=Richey |first2=Franklin D. |year=2012|publisher=Government Institutes}}

In 1978, Carter signed a bill into law "allowing homebrewing and small-scale craft brewing to operate legally".{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/money/business/small-business/maine-craft-brew-industry-president-jimmy-carter-homebrewing-small-scale-breweries/97-44c37318-3b14-447c-a92b-cbbbb33f929b#:~:text=In+1978,+Carter+signed+HR,first+licensed+craft+brewery+opened.|title=From White House to brew houses: How Jimmy Carter sparked a craft beer revival|date=December 31, 2024|website=newscentermaine.com}} The new law deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the 1920 beginning of prohibition in the United States.{{cite web |url=https://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/08/beer-charts |title=Beer Charts of the Day |first=Tom |last=Philpott |work=Mother Jones |date=August 17, 2011 |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-date=December 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218221821/https://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/08/beer-charts |url-status=live}} This deregulation led to an increase in home brewing that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United States.{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2022 |title=Brewers Association Releases Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report and Top 50 Producing Craft Brewing Companies for 2021 |work=Brewers Association |url=https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-releases-annual-craft-brewing-industry-production-report-and-top-50-producing-craft-brewing-companies-for-2021/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209063838/https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-releases-annual-craft-brewing-industry-production-report-and-top-50-producing-craft-brewing-companies-for-2021/ |url-status=live}}

{{Further information|Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979}}

In the late 1970s, the Chrysler Cooperation—one of the "Big Three" automakers in the U.S.—faced near-certain bankruptcy as it projected a loss of $1{{spaces}}billion.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-times-chrysler-aid-plan/161339133/ Chrysler Aid Plan Signed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226111753/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-times-chrysler-aid-plan/161339133/ |date=December 26, 2024 }}. The Kansas City Times. January 8, 1980. Retrieved December 22, 2024. Carter proposed that the company forgo salary increases and bonuses, saying that it might be done "without decimating the company or putting it on its knees", but the company had already frozen wage increases and bonuses months before, to no avail.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-auto-firm-says-sa/161338413/ Auto firm says sacrifices made] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226103638/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-auto-firm-says-sa/161338413/ |date=December 26, 2024 }}. The Hamilton Spectator. August 13, 1979. Retrieved December 22, 2024. In 1979, Congress began working on a bailout plan for Chrysler, led by Congressman James J. Blanchard. Carter assembled a team that included Vice President Mondale and Assistant Domestic Policy Adviser David Rubenstein to secure a $1.5 billion loan guarantee.Howard, Phoebe Wall (December 31, 2024). [https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2024/12/31/jimmy-carter-jim-blanchard-chrysler-bailout/77347439007/ Chrysler rescue of 80,000 jobs during Carter administration almost didn't happen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101234706/https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2024/12/31/jimmy-carter-jim-blanchard-chrysler-bailout/77347439007/ |date=January 1, 2025 }}. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 1, 2025.

In December, Congress passed the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 to bail Chrysler out with $3.5{{spaces}}billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|3.5|1980|r=1}}{{spaces}}billion in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}) in aid.{{sfn|Kaufman|Kaufman|2006|p=183}} The bill turned over $162 million in stock to Chrysler's workers, eliminated around $125 million in wage increases, and gave Chrysler $500 million in bank loans. Carter, who had initially opposed the bailout of corporations, signed it into law in January, saying that the bill saved thousands of jobs. The bailout was successful at the time, but Chrysler would eventually file for bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis.

During his presidential campaign, Carter embraced healthcare reform akin to the Ted Kennedy–sponsored bipartisan universal national health insurance.Multiple sources * {{cite news |last=Reinhold |first=Robert |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter proposes U.S. health plan; says he favors mandatory insurance financed from wage and general taxes |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30717FD3E5F167493C5A8178FD85F428785F9 |quote=Although Mr. Carter left some details a bit vague today, his proposal seemed almost identical to the so-called Kennedy-Corman health security plan. His position on the issue is now substantially the same as that of his chief rivals, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Senator Henry M. Jackson and Representative Morris K. Udall. All three are co-sponsors of the Kennedy-Corman bill. |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521003608/https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30717FD3E5F167493C5A8178FD85F428785F9 |archive-date=May 21, 2013}} * {{cite news |last=Auerbach |first=Stuart |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter gives broad outline for national health plan; cost unknown |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A1 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120359627.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |quote=The outlines of Carter's program are close to one sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and strongly supported by organized labor. |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130082012/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120359627.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI}} * {{cite news |agency=United Press International |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter urges universal health plan |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=4 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/613101652.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |quote=Although Carter didn't provide an estimate of what his health plan would cost taxpayers, it features many proposals similar to plans suggested by others, including Sen. Edward Kennedy [D., Mass.] which are estimated to cost at least $40 billion annually. |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130082000/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/613101652.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI}} Carter's proposals on healthcare while in office included a 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal,{{cite book |year=1978 |section=Hospital cost control |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 95th Congress 1st Session....1977 |volume=33 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=499–507 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}} and a 1979 proposal that provided private health insurance coverage.{{cite book |year=1980 |section=National health insurance |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 96th Congress 1st Session....1979 |volume=35 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=536–540 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}} The 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal was passed in the Senate,{{cite book |year=1979 |section=Hospital cost control legislation dies |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 95th Congress 2nd Session....1978 |volume=34 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=619–625 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}} but later defeated in the House.{{cite book |year=1980 |chapter=House kills Carter hospital cost control plan |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 96th Congress 1st Session....1979 |volume=35 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=512–518 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}} During 1978, he met with Kennedy over a compromise healthcare law that proved unsuccessful.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|p=78}} He later said Kennedy's disagreements thwarted his plan to provide a comprehensive American health care system.{{cite book |first=Jimmy |last=Carter |author-link=Jimmy Carter |title=Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President |publisher=Bantam Books |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-553-05023-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/keepingfaithmemo00cart/page/86 86–87] |url=https://archive.org/details/keepingfaithmemo00cart/page/86}}

In 1980, Carter signed into law the Mental Health Systems (MHSA) Act, which allocated block grants to states to bolster community health services and provided funding to states to create and implement community-based health services. The MHSA was considered landmark legislation in mental health care.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/hattiesburg-american-mental-health-syste/156446002/ Mental Health Systems Act 'landmark' legislation, state MH director says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091413/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hattiesburg-american-mental-health-syste/156446002/ |date=October 7, 2024 }}. Hattiesburg American. October 30, 1980. By September 1981, the Reagan administration had repealed most of the law.Walker, Joe (September 18, 1981). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-paducah-sun-mental-health-boss-focus/156446169/ Mental health boss focuses help call on the public] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091308/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-paducah-sun-mental-health-boss-focus/156446169/ |date=October 7, 2024 }}. The Paducah Sun. Retrieved October 2, 2024.

File:Jimmy Carter speaks at the Democratic Mid-Term Convention - NARA - 182660.tif

Early into his term, Carter collaborated with Congress to fulfill his campaign promise to create a cabinet-level education department. In an address from the White House on February 28, 1978, Carter argued "Education is far too important a matter to be scattered piecemeal among various government departments and agencies, which are often busy with sometimes dominant concerns."{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/elementary-and-secondary-education-remarks-announcing-the-administrations-proposals-the |title=Elementary and Secondary Education Remarks Announcing the Administration's Proposals to the Congress. (28 February 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818211940/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/elementary-and-secondary-education-remarks-announcing-the-administrations-proposals-the |url-status=live}} On February 8, 1979, the Carter administration released an outline of its plan to establish an education department and asserted enough support for the enactment to occur by June.{{cite news |title=Department of Education Outlined |agency=Associated Press |date=February 9, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5661,1224804 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012023354/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5661,1224804&dq=department+of+education |url-status=live}} On October 17, the same year, Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act into law,{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/department-education-organization-act-statement-signing-s-210-into-law |title=Department of Education Organization Act Statement on Signing S. 210 Into Law. (17 October 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902142407/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/department-education-organization-act-statement-signing-s-210-into-law |url-status=live}} establishing the United States Department of Education.{{cite web |last=Kosar |first=Kevin |title=Kill the Department of Ed.? It's been done |website=Politico |date=September 23, 2015 |access-date=October 1, 2024 |url=https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/09/department-of-education-history-000235/ |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007090954/https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/09/department-of-education-history-000235/ |url-status=live }}

Carter added 43,000 children and families to the Head Start program,{{cite web |url=https://ilheadstart.org/about-ihsa/history-goals-and-values/head-start-a-historical-perspective/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220025932/https://ilheadstart.org/about-ihsa/history-goals-and-values/head-start-a-historical-perspective/ |archive-date=December 20, 2013 |website=ilheadstart.org |title=A Historical Perspective |access-date=March 13, 2017}} while the percentage of nondefense dollars spent on education was doubled.{{cite book |title=American Presidents and Education |author=Berube, M.R. |date=1991 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-27848-8 |url={{GBurl|id=CZ18F-KzLREC|p=49}} |page=49 |access-date=March 13, 2017}} In a speech on November 1, 1980, Carter stated his administration had extended Head Start to migrant children.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/brownsville-texas-remarks-rally-with-area-residents |title=Brownsville, Texas Remarks at a Rally With Area Residents. (1 November 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140544/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/brownsville-texas-remarks-rally-with-area-residents |url-status=live}}

During Carter's administration, the United States Foreign Service "lifted its ban on gay and lesbian personnel". In 1977, the Carter administration became the first U.S. presidential administration to invite gay and lesbian rights activists to the White House to discuss federal policy with regard to ending employment discrimination in the federal government on the basis of sexual orientation and related issues.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/jimmy-carter-has-died-at-the-age-of-100-he-invited-the-first-gay-activists-to-the-white-house/|title=Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100. He invited the first gay activists to the White House|first=John|last=Gallagher (he/him)|date=December 29, 2024|website=LGBTQ Nation}}

{{main|Foreign policy of the Jimmy Carter administration}}

File:Camp David, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, 1978.jpg

{{main|Presidency of Jimmy Carter#Camp David Accords|Camp David Accords}}

File:Dan Hadani collection (990045970050205171).jpg, during his 1979 visit]]

From the onset of his presidency, Carter attempted to mediate the Arab–Israeli conflict.{{sfn|Alter|2020|pp=388–417}} After a failed attempt to seek a comprehensive settlement in 1977 (through reconvening the 1973 Geneva conference),{{sfn|Kaufman|Kaufman|2006|pp=53–56}} Carter invited the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to the presidential lodge Camp David in September 1978, in hopes of creating a definitive peace. While the two sides could not agree on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, the negotiations resulted in Egypt formally recognizing Israel, and the creation of an elected government in the West Bank and Gaza. This resulted in the Camp David Accords, which ended the war between Israel and Egypt.{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=841–842}}

The accords were a source of great domestic opposition in both Egypt and Israel. Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he was "in an odd position—he had attempted to break with traditional U.S. policy but ended up fulfilling the goals of that tradition, which had been to break up the Arab alliance, sideline the Palestinians, build an alliance with Egypt, weaken the Soviet Union and secure Israel."Jørgen Jensehaugen. Arab–Israeli Diplomacy under Carter: The US, Israel and the Palestinians (2018) p. 178, quoted [https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/4083976/h-diplo-roundtable-xx-36-j%C3%B8rgen-jensehaugen-arab-israeli on H-DIPLO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704131441/https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/4083976/h-diplo-roundtable-xx-36-j%C3%B8rgen-jensehaugen-arab-israeli |date=July 4, 2019}}

File:Carter Nyerere, August 1977 - NARA 175790.jpg, Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere, and Carter, 1977]]

In an address to the African officials at the United Nations on October 4, 1977, Carter stated the U.S.'s interest to "see a strong, vigorous, free, and prosperous Africa with as much of the control of government as possible in the hands of the residents of your countries" and pointed to their unified efforts on "the problem of how to resolve the Rhodesian, Zimbabwe question."{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6745 |title=United Nations Remarks at a Working Luncheon for Officials of African Nations |publisher=American Presidency Project |date=October 4, 1977 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=March 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140601/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6745 |url-status=live}} At a news conference later that month, Carter said the U.S. wanted to "work harmoniously with South Africa in dealing with the threats to peace in Namibia and in Zimbabwe in particular", to do away with racial issues such as apartheid, and to work for equal opportunities in other facets of society in the region.{{cite news |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6849 |title=The President's News Conference |date=October 27, 1977 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |publisher=American Presidency Project |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023115834/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6849 |url-status=live}}

Despite human rights concerns, Carter continued U.S. support for Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire.John Soares, "Jimmy Carter in Africa: Race and the Cold War." Presidential Studies Quarterly 48.4 (2018): 865–866. Zaire received nearly half the foreign aid Carter allocated to sub-Saharan Africa.Lamb, David (1987) The Africans, Vintage, {{ISBN|0394753089}}, p. 46 Under Carter an alliance with Liberia's Samuel Doe, who had come to power in a 1980 coup, was pursued.{{cite book |last1=Gershoni |first1=Yekutiel |title=Liberia Under Samuel Doe, 1980–1985 The Politics of Personal Rule |date=2022 |publisher=Lexington Books |page=301}}

File:Olusegun Obasanjo and Jimmy Carter-02.jpg on April 1, 1978|left]]

Carter visited Nigeria from March 31 to April 3, 1978, to improve relations,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/31/archives/carter-trip-to-nigeria-culminates-long-effort-to-improve-relations.html |title=Carter Trip to Nigeria Culminates Long Effort to Improve Relations |first=Michael T. |last=Kaufman |date=March 31, 1978 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531063017/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/31/archives/carter-trip-to-nigeria-culminates-long-effort-to-improve-relations.html |url-status=live}} the first U.S. president to do so.{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/nigeria |title=Presidents' Travels to Nigeria (31 March — 3 April) |publisher=U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818133750/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/nigeria |url-status=live}} He reiterated interest in convening a peace conference on Rhodesia that involved all parties.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/03/archives/new-jersey-pages-carter-seeks-talks-including-all-sides-in-rhodesia.html |title=Carter Seeks Talks Including All Sides in Rhodesia Conflict |date=April 3, 1978 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012042353/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/03/archives/new-jersey-pages-carter-seeks-talks-including-all-sides-in-rhodesia.html |url-status=live}}

The elections of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister of the United Kingdom{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/04/archives/conservatives-win-british-vote-margaret-thatcher-first-woman-to.html |title=Conservatives Win British Vote; Margaret Thatcher First Woman to Head a European Government |date=May 4, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907191715/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/04/archives/conservatives-win-british-vote-margaret-thatcher-first-woman-to.html |url-status=live}} and Abel Muzorewa for Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/25/archives/muzorewa-party-wins-in-rhodesia-with-bare-majority-in-parliament.html |title=Rhodesian Election Ends with Turnout Put at 65 Percent |date=April 25, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816194436/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/25/archives/muzorewa-party-wins-in-rhodesia-with-bare-majority-in-parliament.html |url-status=live}} South Africa turning down a plan for South West Africa's independence, and domestic opposition in Congress were seen as a heavy blow to the Carter administration's policy toward South Africa.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/14/archives/fight-over-rhodesia-sanctions-reflects-carter-bid-to-save-africa.html |title=Fight Over Rhodesia Sanctions Reflects Carter Bid to Save Africa Policy |date=May 14, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703000906/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/14/archives/fight-over-rhodesia-sanctions-reflects-carter-bid-to-save-africa.html |url-status=live}} On May 16, 1979, the Senate voted in favor of lifting economic sanctions against Rhodesia, seen by some Rhodesians and South Africans as a potentially fatal blow to joint diplomacy efforts and any compromise between the Salisbury leaders and guerrillas.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/17/archives/rhodesia-south-africa-hail-move-in-senate-to-end-curb-on-salisbury.html |title=Rhodesia, South Africa Hail Move In Senate to End Curb on Salisbury |date=May 17, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012010116/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/17/archives/rhodesia-south-africa-hail-move-in-senate-to-end-curb-on-salisbury.html |url-status=live}} On December 3, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance promised Senator Jesse Helms that when the British governor arrived in Salisbury to implement an agreed Lancaster House settlement and the electoral process began, the President would take prompt action to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/04/archives/carter-promises-to-stop-sanctions-after-rhodesia-political.html |title=Carter Promises to Stop Sanctions After Rhodesia Political Settlement |date=December 4, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818111344/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/04/archives/carter-promises-to-stop-sanctions-after-rhodesia-political.html |url-status=live}}

File:Carter DengXiaoping (cropped).jpg with Carter in 1979]]

Carter sought closer relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), continuing the Nixon administration's drastic policy of rapprochement. The two countries increasingly collaborated against the Soviet Union, and the Carter administration tacitly consented to the Chinese invasion of Vietnam. In December 1978, he announced the United States' intention to formally recognize and establish full diplomatic relations with the PRC starting on January 1, 1979, while severing ties with Taiwan, including revoking a mutual defense treaty with the latter.{{Cite journal |last=Wachman |first=Alan M. |year=1984 |title=Carter's Constitutional Conundrum: An Examination of the President's Unilateral Termination of a Treaty |journal=The Fletcher Forum |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=427–457 |jstor=45331164 |issn=0147-0981}}{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Edward |date=December 16, 1978 |title=U.S. to Normalize Ties With Peking, End Its Defense Treaty With Taiwan |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/12/16/us-to-normalize-ties-with-peking-end-its-defense-treaty-with-taiwan/7d53f81a-865d-4a87-8c32-a0f6f343502c/ |access-date=December 11, 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=May 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514161904/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/12/16/us-to-normalize-ties-with-peking-end-its-defense-treaty-with-taiwan/7d53f81a-865d-4a87-8c32-a0f6f343502c/ |url-status=live}} In 1979, Carter extended formal diplomatic recognition to the PRC for the first time. This decision led to a boom in trade between the United States and the PRC, which was pursuing economic reforms under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping.{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=839–840}} Carter supported the China-allied Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia fighting the Soviet-backed Vietnamese invasion.John W. Garver, China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic (2016) pp 383–400.

File:Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Deng Xiaoping during the state dinner for the Vice Premier of China. - NARA - 183214.tif at the White House]]

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter allowed the sale of military supplies to China and began negotiations to share military intelligence.{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=855–856}} In January 1980, Carter unilaterally revoked the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of China (ROC). Conservative Republicans challenged Carter's abrogation of the treaty in court, but the Supreme Court ruled that the issue was a non-justiciable political question in Goldwater v. Carter. The U.S. continued to maintain quasi-diplomatic contacts with the ROC through the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.{{cite web|last1=Strong|first1=Robert A.|title=Jimmy Carter: Foreign Affairs|url=https://millercenter.org/president/carter/foreign-affairs|website=Miller Center|date=October 4, 2016|publisher=University of Virginia|access-date=November 21, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031100/https://millercenter.org/president/carter/foreign-affairs|url-status=live}}

During Carter's presidency, the U.S. continued to support Indonesia under Suharto as a Cold War ally, despite human rights violations in East Timor. The violations followed Indonesia's December 1975 invasion of East Timor. Under Carter's administration military assistance to Indonesia increased, peaking in 1978.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/indoarms.html|title=Report: U.S. Arms Transfers to Indonesia 1975–1997|work=World Policy Institute|date=March 1997|access-date=September 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226181104/https://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/indoarms.html|archive-date=February 26, 2017}}{{cite book |last=Dumbrell |first=John |title=The Carter Presidency: A Re-evaluation |year=1995 |edition=2nd |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, England, UK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GK7AAAAIAAJ&q=Indonesia&pg=PA187 |pages=187, 191 |isbn=978-0-7190-4693-3 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=April 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410051130/https://books.google.com/books?id=2GK7AAAAIAAJ&q=Indonesia&pg=PA187 |url-status=live}} This was antithetical to Carter's stated policy of "not selling weapons if it would exacerbate a potential conflict in a region".{{cite interview |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |subject-link=Jimmy Carter |interviewer=Amy Goodman |title=Fmr. President Jimmy Carter on "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," Iraq, Greeting the Shah of Iran at the White House, Selling Weapons to Indonesia During the Occupation of East Timor, and More |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2007/9/10/fmr_president_jimmy_carter_on_palestine |date=September 10, 2007 |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=July 30, 2019 |archive-date=July 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730232155/https://www.democracynow.org/2007/9/10/fmr_president_jimmy_carter_on_palestine |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Ball |first1=Nicole |last2=Lettenberg |first2=Milton |title=The foreign arms sales of the Carter administration |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=February 1979 |volume=35 |issue=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgsAAAAAMBAJ&q=Carter+weapons+sales+Indonesia&pg=PA31 |pages=31–36 |publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science |doi=10.1080/00963402.1979.11458586 |bibcode=1979BuAtS..35b..31B |access-date=October 28, 2019 |archive-date=February 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206211240/https://books.google.com/books?id=GgsAAAAAMBAJ&q=Carter+weapons+sales+Indonesia&pg=PA31 |url-status=live |issn=0096-3402|url-access=subscription }} In the Philippines, Carter supported the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.{{cite news |title=Carter Asks for No Cut in Arms Aid to Marcos Despite Negative Human-Rights Report |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/06/archives/carter-asks-for-no-cut-in-arms-aid-to-marcos-despite-negative.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 6, 1978}}

During a news conference on March 9, 1977, Carter reaffirmed his interest in having a gradual withdrawal of American troops from South Korea.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-117 |title=The President's News Conference (9 March 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011221451/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-117 |url-status=live}} On May 19, The Washington Post quoted Chief of Staff of U.S. forces in South Korea John K. Singlaub as criticizing Carter's withdrawal of troops from the Korean peninsula.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/20/archives/carter-summons-general-in-korea-over-criticism-of-withdrawal-plan.html |title=Carter Summons General in Korea Over Criticism of Withdrawal Plan |date=May 20, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816120219/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/20/archives/carter-summons-general-in-korea-over-criticism-of-withdrawal-plan.html |url-status=live}} Carter relieved Singlaub of his duties on May 21.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/22/archives/carter-disciplines-gen-singlaub-who-attacked-his-policy-on-korea.html |title=Carter Disciplines Gen. Singlaub, Who Attacked His Policy on Korea |first=Bernard |last=Weinraub |work=The New York Times |date=May 22, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816085328/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/22/archives/carter-disciplines-gen-singlaub-who-attacked-his-policy-on-korea.html |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914937,00.html |title=Armed Forces: General on the Carpet |date=May 30, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |magazine=Time |archive-date=October 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014033517/https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914937,00.html |url-status=live}}

During a news conference on May 26, 1977, Carter said South Korea could defend itself with reduced American troops in case of conflict.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/carter-defends-plan-to-reduce-forces-in-korea-carer-defends-plan-to.html |title=Carter Defends Plan to Reduce Forces in Korea |date=May 27, 1977 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702233520/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/carter-defends-plan-to-reduce-forces-in-korea-carer-defends-plan-to.html |url-status=live}} From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with president of South Korea Park Chung Hee for a discussion on relations between the U.S. and South Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/seoul-republic-korea-joint-communique-issued-the-conclusion-meetings-with-president-park |title=Seoul, Republic of Korea Joint Communiqué Issued at the Conclusion of Meetings With President Park. (1 July 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140609/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/seoul-republic-korea-joint-communique-issued-the-conclusion-meetings-with-president-park |url-status=live}} On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing lack of action by Congress in regard to a compensatory aid package for the South Korean government.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/22/archives/carter-cuts-total-of-us-troops-to-leave-south-korea-this-year.html |title=Carter Cuts Total of U.S. Troops To Leave South Korea This Year (21 April 1978) |first=Terence |last=Smith |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 22, 1978 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816183234/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/22/archives/carter-cuts-total-of-us-troops-to-leave-south-korea-this-year.html |url-status=live}} He supported South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan during the suppression of the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980.{{cite news |last1=Kim |first1=In Jeong |last2=Shorrock |first2=Tim |title=2 Days in May That Shattered Korean Democracy |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/two-days-in-may-that-shattered-korean-democracy/ |access-date=August 21, 2023 |work=The Nation |date=May 28, 2020 |archive-date=March 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331014141/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/two-days-in-may-that-shattered-korean-democracy/ |url-status=live }} South Korean pro-democracy activist Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death in September 1980, but his sentence was commuted after the intervention of presidents Carter and Reagan.{{Cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//dc.html?doc=3696543-Document-16-Memorandum-of-Conversation-National|title=The National Security Archive|website=nsarchive2.gwu.edu|access-date=November 21, 2019|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309055036/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//dc.html?doc=3696543-Document-16-Memorandum-of-Conversation-National|url-status=live}}

{{main|Iran hostage crisis}}

File:Jimmy Carter with King Hussein of Jordan the Shah of Iran and Shahbanou of Iran - NARA - 177332 04.jpg of Jordan, the Shah and Shahbanou of Iran in 1977]]

On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the U.S. and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/16/archives/carter-lauds-shah-on-his-leadership-assures-visitor-us-will.html |title=Carter Lauds Shah On His Leadership |date=November 16, 1977 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702235156/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/16/archives/carter-lauds-shah-on-his-leadership-assures-visitor-us-will.html |url-status=live}} On December 31, 1977, he called Iran under the Shah an "island of stability".{{cite web|url=https://vandvreader.org/jimmy-carter-toasts-the-shah-31-december-1977/|title=Jimmy Carter Toasts the Shah|date=December 31, 1977|work=Voices and Visions|access-date=March 24, 2023|archive-date=March 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324205948/https://vandvreader.org/jimmy-carter-toasts-the-shah-31-december-1977/|url-status=live}}{{cite book |title=The Making of US Foreign Policy |date=1997 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=72}} Carter praised the Shah's "great leadership" and spoke of "personal friendship" between them.{{cite book |last1=Gill Guererro |first1=Javier |title=The Carter Administration and the Fall of Iran's Pahlavi Dynasty US-Iran Relations on the Brink of the 1979 Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |page=57}} American support for the unpopular Shah increased anti-American sentiment in Iran, which intensified after the Shah, who was dying of cancer, left Iran for the last time in January 1979 and Carter allowed him to be admitted to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on October 22, 1979.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=454}}

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students belonged to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line and supported the Iranian revolution.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=452}} Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days. They were freed immediately after Ronald Reagan succeeded Carter as president on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days.{{Cite news|url=https://forward.com/articles/120124/how-hanukkah-came-to-the-white-house/|title=How Hanukkah Came To The White House|first1=Jonathan|last1=D. Sarna|date=December 2, 2009|access-date=August 30, 2021|publisher=The Forward|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319162202/https://forward.com/articles/120124/how-hanukkah-came-to-the-white-house/|url-status=live}}

A month into the affair, Carter announced his commitment to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed or arouse the unstable captors of our hostages to attack them or to punish them".{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/american-hostages-iran-remarks-state-department-employees |title=American Hostages in Iran Remarks to State Department Employees. (7 December 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140657/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/american-hostages-iran-remarks-state-department-employees |url-status=live}} On April 7, 1980, he issued Executive Order 12205, imposing economic sanctions against Iran,{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-12205-economic-sanctions-against-iran |title=Executive Order 12205—Economic Sanctions Against Iran (7 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140558/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-12205-economic-sanctions-against-iran |url-status=live}} and announced further government measures he deemed necessary to ensure a safe release.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sanctions-against-iran-remarks-announcing-us-actions |title=Sanctions Against Iran Remarks Announcing U.S. Actions. (7 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212038/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sanctions-against-iran-remarks-announcing-us-actions |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/4/8/carter-cuts-ties-with-iran-ppresident/ |title=Carter Cuts Ties With Iran |date=April 8, 1980 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |archive-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809084016/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/4/8/carter-cuts-ties-with-iran-ppresident/ |url-status=live}}

On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and two aircraft destroyed.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-nation-the-rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran |title=Address to the Nation on the Rescue Attempt for American Hostages in Iran (24 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152309/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-nation-the-rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran-white-house-statement |title=Rescue Attempt for American Hostages in Iran White House Statement. (25 April 1980) |publisher=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152313/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran-white-house-statement |url-status=live}} The failure led Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the mission, to resign.{{sfn|Bourne|1997|p=460}}

Released in 2017, a declassified memo produced by the CIA in 1980 concluded "Iranian hardliners—especially Ayatollah Khomeini" were "determined to exploit the hostage issue to bring about President Carter's defeat in the November elections." Additionally, Tehran in 1980 wanted "the world to believe that Imam Khomeini caused President Carter's downfall and disgrace."{{Cite web|title=Declassified CIA memo predicted the 1980 October Surprise|url=https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/jul/24/declassified-cia-memo-predicted-1980-october-surpr/|access-date=November 13, 2021|publisher=MuckRock|date=July 24, 2017 |archive-date=November 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113103809/https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/jul/24/declassified-cia-memo-predicted-1980-october-surpr/|url-status=live}}

File:Carter Brezhnev sign SALT II.jpg signing the SALT II treaty at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, June 18, 1979]]

On February 8, 1977, Carter said he had urged the Soviet Union to align with the U.S. in forming "a comprehensive test ban to stop all nuclear testing for at least an extended period of time", and that he was in favor of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the RSD-10 Pioneer.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-112 |title=The President's News Conference (8 February 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105040225/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-112 |url-status=live}} At a June 13 press conference, he announced that the U.S. would "work closely with the Soviet Union on a comprehensive test ban treaty to prohibit all testing of nuclear devices underground or in the atmosphere", and that Paul Warnke would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-114 |title=The President's News Conference (13 June 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818111344/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-114 |url-status=live}}

At a December 30 news conference, Carter said that during "the last few months, the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues, the most important of which is to control the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons", and that the two countries sought to conclude SALT II talks by the spring of the next year.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-115 |title=The President's News Conference (30 December 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817111526/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-115 |url-status=live}} The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty materialized with the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II by Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on June 18, 1979.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/19/archives/us-and-soviet-sign-strategic-arms-treaty-carter-urges-congress-to.html |title=U.S. And Soviet Sign Strategic Arms Treaty; Carter Urges Congress To Support Accord |date=June 19, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817175614/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/19/archives/us-and-soviet-sign-strategic-arms-treaty-carter-urges-congress-to.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/this-day-in-politics-june-18-1979-119113 |title=Jimmy Carter signs Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, June 18, 1979 |first=Andrew |last=Glass |newspaper=Politico |date=June 18, 2015 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140451/https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/this-day-in-politics-june-18-1979-119113 |url-status=live}}

File:Nlc02585cs.jpg, in Washington, D.C., September 6, 1977. Pinochet was an ally of the United States in the fight against Soviet-backed communist movements in Latin America.]]

In 1979, the Soviets intervened in the Second Yemenite War. The Soviet backing of South Yemen constituted a "smaller shock", in tandem with tensions that were rising due to the Iranian Revolution. This played a role in making Carter's stance on the Soviet Union more assertive, a shift that finalized with the impending Soviet-Afghan War.{{Cite web|title=Jimmy Carter and the Second Yemenite War: A Smaller Shock of 1979?|date=June 28, 2021 |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/jimmy-carter-and-second-yemenite-war-smaller-shock-1979|access-date=November 21, 2021|publisher=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|archive-date=November 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122053035/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/jimmy-carter-and-second-yemenite-war-smaller-shock-1979|url-status=live}}

In his 1980 State of the Union Address, Carter emphasized the significance of relations between the two regions: "Now, as during the last 3½ decades, the relationship between our country, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union is the most critical factor in determining whether the world will live at peace or be engulfed in global conflict."{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33079 |title=The State of the Union Address Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress. (January 23, 1980) |access-date=August 31, 2021 |publisher=The American Presidency Project |archive-date=September 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911122002/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33079}}

Communists under the leadership of Nur Muhammad Taraki seized power in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978.{{cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Robert D. |title=Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-307-54698-2 |pages=115–117}} Due to the regime's improvement of secular education and redistribution of land coinciding with mass executions and political oppression, Taraki was deposed by rival Hafizullah Amin in September.{{cite book |last=Kepel |first=Gilles |title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-257-8 |pages=138–139, 142–144}}{{cite book |last1=Blight |first1=James G. |title=Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979–1988 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4422-0830-8 |pages=69–70}} Amin was considered a "brutal psychopath" by foreign observers and had lost control of much of the country, prompting the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan on December 24, 1979, execute Amin, and install Babrak Karmal as president.

File:Carter and Begin, September 5, 1978 (10729514294).jpg in September 1978]]In the West, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was considered a threat to global security and the oil supplies of the Persian Gulf, as well as the existence of Pakistan.{{cite book |author-link=Bruce Riedel |last=Riedel |first=Bruce |title=What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8157-2595-4 |pages=ix–xi, 21–22, 93, 98–99, 105}} These concerns led Carter to expand collaboration between the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which had begun in July 1979, when the CIA started providing $695,000 worth of non-lethal assistance to the Afghan mujahideen. The modest scope of this early collaboration was likely influenced by the understanding, later recounted by CIA official Robert Gates, "that a substantial U.S. covert aid program" might have "raise[d] the stakes", thereby causing "the Soviets to intervene more directly and vigorously than otherwise intended."{{cite book |last=Gates |first=Bob |title=From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4165-4336-7 |pages=145–147}} When asked whether he expected that the revelations in his memoir would inspire the conspiracy theories surrounding the U.S. aid program, Gates replied: "No, because there was no basis in fact for an allegation the administration tried to draw the Soviets into Afghanistan militarily." See Gates, email communication with John Bernell White Jr., October 15, 2011, as cited in {{cite thesis |last=White |first=John Bernell |url=https://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04252012-175722/unrestricted/WHITE_THESIS.pdf |title=The Strategic Mind Of Zbigniew Brzezinski: How A Native Pole Used Afghanistan To Protect His Homeland |date=May 2012 |pages=45–46, 82 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022857/https://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04252012-175722/unrestricted/WHITE_THESIS.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016}} cf. {{cite book |author-link=Steve Coll |last=Coll |first=Steve |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll |url-access=registration |publisher=Penguin |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59420-007-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll/page/581 581] |quote=Contemporary memos—particularly those written in the first days after the Soviet invasion—make clear that while Brzezinski was determined to confront the Soviets in Afghanistan through covert action, he was also very worried the Soviets would prevail.{{spaces}}... Given this evidence and the enormous political and security costs that the invasion imposed on the Carter administration, any claim that Brzezinski lured the Soviets into Afghanistan warrants deep skepticism.}}File:King Khaled (10168117694).jpg and Carter in October 1978|left]]

According to a 2020 review of declassified U.S. documents by Conor Tobin in the journal Diplomatic History:

The primary significance of this small-scale aid was in creating constructive links with dissidents through Pakistan's ISI that could be utilized in the case of an overt Soviet intervention ... The small-scale covert program that developed in response to the increasing Soviet influence was part of a contingency plan if the Soviets did intervene militarily, as Washington would be in a better position to make it difficult for them to consolidate their position, but not designed to induce an intervention.{{cite journal|last=Tobin|first=Conor|title=The Myth of the 'Afghan Trap': Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan, 1978–1979|journal=Diplomatic History|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=44|issue=2|date=April 2020|pages=237–264|doi=10.1093/dh/dhz065|doi-access=free}}

On December 28, 1979, Carter signed a presidential finding explicitly allowing the CIA to transfer "lethal military equipment either directly or through third countries to the Afghan opponents of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan" and to arrange "selective training, conducted outside of Afghanistan, in the use of such equipment either directly or via third country intermediation." His finding defined the CIA's mission as "harassment" of Soviet troops; at the time, "this was not a war the CIA expected to win outright on the battlefield," in the words of Steve Coll.{{cite book|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001|publisher=Penguin Group|year=2004|isbn=978-1-59420-007-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll/page/58 58]|author-link=Steve Coll}}

Carter was determined to respond harshly to what he considered a dangerous provocation. In a televised speech on January 23, 1980, he announced sanctions on the Soviet Union, promised renewed aid and registration to Pakistan and the Selective Service System, and committed the U.S. to the Persian Gulf's defense.{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=James |title=Jimmy Carter State of the Union Address 1980 (23 January 1980) |url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041015134701/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml |archive-date=October 15, 2004 |website=Selected Speeches of Jimmy Carter |publisher=Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=May 30, 2017}}{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter: The State of the Union Address Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33079 |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=January 7, 2018 |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214111712/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33079 |url-status=live}} Carter imposed an embargo on grain shipments to the USSR, tabled SALT II, requested a 5% annual increase in defense spending,{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|p=103}}{{cite book |last1=Leuchtenburg |first1=William E. |title=The American President |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-517616-2 |page=577 |chapter=Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter}} and called for a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was ultimately joined by 65 other nations.{{cite journal|last1=Eaton|first1=Joseph|date=November 2016|title=Reconsidering the 1980 Moscow Olympic Boycott: American Sports Diplomacy in East Asian Perspective|journal=Diplomatic History|volume=40|issue=5|pages=845–864|doi=10.1093/dh/dhw026|jstor=26376807}}{{Cite journal |last=Treadaway |first=Dan |date=August 5, 1996 |title=Carter stresses role of Olympics in promoting global harmony |url=https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1996/August/ERaug.5/8_5_96carter.html |journal=Emory Report |volume=48 |issue=37 |access-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622182355/https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1996/August/ERaug.5/8_5_96carter.html |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Toohey |first=Kristine |title=The Olympic Games: A Social Science Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywy9aslk3M8C&pg=PA100 |date=November 8, 2007 |publisher=CABI |isbn=978-1-84593-355-5 |page=100 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705120119/https://books.google.com/books?id=ywy9aslk3M8C&pg=PA100 |url-status=live}}

In early 1980, Carter determined the thrust of U.S. policy for the duration of the war: he initiated a program to arm the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI and secured a pledge from Saudi Arabia to match U.S. funding for this purpose. Despite huge expenditure, the Soviet Union was unable to quell the insurgency and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989.{{cite book | last = Gaddis|first = John Lewis | title = We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History | date = 1997 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-878070-0}} The routing of U.S. aid through Pakistan led to some controversy, as weapons sent to Karachi were frequently controlled by Pakistan, whose government influenced which rebels received assistance. Despite this, Carter has expressed no regret over his decision to support what he considered the Afghan freedom fighters.

{{further|List of international presidential trips made by Jimmy Carter}}

File:US President Jimmy Carter Presidential Trips.PNG

Carter made twelve international trips to 25 countries as president.{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/carter-jimmy |title=Travels of President Jimmy Carter |work=U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231091716/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/carter-jimmy |url-status=live}} He was the first president to make a state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he went to Nigeria in 1978. He made several trips to the Middle East to broker peace negotiations. His visit to Iran from December 31, 1977, to January 1, 1978, took place less than a year before the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.{{cite web |url=https://www.realclearworld.com/lists/presidential_visits/carter_iran.html |title=Most Important Presidential Visits: No. 7 Jimmy Carter – Iran |website=realclearworld |access-date=May 24, 2016 |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601144811/https://www.realclearworld.com/lists/presidential_visits/carter_iran.html |url-status=live}}

Carter gave his "Island of Stability" speech during this visit.

On September 21, 1977, the Carter administration's OMB director Bert Lance resigned amid allegations of improper banking activities before his tenure.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/politics/bert-lance-carter-adviser-dies-at-82.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/politics/bert-lance-carter-adviser-dies-at-82.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bert Lance, Carter Adviser, Dies at 82|first1=Robert D. Jr.|last1=Hershey |date=August 15, 2013|access-date=September 1, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}} United States Attorney General Griffin Bell appointed Paul J. Curran as a special counsel to investigate loans made to the peanut business Carter owned by a bank controlled by Lance,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916712-1,00.html |title=I Have a Job to Do |date=April 2, 1979 |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025175059/https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916712-1,00.html|archive-date=October 25, 2012 |access-date=September 1, 2021}}{{efn|Curran also investigated President Jimmy Carter's family peanut business for the Justice Department in 1979, and thus became the first lawyer to examine a sitting president under oath.}} and Carter became the first sitting president to testify under oath as part of an investigation of him.{{cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |author-link=Robert D. McFadden |date=September 6, 2008 |title=Paul Curran, 75, Corruption Foe, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/07curran.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425033130/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/07curran.html |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |access-date=September 6, 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A30}}{{Cite web |title=Paul J. Curran, Special Counsel, Litigation, Kaye Scholer. |url=https://www.kayescholer.com/web.nsf/sl/96D840B79AF05CE785256CE20076DA99 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051018150259/https://www.kayescholer.com/web.nsf/sl/96D840B79AF05CE785256CE20076DA99 |archive-date=October 18, 2005 |access-date=September 1, 2021}} In October 1979, Curran announced that no evidence had been found to support allegations that funds loaned from the National Bank of Georgia had been diverted to Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, ending the investigation.{{cite news |title=Carter's Business Cleared in Inquiry on Campaign Funds |last=Pound |first=Edward T. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/17/archives/carters-business-cleared-in-inquiry-on-campaign-funds-indictments.html |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A1 |date=October 17, 1979 |access-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722223222/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/17/archives/carters-business-cleared-in-inquiry-on-campaign-funds-indictments.html |url-status=live}}

{{main|Jimmy Carter 1980 presidential campaign|1980 United States presidential election}}

File:Presidential Debate with Ronald Reagan and President Carter, October 28, 1980.webm, Ohio, on October 28, 1980]]

Carter's reelection campaign was based primarily on attacking Ronald Reagan. The campaign frequently pointed out and mocked Reagan's proclivity for gaffes, using his age and perceived lack of connection to his native California voter base against him.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|pp=112–113}} Later, the campaign used similar rhetoric as Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, portraying Reagan as a warmonger who could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal.{{sfn|Zelizer|2010|p=115}} Carter attempted to deny the Reagan campaign $29.4 million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|29,400,000|1980|r=-6}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in campaign funds, due to dependent conservative groups already raising $60 million to get him elected—an amount that exceeded the limit of campaign funds. Carter's attempt was later denied by the Federal Election Commission.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Md1JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yx0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2024%2C3677501|title=Bid by Carter to deny Reagan funds rejected|date=July 25, 1980|access-date=September 5, 2021|work=The Michigan Daily|archive-date=May 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525125539/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Md1JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yx0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2024%2C3677501|url-status=live}}

Carter announced his reelection campaign in December 1979.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bismarck-tribune-president-set-to-to/156390552/ President Set to Toss Hat in Ring]. Associated Press. The Bismarck tribune. December 4, 1979. Retrieved October 1, 2024. A month earlier, Senator Ted Kennedy had announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/18/chapter_4_sailing_into_the_wind/ |title=Chapter 4: Sailing into the Wind: Losing a quest for the top, finding a new freedom |author=Allis, Sam |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174031/https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/18/chapter_4_sailing_into_the_wind/ |url-status=live}} During the Democratic presidential primaries, questions about Kennedy were a frequent subject of Carter's press conferences.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-975 |title=The President's News Conference (13 February 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818021455/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-975 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-973 |title=The President's News Conference (14 March 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815070107/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-973 |url-status=live}} Despite winning key states such as California and New York, Kennedy surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign. Carter won most of the primaries and secured renomination. He later wrote that the strongest opposition to his policies came from the Democratic Party's liberal wing, which he attributed to Kennedy.{{cite book |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |title=Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis |url=https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredv00cart |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=[https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredv00cart/page/8 8] |isbn=978-0-7432-8457-8}} Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing, which weakened Carter's support in the general election.{{sfn|Hayward|2009|p=497}}

Carter and Mondale were formally nominated at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-1980-democratic-national-convention-new |title=Remarks Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York (14 August 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011214303/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-1980-democratic-national-convention-new |url-status=live}} Carter delivered a speech notable for its tribute to the late Hubert Humphrey, whom he initially called "Hubert Horatio Hornblower",{{cite news |title=Carter Blows the Horn Of the Wrong Horatio |work=The New York Times |date=August 15, 1980 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E2DB113BE732A25756C1A96E9C94619FD6CF |archive-date=March 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317003621/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E2DB113BE732A25756C1A96E9C94619FD6CF |url-status=live}} and Kennedy made "The Dream Shall Never Die" speech, in which he criticized Reagan and did not endorse Carter.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/08/13/kennedy-rips-reagan-electrifies-convention/e095b296-247a-425d-8ef4-05bdfed24c9a/|title=Kennedy Rips Reagan, Electrifies Convention|first1=T. R.|last1=Reid|first2=David S.|last2=Broder|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 13, 1980|access-date=February 18, 2023|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828171503/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/08/13/kennedy-rips-reagan-electrifies-convention/e095b296-247a-425d-8ef4-05bdfed24c9a/|url-status=live}}

File:ElectoralCollege1980.svg by Ronald Reagan.]]

Along with Reagan and Kennedy, Carter was opposed by centrist John B. Anderson, who had previously contested the Republican presidential primaries, and upon losing to Reagan, reentered the race as an independent. Anderson advertised himself as a more liberal alternative to Reagan's conservatism.{{cite news|date=December 4, 2017|title=John Anderson, Independent Who Ran for President, Dies at 95|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/john-anderson-third-party-candidate-for-president-dies-at-95|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204215128/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/john-anderson-third-party-candidate-for-president-dies-at-95|archive-date=December 4, 2017|access-date=December 4, 2017|newspaper=Bloomberg.com}} As the campaign went on, Anderson's polling numbers dropped and his base was gradually pulled to Carter or Reagan.{{Cite web|date=June 30, 2017|title=Gallup Presidential Election Trial-Heat Trends, 1936–2004 Gallup|url=https://www.gallup.com/poll/110548/gallup-presidential-election-trialheat-trends-19362004.aspx#4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630070844/https://www.gallup.com/poll/110548/gallup-presidential-election-trialheat-trends-19362004.aspx#4|archive-date=June 30, 2017|access-date=May 25, 2021}} Carter had to run against his own "stagflation"-ridden economy, while the hostage crisis in Iran dominated the news. He was attacked by conservatives for failing to "prevent Soviet gains" in less-developed countries, as pro-Soviet governments had taken power in countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Afghanistan.{{Cite web|last=Galster|first=Steve|date=October 9, 2001|title=Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html|url-status=live|access-date=September 1, 2021|website=The National Security Advisor|archive-date=September 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906203727/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html}} His brother, Billy Carter, caused controversy due to his association with Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/billy.htm|title=Billygate – 1980|access-date=September 5, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=August 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810085616/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/billy.htm|url-status=live}} Carter alienated many liberal college students, who were expected to be one of his strongest support bases, by reactivating the Selective Service System on July 2, 1980, reinstating registration for the military draft. His campaign manager, Timothy Kraft, stepped down five weeks before the general election amid what turned out to be an uncorroborated allegation of cocaine use.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952778,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308003653/https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952778,00.html |archive-date=March 8, 2008 |title=Nation: Kraft Drops Out |magazine=Time |date=September 29, 1980 |access-date=June 29, 2013}}

On October 28, Carter and Reagan participated in the sole presidential debate of the election cycle in which they were both present, due to Carter refusing to participate in debates that included Anderson.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-cleveland |title=Presidential Debate in Cleveland (28 October 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009082657/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-cleveland |url-status=live}} Though initially trailing Carter by several points,{{cite news |first=John |last=Harwood |title=History Suggests McCain Faces an Uphill Battle |date=October 12, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/politics/13caucus.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104061104/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/politics/13caucus.html |url-status=live}} Reagan experienced a surge in polling after the debate.{{cite news |first=John F. |last=Stacks |title=Where the Polls Went Wrong |date=December 1, 1980 |url=https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924541,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009152724/https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924541,00.html |archive-date=October 9, 2008 |magazine=Time |access-date=October 24, 2017}} This was in part influenced by Reagan deploying the phrase "There you go again", which became the election's defining phrase.{{cite news|title=Other stars emerge other than those on the presidential ticket|work=Gannett News Service|date=November 4, 2008|url=https://www.news-press.com/article/20081104/NEWS0107/81104001/1075|access-date=September 5, 2021}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} It was later discovered that in the final days of the campaign, Reagan's team acquired classified documents Carter used to prepare for the debate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/new-book-pins-debategate-on-dem-028317?o=1|title=New book pins 'debategate' on Dem|work=Politico|access-date=September 5, 2021|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517041941/https://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/new-book-pins-debategate-on-dem-028317?o=1|url-status=live}}

Reagan and his running mate (George H. W. Bush) defeated Carter and Mondale in a landslide, winning 489 electoral votes. The Senate went Republican for the first time since 1952.{{cite book |last1=Kazin |first1=Michael |last2=Edwards |first2=Rebecca |last3=Rothman |first3=Adam |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History. (Two volume set) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA311 |date=November 9, 2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3356-6 |page=311 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705120117/https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA311 |url-status=live}} Carter's 49 electoral votes were the second-fewest for an incumbent president seeking reelection. In his concession speech, Carter admitted that he was hurt by the election's outcome but pledged "a very fine transition period" with President-elect Reagan.{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1980-presidential-election-remarks-the-outcome-the-election |title=1980 Presidential Election Remarks on the Outcome of the Election |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901212451/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1980-presidential-election-remarks-the-outcome-the-election |url-status=live}}

{{main|Post-presidency of Jimmy Carter}}

File:Jimmy Carter smiling, 2014 (1).jpg

Shortly after losing reelection, Carter told the White House press corps that he intended to emulate the retirement of Harry S. Truman and not use his subsequent public life to enrich himself.{{cite book |title=Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondwhitehouse00cart |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/beyondwhitehouse00cart/page/3 3] |isbn=978-1-4165-5881-1 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=October 14, 2008 |first=Jimmy |last=Carter}}

Diplomacy was a large part of Carter's post-presidency. These diplomatic efforts began in the Middle East, with a September 1981 meeting with prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin,{{cite news |url=https://archives.chicagotribune.com/1981/10/15/page/10/article/carter-begin-set-to-compromise |title=Carter: Begin set to compromise |date=October 15, 1981 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=August 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817075415/https://archives.chicagotribune.com/1981/10/15/page/10/article/carter-begin-set-to-compromise/}} and a March 1983 tour of Egypt that included meeting with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/09/world/carter-meets-plo-officals-in-egypt.html |title=Carter Meets P.L.O. Officials in Egypt |date=March 8, 1983 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=William E. |last=Farrell |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140457/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/09/world/carter-meets-plo-officals-in-egypt.html |url-status=live}}

In 2018, official files revealed that, in January 1993, Carter had been suggested for a Northern Ireland peace process role by president-elect Bill Clinton amid speculation that Clinton would appoint a special envoy for Northern Ireland.{{Cite news |first=Niamh |last=Campbell |date=December 29, 2024 |title=Claire Hanna pays tribute to Jimmy Carter: 'First US President to seriously engage with NI issues' |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/claire-hanna-pays-tribute-to-jimmy-carter-first-us-president-to-seriously-engage-with-ni-issues/a524590819.html |access-date=December 30, 2024 |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=December 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230134634/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/claire-hanna-pays-tribute-to-jimmy-carter-first-us-president-to-seriously-engage-with-ni-issues/a524590819.html |url-status=live }}

In 1994, Clinton sought Carter's assistance in a North Korea peace mission, during which Carter negotiated an understanding with Kim Il Sung.{{Cite book|first1=Marion V.|last1=Creekmore|title=A Moment of Crisis: Jimmy Carter, The Power of a Peacemaker, and North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions|date=2006|publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-58648-414-9}}{{cite magazine |last1=Kaplan |first1=Fred |author-link=Fred Kaplan (journalist) |date=May 2004 |title=Rolling Blunder |magazine=Washington Monthly |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/may-2004/rolling-blunder-2/ |access-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-date=December 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205113603/https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/may-2004/rolling-blunder-2/ |url-status=live}} Carter outlined a treaty with Kim, which he announced to CNN without the Clinton administration's consent to spur American action.{{cite news |url=https://cartercenter.org/documents/nondatabase/nytimesarticle.htm |work=The New York Times |date=September 5, 2003 |last1=Brooke |first1=James |title=Carter Issues Warning on North Korea Standoff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615210532/https://cartercenter.org/documents/nondatabase/nytimesarticle.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2010 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |via=The Carter Center}}

File:The Elders (9358747992).jpg, William Hague, and Lakhdar Brahimi from The Elders group in London, July 24, 2013|left]]

In March 1999, Carter visited Taiwan and met with President Lee Teng-hui. During the meeting, Carter praised the progress Taiwan made in democracy, human rights, economy, culture, science, and technology.{{cite web|url=https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/1219|title=President Lee Hosts Former US President Jimmy Carter|newspaper=Office of the President Republic of China (Taiwan)|date=March 30, 1999|access-date=May 23, 2023|archive-date=May 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522231559/https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/1219|url-status=live}} But Carter remained a controversial figure in Taiwan for having ended U.S. diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).Wong, Tessa. [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn446nmjp1vo "'It was destiny': How Jimmy Carter embraced China and changed history"]. BBC News, December 30, 2024.

In 2003, Carter championed a plan to hold elections in Venezuela amid protests aimed at doing so.Olson, Alexandra (January 22, 2003). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-jimmy-carter-proposes-plan-to-ho/156439619/ Jimmy Carter proposes plan to hold elections in Venezuela] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007091339/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-jimmy-carter-proposes-plan-to-ho/156439619/ |date=October 7, 2024 }}. Associated Press. The Sun. Retrieved October 2, 2024. Ultimately, no elections were held.

In 2006, Carter stated his disagreements with Israel's domestic and foreign policy while saying he supported the country,{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7420573.stm |work=BBC News |title=Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons' |date=May 26, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=November 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114221206/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7420573.stm |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/jimmy-carter-israel-s-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africa-s-1.206865 |title=Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'Apartheid' Policies Worse Than South Africa's |date=December 11, 2006 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=Haaretz |archive-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012121312/https://www.haaretz.com/news/jimmy-carter-israel-s-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africa-s-1.206865 |url-status=live}} extending his criticisms to Israel's policies in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.{{sfn|Brinkley|1998|pp=99–123}}

In July 2007, Carter joined Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, to announce his participation in The Elders, a group of independent global leaders working together on peace and human rights issues.{{cite web |url=https://theelders.org/about |title=What is The Elders? |publisher=The Elders |access-date=March 8, 2013 |archive-date=March 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328003737/https://theelders.org/about}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theelders.org/our-work |title=Our Work |publisher=The Elders |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=March 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327235803/https://theelders.org/our-work}} After the announcement, Carter participated in visits to Darfur,{{cite news |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/10/03/idUKL03712818._CH_.242020071003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131102647/https://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/10/03/idUKL03712818._CH_.242020071003 |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |title=Jimmy Carter blocked from meeting Darfur chief |date=October 3, 2007 |work=Reuters |access-date=June 12, 2012}} Sudan,{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfju7512LbJMdyWRLTb3YItDEgfQ |title=Sudan ready to withdraw troops from Abyei: Jimmy Carter |author=Ian Timberlake |work=Google News |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=May 27, 2012 |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703114403/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfju7512LbJMdyWRLTb3YItDEgfQ}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theelders.org/article/jimmy-carter-and-lakhdar-brahimi-sudan-support-peace-efforts |title=Jimmy Carter and Lakhdar Brahimi in Sudan to support peace efforts |publisher=The Elders |date=May 27, 2012 |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512233718/https://www.theelders.org/article/jimmy-carter-and-lakhdar-brahimi-sudan-support-peace-efforts}} Cyprus, the Korean Peninsula, and the Middle East, among others.{{cite web |url=https://www.theelders.org/jimmy-carter |title=Jimmy Carter |publisher=The Elders |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=March 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305173858/https://theelders.org/jimmy-carter |url-status=live}} He attempted to travel to Zimbabwe in 2008, but was stopped by President Robert Mugabe's government.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics-annan-idUSTRE4AL19320081122 |title=Annan, Carter say barred from Zimbabwe |work=Reuters |date=November 22, 2008 |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=May 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504143402/https://www.reuters.com/article/2008/11/22/us-zimbabwe-politics-annan-idUSTRE4AL19320081122 |url-status=live}} In December 2008, Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,{{cite web |url=https://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160253&Itemid=96 |title=PR-USA.net |publisher=PR-USA.net |date=November 1, 2007 |access-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516022847/https://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160253&Itemid=96 |archive-date=May 16, 2011}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.fw-magazine.com/content/president-jimmy-carter-speaks-forward |title=Jimmy Carter speaks to Forward Magazine |magazine=Forward Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725112857/https://www.fw-magazine.com/content/president-jimmy-carter-speaks-forward |date=July 25, 2015 |archive-date= July 25, 2015 |access-date=September 8, 2021}} and in a June 2012 call with Jeffery Brown, he stressed that Egyptian military generals could take full executive and legislative power to form a new constitution favoring themselves if their announced intentions came true.{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/carter-on-egypt |title=Jimmy Carter: If Egypt's Ruling Military Goes Through With Plan, Same as Coup |date=June 20, 2012 |first=Larisa |last=Epatko |publisher=PBS |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012105335/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/carter-on-egypt/ |url-status=live}}

On August 10, 2010, Carter traveled to North Korea and negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/27/north.korea.carter/index.html |title=Freed American Arrives Home from North Korea |publisher=CNN|date=August 27, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615112802/https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/27/north.korea.carter/index.html |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |access-date=September 28, 2010}}{{cite news |last=McCurry |first=Justin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/27/north-korea-us-prisoner-jimmy-carter |title=North Korea releases US prisoner after talks with Jimmy Carter |newspaper=The Guardian |date=August 27, 2010 |access-date=September 6, 2010 |archive-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915193551/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/27/north-korea-us-prisoner-jimmy-carter |url-status=live}} In 2017, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea persisted, Carter recommended a peace treaty between the two nations,{{cite news |url=https://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/08/10/jimmy-carter-presses-u-s-north-korea-to-tone-down-nuclear-war-rhetoric/ |title=Jimmy Carter presses U.S., North Korea to tone down escalating rhetoric |first=Tamar |last=Hallerman |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=August 10, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216034109/https://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/08/10/jimmy-carter-presses-u-s-north-korea-to-tone-down-nuclear-war-rhetoric/ |archive-date=December 16, 2017}} and confirmed that he had volunteered to the Trump administration to be a diplomatic envoy to North Korea.{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/356567-carter-volunteers-to-help-solve-tensions-with-north-korea/ |title=Carter volunteers to help solve tensions with North Korea |date=October 21, 2017 |newspaper=The Hill |first=John |last=Bowden |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://thehill.com/policy/international/356567-carter-volunteers-to-help-solve-tensions-with-north-korea |url-status=live}}

File:President Ronald Reagan meeting President Jimmy Carter.jpg at the White House, October 1981]]

Carter began his first year out of office with a pledge not to critique the Reagan administration, saying it was "too early".{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/16/Too-early-to-criticize-Reagan-says-Carter/2336353566800/ |title=Too early to criticize Reagan, says Carter |first=Helen |last=Thomas |work=United Press International |date=March 16, 1981 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140509/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/16/Too-early-to-criticize-Reagan-says-Carter/2336353566800/ |url-status=live}} He sided with Reagan on issues like building neutron arms after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/09/03/Carter-backs-Reagan-on-neutron-weapon/8627368337600/ |title=Carter backs Reagan on neutron weapon |date=September 3, 1981 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816013135/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/09/03/Carter-backs-Reagan-on-neutron-weapon/8627368337600/ |url-status=live}} but frequently spoke out against his administration, denouncing many of its actions in the Middle East.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/13/world/carter-to-lobby-senate-on-awacs.html |title=Carter to Lobby Senate on AWACS |date=October 12, 1981 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212142009/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/13/world/carter-to-lobby-senate-on-awacs.html |url-status=live}} He condemned the handling of the Sabra and Shatila massacre,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/09/21/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-says-the-massacre-of-some/8666401428800/?spt=su |title=Former President Jimmy Carter says the massacre of some... |date=September 21, 1982 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140517/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/09/21/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-says-the-massacre-of-some/8666401428800/?spt=su |url-status=live}} the lack of efforts to rescue and retrieve four American businessmen from West Beirut in 1984,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/12/23/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-criticized-the-Reagan-administration-Sunday/6686472626000/ |title=Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Reagan administration Sunday... |date=December 23, 1984 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |location=Miami |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/12/23/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-criticized-the-Reagan-administration-Sunday/6686472626000/ |url-status=live}} Reagan's support of the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1985,{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/04/12/star-wars-may-hurt-talks-carter-warns/ |title='Star Wars' May Hurt Talks, Carter Warns |first=Thom |last=Shanker |date=April 12, 1985 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=September 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908164822/https://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-04-12/news/8501210283_1_gorbachev-initiative-president-jimmy-carter-soviet-ambassador |url-status=live}} and his claim of an international conspiracy on terrorism.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/07/14/Carter-Avoid-force-against-terrorism/9869490161600/?spt=su |title=Carter: Avoid force against terrorism |work=United Press International |date=July 14, 1985 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140520/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/07/14/Carter-Avoid-force-against-terrorism/9869490161600/?spt=su |url-status=live}} In 1987 he criticized Reagan for conceding to terrorist demands,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/02/09/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-told-students-Monday-that-President/1036539845200/ |title=Former President Jimmy Carter told students Monday that President... |date=February 9, 1987 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617022252/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/02/09/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-told-students-Monday-that-President/1036539845200/ |url-status=live}} nominating Robert Bork for the Supreme Court,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/09/30/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-declared-Wednesday-he-is-strongly/5450987249052/ |title=Former President Jimmy Carter declared Wednesday he is strongly... |first=John |last=Hanrahan |date=September 30, 1987 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140518/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/09/30/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-declared-Wednesday-he-is-strongly/5450987249052/ |url-status=live}} and his handling of the Persian Gulf crisis.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/17/Carter-criticizes-Reagans-gulf-policy/1657561441600/ |title=Carter criticizes Reagan's gulf policy |first=Matthew C. |last=Quinn |work=United Press International |date=October 17, 1987 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-date=August 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821091909/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/17/Carter-criticizes-Reagans-gulf-policy/1657561441600/ |url-status=live}}

On January 16, 1989, before the inauguration of George H. W. Bush, Carter told Gerald Ford that Reagan had experienced a media honeymoon, saying that he believed Reagan's immediate successor would be less fortunate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/18/Former-President-Gerald-Ford-Wednesday-said-the-Washington-press/7903601102800/|title=Former President Gerald Ford Wednesday said the Washington press...|first=Patrick|last=McCormick|work=United Press International|date=January 18, 1989|access-date=September 8, 2021|archive-date=September 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908180103/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/18/Former-President-Gerald-Ford-Wednesday-said-the-Washington-press/7903601102800/|url-status=live}}

File:Presidents Obama, Clinton, and Carter (cropped).jpg (left) and Carter (right) with then-president Barack Obama (center) at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial, August 2013]]

Carter had a mostly poor relationship with Bill Clinton, who snubbed him from his inauguration ceremony. He questioned the Clinton administration's morality, particularly with respect to the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and the pardon of Marc Rich.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-felsenthal/jimmy-carter-and-bill-cli_b_94926.html|title=Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton: They Genuinely Dislike Each Other|first1=Carol|last1=Felsenthal|website=HuffPost|date=May 25, 2011|access-date=September 8, 2021|archive-date=October 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025202310/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-felsenthal/jimmy-carter-and-bill-cli_b_94926.html|url-status=live}}

In July 2001, Carter said he was "disappointed in almost everything" President George W. Bush had done, but after the September 11 attacks, he offered only praise, calling on Americans to support Bush with "complete unity".{{cite news |last=Berke |first=Richard L. |date=September 28, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/28/us/nation-challenged-former-presidents-outside-former-presidents-lend-support.html |title=A NATION CHALLENGED: THE FORMER PRESIDENTS; From the Outside, Former Presidents Lend the Support of Insiders |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 1, 2024 |archive-date=September 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930192925/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/28/us/nation-challenged-former-presidents-outside-former-presidents-lend-support.html |url-status=live }} Later, Carter opposed the Iraq WarJimmy Carter, [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/opinion/just-war-or-a-just-war.html "Just War – or a Just War?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127075310/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/opinion/just-war-or-a-just-war.html |date=January 27, 2022}}, The New York Times, March 9, 2003. Retrieved August 4, 2008. and what he considered an attempt by Bush and Tony Blair to oust Saddam Hussein with "lies and misinterpretations".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082701094.html |title=Jimmy Carter: Blair Subservient to Bush |date=August 27, 2006 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 5, 2008 |archive-date=July 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724004445/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082701094.html |url-status=live}} In 2004, Carter said he believed Bush had exploited the September 11 attacks.[https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/oct/26/carter-says-bush-exploiting-911-terrorist-attacks/ Carter says Bush exploiting 9/11 terrorist attacks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910211129/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/oct/26/carter-says-bush-exploiting-911-terrorist-attacks/ |date=September 10, 2024 }}. The Spokesman-Review. October 26, 2004. Retrieved October 1, 2024. In 2007, Carter said the Bush administration "has been the worst in history" on foreign affairs;Frank Lockwood, [https://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2007/may/19/carter-calls-bush-administration-worst-ever/ "Carter calls Bush administration worst ever"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918231435/https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2007/may/19/carter-calls-bush-administration-worst-ever/ |date=September 18, 2015}}, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 19, 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2008. he later said he was just comparing Bush's tenure to Nixon's.{{cite news |title=Carter: Anti-Bush remarks 'careless or misinterpreted' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/21/carter.bush.ap/index.html |date=May 21, 2007 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614063104/https://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/21/carter.bush.ap/index.html |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |publisher=CNN|agency=Associated Press}} On the Bush administration's behalf, Tony Fratto responded that Carter's comments increased his irrelevance.{{cite news |title='Carter is irrelevant,' Bush administration shoots back |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/20/carter.bush.ap/index.html |date=May 20, 2007 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523151632/https://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/20/carter.bush.ap/index.html |archive-date=May 23, 2007 |publisher=CNN}}

Though he praised President Barack Obama in the early part of his tenure,{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/campaigns/administration/35543-jimmy-carter-says-obama-will-be-outstanding/ |title=Jimmy Carter Says Obama Will Be 'Outstanding' |date=January 28, 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The Hill |first=Walter |last=Alarkon |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/campaigns/administration/39280-jimmy-carter-says-obama-will-be-outstanding |url-status=live}} Carter stated his disagreement with using drone strikes against suspected terrorists, Obama's choice to keep Guantanamo Bay detention camp open,{{cite news |last=Bingham |first=Amy |title=Jimmy Carter Accuses U.S. of 'Widespread Abuse of Human Rights' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/jimmy-carter-accuses-u-s-of-widespread-abuse-of-human-rights/ |work=ABC News |date=June 25, 2012 |access-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626170916/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/jimmy-carter-accuses-u-s-of-widespread-abuse-of-human-rights/ |url-status=live}} ABC quotes came from a NY Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/opinion/americas-shameful-human-rights-record.html June 25, 2012 op-ed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011214301/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/opinion/americas-shameful-human-rights-record.html |date=October 11, 2021}} written by Carter and the federal surveillance programs Edward Snowden revealed.{{cite web |url=https://www.ajc.com/politics/political-insider-blog-your-daily-jolt-america-has-no-functioning-democracy-says-jimmy-carter/DKLFS2YYFBANHD7AHB2AYBH6ZA/ |last1=Bluestein |first1=Greg |last2=Galloway |first2=Jim |title=Your daily jolt: 'America has no functioning democracy,' says Jimmy Carter |publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=July 18, 2013 |access-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604201246/https://www.ajc.com/politics/political-insider-blog-your-daily-jolt-america-has-no-functioning-democracy-says-jimmy-carter/DKLFS2YYFBANHD7AHB2AYBH6ZA/ |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/nsa-affaere-jimmy-carter-kritisiert-usa-a-911589.html |author=Peter Schmitz |title=NSA-Affäre: Ex-Präsident Carter verdammt US-Schnüffelei |magazine=Der Spiegel |date=July 17, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729220006/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/nsa-affaere-jimmy-carter-kritisiert-usa-a-911589.html |url-status=live}}

During Donald Trump's presidency, Carter spoke favorably of the chance for immigration reform{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-president-carter-give-trump-credit-on-forcing-immigration-debate |title=Ex-President Carter: Give Trump credit on forcing immigration debate |date=September 14, 2017 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=Fox News |archive-date=September 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925123226/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/09/14/ex-president-carter-give-trump-credit-on-forcing-immigration-debate.html |url-status=live}} and criticized Trump for his handling of the U.S. national anthem protests.{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/356566-jimmy-carter-i-would-rather-see-all-the-players-stand-during/ |title=Jimmy Carter: 'I would rather see all the players stand during' anthem |first=Jacqueline |last=Thomsen |date=October 21, 2017 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The Hill |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140457/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/356566-jimmy-carter-i-would-rather-see-all-the-players-stand-during |url-status=live}} In an October 2017 interview with The New York Times, he said the media had covered Trump more harshly "than any other president certainly that I've known about".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/opinion/sunday/jimmy-carter-lusts-trump-posting.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/opinion/sunday/jimmy-carter-lusts-trump-posting.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Jimmy Carter Lusts for a Trump Posting |last=Dowd |first=Maureen |date=October 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 17, 2018}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/22/politics/jimmy-carter-new-york-times-interview/index.html |title=Jimmy Carter wants to partner with Trump |first=Nicole |last=Chavez |publisher=CNN|access-date=January 17, 2018 |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209065952/https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/22/politics/jimmy-carter-new-york-times-interview/index.html |url-status=live}} In 2019, Trump called Carter and expressed concern that China was "getting ahead" of the United States. Carter agreed, saying that China's strength came from its lack of involvement in armed conflict and calling the U.S. "the most warlike nation in the history of the world."{{cite news |url=https://www.wabe.org/president-trump-calls-president-carter-to-talk-china/ |title=President Trump Called Former President Carter To Talk About China |publisher=WABE |date=April 14, 2019 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=September 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914102157/https://www.wabe.org/president-trump-calls-president-carter-to-talk-china/ |url-status=live}}

In July 2021, Carter gave his final recorded interview and said that President Joe Biden "has done very well" in office.{{cite news |last1=Woodruff |first1=Judy |last2=Guray |first2=Geoffrey Lou |title=Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter reflect on 75 years of marriage, the state of American politics |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/jimmy-and-rosalynn-carter-reflect-on-75-years-of-marriage-the-state-of-america-politics |access-date=January 2, 2025 |work=PBS News Hour |date=July 5, 2021 |archive-date=December 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230172530/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/jimmy-and-rosalynn-carter-reflect-on-75-years-of-marriage-the-state-of-america-politics |url-status=live }}

File:Jimmy Carter (1988).jpg

Carter was considered a potential candidate in the 1984 presidential election.{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |title=Mondale in '84: he may run if Jimmy Carter doesn't |first=Godfrey Jr. |last=Sperling |date=March 10, 1981 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817231518/https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/25/Rosalynn-Carter-Bitter-at-1980-loss-Wishes-her-husband-would-run-again/7363451717200/ |title=Rosalynn Carter: Bitter at 1980 loss: Wishes her husband would run again |date=April 25, 1984 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |first=Helen |last=Thomas |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140459/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/25/Rosalynn-Carter-Bitter-at-1980-loss-Wishes-her-husband-would-run-again/7363451717200/ |url-status=live}} In May 1982, Carter ruled out another run, and instead endorsed Mondale for the Democratic presidential nomination.Multiple sources:

• {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |title=Carter Backs Mondale For Presidency in 1984 |date=May 11, 1982 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815082521/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/03/14/Mondale-wins-Carter-hometown/9490448088400/ |title=Mondale wins Carter hometown |date=March 14, 1984 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/03/14/Mondale-wins-Carter-hometown/9490448088400/ |url-status=live}} After Mondale secured the nomination in the Democratic primaries, Carter critiqued the Reagan campaign,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/14/us/carter-predicts-that-reagan-will-avoid-debating-mondale.html |title=Carter Predicts That Reagan Will Avoid Debating Mondale |date=June 14, 1984 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815112639/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/14/us/carter-predicts-that-reagan-will-avoid-debating-mondale.html |url-status=live}} spoke at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, and advised Mondale about his campaign.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/28/us/campaign-notes-carter-vows-to-shun-convention-spotlight.html |title=Campaign Notes; Carter Vows to Shun Convention Spotlight |date=June 28, 1984 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212143524/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/28/us/campaign-notes-carter-vows-to-shun-convention-spotlight.html |url-status=live}} After the election, in which Reagan defeated Mondale, Carter said the loss was predictable because Mondale's platform included raising taxes.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/07/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-said-Wednesday-Walter-Mondales-defeat/4956468651600/ |title=Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday Walter Mondale's defeat... |first=Carol |last=Rosenberg |date=November 7, 1984 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140507/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/07/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-said-Wednesday-Walter-Mondales-defeat/4956468651600/ |url-status=live}}

In March 1987, Carter ruled himself out as a candidate in the 1988 presidential election.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/19/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-said-today-Vice-President-George/2079543128400/ |title=Former President Jimmy Carter said today Vice President George... |date=March 19, 1987 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140457/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/19/Former-President-Jimmy-Carter-said-today-Vice-President-George/2079543128400/ |url-status=live}} Ahead of the 1988 Democratic National Convention, Carter predicted that the convention would see party unity{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/16/Carter-predicts-unified-convention/8408585028800/ |title=Carter predicts unified convention |first=Robert |last=Mackay |date=July 16, 1988 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816075951/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/16/Carter-predicts-unified-convention/8408585028800/ |url-status=live}} after tensions arose between presumptive nominee Michael Dukakis and runner-up Jesse Jackson.{{cite web |last1=Dionne |first1=E.J. Jr. |title=Jackson Suggests Carter Might Heal Rift With Dukakis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/15/us/jackson-suggests-carter-might-heal-rift-with-dukakis.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=January 1, 2025 |language=en |date=July 15, 1988 |archive-date=January 1, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101222333/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/15/us/jackson-suggests-carter-might-heal-rift-with-dukakis.html |url-status=live }} Carter delivered an address at the convention.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/07/21/the-carter-constituency/0044a89e-a29c-425d-a7f4-7deb29449bf8/ |title=The Carter Constituency |date=July 21, 1988 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204234334/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/07/21/the-carter-constituency/0044a89e-a29c-425d-a7f4-7deb29449bf8/ |url-status=live}}

Carter spoke of the need for the 1992 Democratic National Convention to address certain issues not focused on in the past,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/08/19/Clinton-and-Gore-help-Carter-build-house/8269714196800/ |title=Clinton and Gore help Carter build house |first=Steve |last=Glasser |date=August 19, 1992 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817013703/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/08/19/Clinton-and-Gore-help-Carter-build-house/8269714196800/ |url-status=live}} and campaigned for Clinton after he became the Democratic nominee,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/20/news/the-1992-campaign-the-democrats-clinton-assails-gop-attacks-aimed-at-wife.html |title=THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Democrats; Clinton Assails G.O.P. Attacks Aimed at Wife |first=Gwen |last=Ifill |date=August 20, 1992 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815112643/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/20/news/the-1992-campaign-the-democrats-clinton-assails-gop-attacks-aimed-at-wife.html |url-status=live}} publicly stating his expectation to be consulted during Clinton's presidency.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/11/06/Carter-ready-to-consult-with-Clinton/4107721026000/ |title=Carter ready to consult with Clinton |date=November 6, 1992 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140502/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/11/06/Carter-ready-to-consult-with-Clinton/4107721026000/ |url-status=live}}

Carter endorsed Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, days before the 2000 presidential election,{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/11/01/Former-President-Carter-endorses-Gore/5798973054800/ |title=Former President Carter endorses Gore |date=November 1, 2000 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818231158/https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/11/01/Former-President-Carter-endorses-Gore/5798973054800/ |url-status=live}} and in subsequent years voiced his opinion that Gore won the election,{{cite book |title=Born to Cheat: How Bush, Cheney, Rove & Co. Broke the Rules – From the Sandlot to the White House |page=126 |publisher=Do Something Press |first=Jackson |last=Thoreau |isbn=978-1-881365-53-2 |year=2007}} despite Republican nominee George W. Bush having been certified the victor following the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore.{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/cnn.poll/index.html |title=Poll: Majority of Americans accept Bush as legitimate president |date=December 13, 2000 |publisher=CNN |access-date=April 27, 2011}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In the 2004 presidential election, Carter endorsed the Democratic nominee John Kerry and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/26/cnna.carter/ |title=Carter: Kerry 'the president we need now' |date=July 26, 2004 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815070106/https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/26/cnna.carter/ |url-status=live}} He also voiced concern about another voting mishap in Florida.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/28/uselections2004.usa |title=Jimmy Carter fears repeat of election fiasco in Florida |newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 28, 2004 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011183952/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/28/uselections2004.usa |url-status=live}}

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, it was speculated that Carter would endorse Barack Obama over his main primary rival Hillary Clinton, as Carter and other members of the Carter family had spoken favorably of Obama.{{cite news |url=https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/30/carter-praises-obama/ |title=Carter Praises Obama |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140456/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/30/carter-praises-obama/}}{{cite news |url=https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/03/carter-hints-at-supporting-obama/ |title=Carter hints at supporting Obama |date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=April 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407063956/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/03/carter-hints-at-supporting-obama/}} Although he did not endorse Obama during the primaries, he said in late May 2008 that Clinton should end her bid and concede to Obama after the final primaries on June 3.{{cite news |url=https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/26/carter-after-june-3-it-will-be-time-for-clinton-to-give-it-up/ |title=Carter: After June 3, It Will Be Time for Clinton to 'Give It Up' |date=May 26, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614204649/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/26/carter-after-june-3-it-will-be-time-for-clinton-to-give-it-up/}} On June 3, Carter endorsed Obama, and said he would vote for Obama as a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention{{cite web |title=Fmr President Carter to Endorse Obama |url=https://6abc.com/archive/6182749/ |publisher=WPVI-TV |access-date=January 1, 2025 |date=June 3, 2008 |archive-date=January 1, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101194124/https://6abc.com/archive/6182749/ |url-status=live }} (as a former president, Carter was entitled to hold one of 20 superdelegate slots reserved for "distinguished party leaders").{{cite web |last1=DeSilver |first1=Drew |title=Who Are the Democratic Superdelegates? |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/05/05/who-are-the-democratic-superdelegates/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=January 1, 2025 |date=May 5, 2016 |archive-date=January 1, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101194124/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/05/05/who-are-the-democratic-superdelegates/ |url-status=live }} Before this, he had remained publicly neutral. During the general election campaign, Carter criticized John McCain, the Republican nominee.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Carter-McCain-milking-POW-status/64911219972668/ |title=Carter: McCain 'milking' POW status |date=August 28, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=United Press International |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140503/https://www.upi.com/Carter-McCain-milking-POW-status/64911219972668/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5679652&page=1 |title=Carter: McCain 'milking' POW time |date=August 30, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |agency=ABC News |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140453/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5679652&page=1 |url-status=live}} Once Obama became the presumptive nominee, he advised Obama not to select Clinton as his running mate.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/04/uselections2008 |title=US elections: Jimmy Carter tells Barack Obama Not to Pick Hillary Clinton as Running Mate |first=Jonathan |last=Freedland |date=June 4, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=November 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116022610/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/04/uselections2008 |url-status=live}}

Ahead of the primaries of the 2012 presidential election, Carter expressed his preference for Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination, though he clarified that he preferred Romney because he believed him to be the prospective Republican nominee who would most assure Obama's reelection.Yahoo News, [https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/jimmy-carter-wants-mitt-romney-republican-nominee-141827488.html Jimmy Carter wants Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140454/https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/jimmy-carter-wants-mitt-romney-republican-nominee-141827488.html |date=December 12, 2021}}, September 16, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011. Carter recorded an address that was shown at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.{{cite news |last=Camia |first=Catalina |title=Jimmy Carter to speak by video at Dem convention |url=https://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/jimmy-carter-democratic-convention-speaker-barack-obama/1 |newspaper=USA Today |date=August 7, 2012 |access-date=August 7, 2012 |archive-date=August 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808102211/https://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/jimmy-carter-democratic-convention-speaker-barack-obama/1 |url-status=live}}

File:The Funeral of President George H.W. Bush (46204190411).jpg in December 2018. Carter and his wife Rosalynn can be seen on the far right of the photograph.]]

In the 2016 presidential election, Carter was critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shortly after Trump entered the primary, predicting that he would lose.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/politics/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/ |title=Jimmy Carter: Trump's comments are 'very stupid' |date=July 8, 2015 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |publisher=CNN|first=Theodore |last=Schleifer |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/politics/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/258811-carter-democrats-and-republicans-hardly-speak-now/ |title=Carter: Dems, GOP 'hardly speak' now |first=Mark |last=Hensch |date=November 2, 2015 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |newspaper=The Hill |archive-date=June 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628012425/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/258811-carter-democrats-and-republicans-hardly-speak-now |url-status=live}} As the primary continued, Carter said he preferred Trump to his main rival, Ted Cruz,{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-i-would-choose-donald-trump-over-ted-cruz/ |date=February 3, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |title=Jimmy Carter: I would choose Donald Trump over Ted Cruz |first=Stephanie |last=Condon |publisher=CBS News |archive-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021124156/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-i-would-choose-donald-trump-over-ted-cruz/ |url-status=live}} though he rebuked the Trump campaign during the primary{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/us/jimmy-carter-racism-baptist-conference-unity-donald-trump.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/us/jimmy-carter-racism-baptist-conference-unity-donald-trump.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Jimmy Carter, Seeing Resurgence of Racism, Plans Baptist Conference for Unity |date=May 24, 2016 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |first=Laurie |last=Goodstein |newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}} and in his address to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.{{cite web |last1=Gass |first1=Nick |title=Jimmy Carter Blasts Trump for Lack of 'Moral and Ethical Principles' |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-2016-jimmy-carter-226249 |newspaper=Politico |access-date=January 1, 2025 |date=July 26, 2016}} In August 2016, Carter endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.{{cite web |last1=Bluestein |first1=Greg |title=Jimmy Carter Says He's Backing a 'Quite Unpopular' Hillary Clinton |url=https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/jimmy-carter-says-backing-quite-unpopular-hillary-clinton/qHLLQNiJiVtT3jBakFZs2O/ |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=August 22, 2016}} He again expressed his support of Clinton in his speech to the Democratic convention, which he delivered by video.{{cite news |title=The 2016 Democratic Convention - Live Updates |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-convention |publisher=CBS News |access-date=January 1, 2025 |date=July 28, 2016}} In 2019, Carter said that Trump would not have been elected without Russia's interference in the 2016 election.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jimmy-carter-says-trump-wouldnt-be-president-without-help-from-russia/2019/06/28/deef1ef0-99b6-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html |title=Jimmy Carter Says Trump Wouldn't Be President Without Help From Russia |last=Wagner |first=John |date=June 28, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629001747/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jimmy-carter-says-trump-wouldnt-be-president-without-help-from-russia/2019/06/28/deef1ef0-99b6-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html |url-status=live}} When questioned, he agreed that Trump is an "illegitimate president".{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Sophie |title=Jimmy Carter calls Trump an 'illegitimate president' due to Russian interference |publisher=CBS News |date=June 28, 2019 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-says-president-trump-illegitimate-president-russian-interference-2019-06-28/ |access-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324030136/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-says-president-trump-illegitimate-president-russian-interference-2019-06-28/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Conversation with Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale |publisher=C-SPAN |date=June 28, 2019 |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4805096/jimmy-carter-president-trump-put-office-russian-interference |access-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420064317/https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4805096%2Fjimmy-carter-president-trump-put-office-russian-interference |url-status=live }} In a 2017 discussion with Senator Bernie Sanders, Carter said he voted for Sanders in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/09/yall-see-why-i-voted-for-him-jimmy-carter-says-he-was-a-bernie-sanders-supporter/ |title='Y'all see why I voted for him?': Jimmy Carter says he was a Bernie Sanders supporter |date=May 9, 2017 |access-date=February 20, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Derek |last=Hawkins |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112003025/https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fnews%2fmorning-mix%2fwp%2f2017%2f05%2f09%2fyall-see-why-i-voted-for-him-jimmy-carter-says-he-was-a-bernie-sanders-supporter%2f |url-status=live}}

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter delivered a recorded audio message endorsing Joe Biden for the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention. On January 6, 2021, after the U.S. Capitol attack,{{cite news |last8=institutions |first8=Washington |last9=Chason |first9=historical topicsRachel |date=January 6, 2021 |title=Live updates: U.S. Capitol is on lockdown as protesters clash with police and breach the building |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106194011/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/ |archive-date=January 6, 2021 |access-date=January 8, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Carter released a statement that he and his wife were "troubled" by the events, that what had occurred was "a national tragedy and is not who we are as a nation", and that "having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation".{{cite web |title=All living former presidents condemn violence at the Capitol: 'A national tragedy' |url=https://www.today.com/news/all-living-former-presidents-condemn-violence-capitol-t205224 |access-date=January 8, 2021 |work=Today |date=January 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107195632/https://www.today.com/news/all-living-former-presidents-condemn-violence-capitol-t205224 |url-status=live}} Carter recorded an audio message for Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021, as the Carters could not attend the ceremony in person.{{cite web|url=https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/former-president-carter-reflects-on-his-inauguration-offers-biden-harris-insight-in-video|title=Former President Carter reflects on his inauguration, offers Biden, Harris insight in video|publisher=Fox 5 Atlanta|date=January 21, 2021|access-date=February 18, 2023|archive-date=February 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218215845/https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/former-president-carter-reflects-on-his-inauguration-offers-biden-harris-insight-in-video|url-status=live}}

In November 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overruled a three-judge panel of the court and scheduled a rehearing of the case against the Trump administration–proposed land swap in Alaska to allow a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. In an unusual action, Carter had filed an opinion in support of a lawsuit by environmental groups, saying the swap violated the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act passed near the end of his presidency. Carter said the act "may be the most significant domestic achievement of my political life".{{cite news|last=Fountain |first=Henry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/climate/anilca-road-alaska-trump-court-decision.html |title=Court to reconsider Trump-era decision that favored Alaska road project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111231724/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/climate/anilca-road-alaska-trump-court-decision.html |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |date=November 11, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 11, 2022}}

In August 2024, Carter's son Chip said his father wanted to live to 100 to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.{{Cite magazine |last=Alvord |first=Kyler |date=August 5, 2024 |title=Jimmy Carter Told Son Why He Wants to Live Past 100: 'I'm Only Trying to Make It to Vote for Kamala Harris' |url=https://people.com/jimmy-carter-wants-to-vote-kamala-harris-president-8689929 |access-date=October 16, 2024 |magazine=People}} He did so on October 16.{{Cite news |last1=Bluestein |first1=Greg |last2=Suggs |first2=Ernie |title=Jimmy Carter votes for Kamala Harris |url=https://www.ajc.com/politics/jimmy-carter-fulfills-wish-and-votes-for-kamala-harris/HTE7BVP3AZDIJJNZE3XPYPNGXI/ |access-date=October 16, 2024 |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |issn=1539-7459}}{{Cite web |last=Dunlap |first=Stanley |date=October 15, 2024 |title=Georgia's early voting first-day turnout already breaks record |url=https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/10/15/georgias-early-voting-first-day-turnout-on-already-breaks-record/ |access-date=October 23, 2024 |website=Georgia Recorder}}

Carter criticized the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina,{{cite news |url=https://www.wistv.com/story/3878857/jimmy-carter-criticizes-femas-role-in-katrina-relief |title=Jimmy Carter criticizes FEMA's role in Katrina relief |date=September 21, 2005 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=wistv.com |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://www.wistv.com/story/3878857/jimmy-carter-criticizes-femas-role-in-katrina-relief/ |url-status=live}} and built homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.{{cite news |url=https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/10/former_president_carter_joins_effort_to_rebuild_sandy-ravaged_union_beach.html |title=Former President Carter joins effort to rebuild Sandy-ravaged Union Beach |date=October 12, 2013 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |first=Christopher |last=Robbins |archive-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012100123/https://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/10/former_president_carter_joins_effort_to_rebuild_sandy-ravaged_union_beach.html |url-status=live}} He also partnered with former presidents to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities,{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/349993-former-presidents-add-irma-recovery-to-fundraising-appeal/ |title=Former presidents fundraise for Irma disaster relief |last=Shelbourne |first=Mallory |date=September 10, 2017 |work=The Hill |access-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-date=April 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428090029/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/349993-former-presidents-add-irma-recovery-to-fundraising-appeal |url-status=live}} in addition to writing op-eds about the goodness seen in Americans who assist each other during natural disasters.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/02/opinions/help-harvey-recovery-jimmy-carter/index.html |title=Jimmy Carter: When the waters rise, so do our better angels |date=September 2, 2017 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/02/opinions/help-harvey-recovery-jimmy-carter/index.html |url-status=live}}

File:President Jimmy Carter Interview September 2019.webm on the eve of his 95th birthday]]

The Carter family's peanut business accumulated a $1 million debt in 1981. Carter began writing books to pay off this debt. As of July 2019, he had "published more than 30, from a children's book to reflections on his presidency".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/when-jimmy-carter-left-office-his-peanut-business-was-deep-in-debt.html|title=When former president Jimmy Carter left office, his peanut business was $1 million in debt|first=Kathleen|last=Elkins|date=July 18, 2019|publisher=CNBC}} After he left the White House, "[o]n average, he completed just about one book per year over those 35 years, including many bestsellers, a novel and a children's book."Brinkley, Douglas. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/12/31/jimmy-carter-author/ "Jimmy Carter's many books were as direct and plainspoken as their author"]. The Washington Post, December 31, 2024.

In 1982, Carter founded the Carter Center,{{cite web |title=Timeline and History of The Carter Center [1981–1989] |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/about/history/chronology_1980.html |website=The Carter Center |access-date=October 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101123818/https://www.cartercenter.org/about/history/chronology_1980.html |archive-date=November 1, 2009}} a non-governmental and nonprofit organization with the purpose of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering.{{cite web |url=https://www.georgiatrend.com/November-2012/The-Carter-Center-At-30-Years/ |title=The Carter Center At 30 Years |work=GeorgiaTrend |date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=March 11, 2013 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104085840/https://www.georgiatrend.com/November-2012/The-Carter-Center-At-30-Years/ |url-status=live}} Among these efforts has been working with the World Health Organization to eradicate dracunculiasis, also called Guinea worm disease. The incidence of this disease has decreased from 3.5{{spaces}}million cases in the mid-1980s{{Cite news|title=African worm disease from dirty water nearly eradicated, says Jimmy Carter|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guinea-worm-disease-nearly-eradicated-jimmy-carter-says/|access-date=November 21, 2021|publisher=CBS News|date=January 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121080137/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guinea-worm-disease-nearly-eradicated-jimmy-carter-says/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Dracunculiasis eradication: "on the threshold of a historic achievement"|url=https://www.who.int/news/item/26-09-2019-dracunculiasis-eradication-on-the-threshold-of-a-historic-achievement|access-date=November 21, 2021|publisher=World Health Organization|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121080134/https://www.who.int/news/item/26-09-2019-dracunculiasis-eradication-on-the-threshold-of-a-historic-achievement|url-status=live}} to four in the first seven months of 2024, according to the Carter Center's statistics.{{Cite web|title=View Latest Worldwide Guinea Worm Case Totals|url=https://www.cartercenter.org/health/guinea_worm/case-totals.html|date=August 14, 2024|access-date=August 23, 2024|publisher=Carter Center}}

Carter attended the dedication of his presidential library{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-02-mn-3888-story.html |title=You Gave of Yourself': Reagan Praises Carter at Library Dedication |date=October 2, 1986 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907044303/https://articles.latimes.com/1986-10-02/news/mn-3888_1_carter-s-presidential-library |url-status=live}} and those of Presidents Ronald Reagan,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/05/us/4-presidents-join-reagan-in-dedicating-his-library.html |title=4 Presidents Join Reagan in Dedicating His Library |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 5, 1991 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |first=Robert |last=Reinhold |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817065855/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/05/us/4-presidents-join-reagan-in-dedicating-his-library.html |url-status=live}} George H. W. Bush,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/06/us/dedication-of-bush-library-is-set-for-today.html |title=Dedication of Bush Library Is Set for Today |date=November 6, 1997 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212142015/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/06/us/dedication-of-bush-library-is-set-for-today.html |url-status=live}} Bill Clinton,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/politics/18cnd-clin.html |title=Thousands Attend Dedication of Clinton's Presidential Library |date=November 18, 2004 |last=Newman |first=Maria |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 18, 2009 |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615235749/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/18/politics/18cnd-clin.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4021201.stm |title=Clinton library open for business |date=November 18, 2004 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=December 18, 2009 |archive-date=January 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122014526/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4021201.stm |url-status=live}} and George W. Bush.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2013-apr-25-la-na-bush-library-20130426-story.html |title=At George W. Bush library, five presidents meet in harmony |date=April 25, 2013 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002204839/https://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/25/nation/la-na-bush-library-20130426 |url-status=live}} He delivered eulogies at the funerals of Coretta Scott King,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/us/at-mrs-kings-funeral-a-mix-of-elegy-and-politics.html |title=At Mrs. King's Funeral, a Mix of Elegy and Politics |date=February 8, 2006 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810200712/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/us/at-mrs-kings-funeral-a-mix-of-elegy-and-politics.html |url-status=live}} Gerald Ford,{{cite web |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/Funeral/Carter.asp |title=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum |date=January 3, 2007 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |website=fordlibrarymuseum.gov |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816125621/https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/Funeral/Carter.asp |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/carter-praises-distinguished-opponent-ford-at-funeral-1.640103 |title=Carter praises 'distinguished opponent' Ford at funeral |publisher=CBC News |date=January 3, 2007 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819114247/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/carter-praises-distinguished-opponent-ford-at-funeral-1.640103 |url-status=live}} and Theodore Hesburgh.{{cite news |last1=Dits |first1=Joseph |title=Habitat ceremony at Notre Dame is only chance to see Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter |url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/habitat-ceremony-at-notre-dame-is-only-chance-to-see/article_f63d275c-f402-52cc-a7dd-0cd740ac393f.html |work=South Bend Tribune |publisher=GateHouse Media |date=August 20, 2018 |location=South Bend, Ind. |access-date=November 16, 2019 |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116192844/https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/habitat-ceremony-at-notre-dame-is-only-chance-to-see/article_f63d275c-f402-52cc-a7dd-0cd740ac393f.html |url-status=live}}

In 2007, Carter founded the New Baptist Covenant organization for social justice.Carla Hinton, [https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2009/07/25/ex-president-jimmy-carter-works-to-unite-all-baptists/61381494007/ Ex-president Jimmy Carter works to unite all Baptists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106230758/https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2009/07/25/ex-president-jimmy-carter-works-to-unite-all-baptists/61381494007/ |date=November 6, 2023}}, oklahoman.com, US, July 25, 2009{{Cite news |last1=Cooperman |first1=Alan |date=January 21, 2007 |title=Carter, Clinton Seek To Bring Together Moderate Baptists Exiles From Conservative Group Targeted |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2007/01/21/carter-clinton-seek-to-bring-together-moderate-baptists-span-classbankheadexiles-from-conservative-group-targetedspan/2044354e-264d-4577-8120-03d491375775/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223102738/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2007/01/21/carter-clinton-seek-to-bring-together-moderate-baptists-span-classbankheadexiles-from-conservative-group-targetedspan/2044354e-264d-4577-8120-03d491375775/ |archive-date=December 23, 2021}}

In 2013, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, their son Chip, and Chip's wife Becky traveled to the neighborhood of Queens Village in New York City. They worked on five housing construction projects with Habitat for Humanity.{{cite web | url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/queens-remembers-jimmy-carter-100/article_dfb35677-62eb-5fc8-b34f-f29d1d63e29f.html | title=Queens remembers Jimmy Carter, 100 | date=January 2, 2025 }}

{{As of|2019|August|df=US|post=,}} Carter was Honorary Chair of the World Justice Project.{{cite web |url=https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/who-we-are/honorary-chairs |title=Honorary Chairs |website=World Justice Project |access-date=August 6, 2019 |archive-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417085713/https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/who-we-are/honorary-chairs |url-status=live}} He was formerly an honorary chair of the Continuity of Government Commission.{{cite report |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf |title=Preserving Our Institutions |date=June 2009 |publisher=Continuity of Government Commission |via=brookings.edu |access-date=August 6, 2019 |archive-date=April 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428045333/https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf |url-status=live}} He continued to occasionally teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church as of 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.mbcplains.org/?page_id=212 |title=Jimmy Carter's Sunday School Class |website=Maranatha Baptist Church |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519103559/https://mbcplains.org/?page_id=212 |archive-date=May 19, 2019 |access-date=August 6, 2019}} Carter also taught at Emory University, and in 2019 was awarded tenure for 37 years of service.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/politics/jimmy-carter-emory-university-tenure/index.html |title=Jimmy Carter granted tenure at Emory University |last=Watkins |first=Eli |date=June 3, 2019 |publisher=CNN|access-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604001205/https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/politics/jimmy-carter-emory-university-tenure/index.html |url-status=live}}

{{Further|Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid{{!}}Commentary on Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid|Israeli apartheid}}

File:January 1996 was the date for the first Palestinian general election. Many international observers supervised the historic election, including former US president Mr. Jimmy Carter.jpg. ]]

Carter was one of many international observers who took part in the first Palestinian general election in 1996. The Carter Center and National Democratic Institute sent an 85-person team to take part in the election observation.{{Cite web |title=Palestinian elections yield unexpected but fair results |url=https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/2006/March/March%2020/CarterCenter.htm |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=www.emory.edu}}{{Cite web |title=President Carter's Trip Report on the Palestinian Presidential Election |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1965.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=The Carter Center |language=en-US}}

Carter's 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, a New York Times Best Seller, generated controversy for characterizing Israel's policies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as amounting to apartheid.Craig Daigle, "Beyond Camp David: Jimmy Carter, Palestinian Self-Determination, and Human Rights." Diplomatic History 42.5 (2018): 802–830. In remarks broadcast over radio, he said that Israel's policies amounted to an apartheid worse than South Africa's:{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2006-12-11/ty-article/jimmy-carter-israels-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africas/0000017f-db7c-d3a5-af7f-fbfea0530000|title=Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'Apartheid' Policies Worse Than South Africa's|work=Haaretz|access-date=February 19, 2023|date=November 12, 2006|archive-date=March 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306044613/https://www.haaretz.com/2006-12-11/ty-article/jimmy-carter-israels-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africas/0000017f-db7c-d3a5-af7f-fbfea0530000|url-status=live}}

{{cquote|When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200 or so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa.

}}

Carter defended himself against accusations of antisemitism by saying "the hope is that my book will at least stimulate a debate, which has not existed in this country. There's never been any debate on this issue of any significance." He said that Israel would not have peace until it agreed to withdraw from the occupied territories, adding, "the greatest commitment in my life has been trying to bring peace to Israel."

In a 2007 speech at Brandeis University, Carter apologized for wording in the book that suggested that Palestinian suicide terror attacks were justified as a political tool. "That sentence was worded in a completely improper and stupid way. I've written my publishers to change that sentence immediately in future editions of the book. I apologize to you personally and to everyone here."{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Carter apologizes for 'mistake' in book |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2008/january/cartervisit.html |access-date=December 31, 2024 |publisher=Brandeis University }}{{Cite web |title=Carter defends book; challenges Brandeis to send Mideast delegation |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/carter-defends-book-challenges-brandeis-to-send-mideast-delegation |access-date=December 31, 2024 |website=The Justice}}{{Cite web |date=January 24, 2007 |title=Carter Wins Over Student Crowd at Brandeis, Receives Ovation |url=https://forward.com/news/9916/carter-wins-over-student-crowd-at-brandeis-receiv/ |access-date=December 31, 2024 |website=The Forward }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbUA8ld_2yc |title=Speech to Brandeis University (Jan. 23, 2007) |date=June 20, 2014 |author=The Carter Center |access-date=December 31, 2024 |via=YouTube}}

In his 2010 book We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land, Carter cites Israel's unwillingness to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and settlement expansion as the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East.{{cite web |url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/carterbi.phtml |title=Books written by President and Mrs. Carter |website=jimmycarterlibrary.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041012000917/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/carterbi.phtml |archive-date=October 12, 2004}}

Carter had three younger siblings, all of whom died of pancreatic cancer: Gloria Spann, Ruth Stapleton, and Billy Carter.{{cite news |author=Robert D. Hershey Jr |date=September 26, 1988 |title=Billy Carter Dies of Cancer at 51; Troubled Brother of a President |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/obituaries/billy-carter-dies-of-cancer-at-51-troubled-brother-of-a-president.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207130017/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/obituaries/billy-carter-dies-of-cancer-at-51-troubled-brother-of-a-president.html |archive-date=February 7, 2021 |access-date=July 27, 2011 |work=The New York Times}} He was a first cousin of politician Hugh Carter and a distant cousin of the Carter family of musicians.{{Cite book |last1=Cash |first1=John R. |title=Johnny Cash, the Autobiography |date=1997 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-00-274080-7}}File:Farah Pahlavi and Rosalynn Carter (cropped and retouched).jpg, Empress of Iran, holds Jimmy Carter IV while Rosalynn Carter, Caron Carter, and Chip Carter watch, January 1978.]]

Carter married Rosalynn Smith on July 7, 1946, in the Plains Methodist Church, the church of Rosalynn's family.{{cite news |last1=Vejnoska |first1=Jill |date=July 7, 2017 |title=Happy 71st wedding anniversary Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter! |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/happy-71st-wedding-anniversary-jimmy-and-rosalynn-carter/8gLu5tUWRYN0iKxX4g8mWP/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401022911/https://www.ajc.com/news/happy-71st-wedding-anniversary-jimmy-and-rosalynn-carter/8gLu5tUWRYN0iKxX4g8mWP/ |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |access-date=March 31, 2019 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}} They had three sons, John "Jack", James III "Chip", and Donnel "Jeff", and a daughter, Amy.{{cite web |date=July 25, 2018 |title=Biography of Jimmy Carter |url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/about_us/biography_of_jimmy_carter |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018014719/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/about_us/biography_of_jimmy_carter |archive-date=October 18, 2020 |access-date=October 13, 2020 |work=Jimmy Carter Library}} Mary Prince (an African American woman wrongly convicted of murder, and later pardoned) was their daughter Amy's nanny for most of the period from 1971 until Carter's presidency ended.{{sfn|Alter|2020|pp=316–317}}{{cite book |author=Jimmy Carter |url=https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredvalcart00cart |title=Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7432-8457-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredvalcart00cart/page/84 84]– |quote=My last book, Sharing Good Times, is dedicated "to Mary Prince, whom we love and cherish." Mary is a wonderful black woman who, as a teenager visiting a small town, was falsely accused of murder and defended by an assigned lawyer whom she first met on the day of the trial, when he advised her to plead guilty, promising a light sentence. She got life imprisonment instead ... A reexamination of the evidence and trial proceedings by the original judge revealed that she was completely innocent, and she was granted a pardon. |url-access=registration}}{{cite book |last=Bird |first=Kai |author-link=Kai Bird |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9MAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |title=The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter |date=2021 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-451-49523-5 |location=New York |pages=3–4, 81–82}} Carter had asked to be designated as her parole officer, helping enable her to work in the White House.{{efn|name=Prince01|After working in the Georgia governor's mansion as a trustee prisoner, Prince had been returned to prison in 1975 when Carter's term as governor ended, but intervention on her behalf by both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, with Jimmy Carter asking to be designated as her parole officer, enabled her to be reprieved and to work in the White House.{{cite magazine |last=Crawford |first=Clare |url=https://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20067515,00.html |title=A Story of Love and Rehabilitation: the Ex-Con in the White House |magazine=People |date=March 14, 1977 |access-date=May 3, 2015 |archive-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623232438/https://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20067515,00.html}}{{cite web |last=Chabbott |first=Sophia |url=https://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2015/03/the-residence-book |title=The Residence: Meet the Women Behind Presidential Families Kennedy, Johnson, Carter |work=Glamour |date=March 19, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |quote=Rosalynn Carter, who believed Prince was wrongly convicted, secured a reprieve so Prince could join them in Washington. Prince was later granted a full pardon; to this day she occasionally babysits the Carters' grandkids. |archive-date=May 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509085304/https://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2015/03/the-residence-book |url-status=live}}}}

On October 19, 2019, the Carters became the longest-wed presidential couple, having overtaken George and Barbara Bush at 26,765 days.{{Cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Dustin |date=October 19, 2019 |title='Still going strong': Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter become longest-married presidential couple |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/18/jimmy-rosalynn-carter-become-longest-married-presidential-couple/4025978002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101135011/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/18/jimmy-rosalynn-carter-become-longest-married-presidential-couple/4025978002/ |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |website=USA Today}} After Rosalynn's death on November 19, 2023, Carter released the following statement:

{{blockquote|Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.{{sfn|Carter Center|2023}}}}

The Carters' eldest son, Jack Carter, was the 2006 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nevada and lost to Republican incumbent John Ensign. Jack's son Jason Carter is a former Georgia state senator{{cite news |last=Hulse |first=Carl |date=May 11, 2010 |title=Veteran House Democrat Loses Seat in Primary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/us/politics/12elect.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/us/politics/12elect.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |access-date=August 12, 2015 |website=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}} who in 2014 was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, losing to the Republican incumbent, Nathan Deal. On December 20, 2015, while teaching a Sunday school class, Carter announced that his 28-year-old grandson Jeremy Carter had died of unspecified causes.{{cite news |last1=Fantz |first1=Ashley |last2=Hassan |first2=Carma |date=December 20, 2015 |title=Hours after death of grandson, Jimmy Carter reveals the news to his church |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/20/us/jimmy-carter-grandson-death/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220215627/https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/20/us/jimmy-carter-grandson-death/ |archive-date=December 20, 2015 |access-date=December 21, 2015 |publisher=CNN}}

Carter's hobbies included painting,{{Cite news|url=https://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2017/06/27/4532-jimmy-carter-painting-brings-over-half-million-dollars-at-auction|title=Jimmy Carter Painting Brings Over Half Million Dollars At Auction|date=June 27, 2017|access-date=September 7, 2021|archive-date=September 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907184128/https://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2017/06/27/4532-jimmy-carter-painting-brings-over-half-million-dollars-at-auction|url-status=live}} fly fishing, woodworking, cycling, tennis, and skiing.{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/carter-bio.html |title=Jimmy Carter – Biographical |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |access-date=December 28, 2014 |archive-date=February 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215182218/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/carter-bio.html |url-status=live}} He also had an interest in poetry, particularly the works of Dylan Thomas.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15661342 |title=Jimmy Carter to welcome visitors to Dylan Thomas house |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=November 9, 2011 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-date=September 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917030101/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15661342 |url-status=live}} During a state visit to the UK in 1977, Carter suggested that Thomas should have a memorial in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey;{{cite web |url=https://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20068169,00.html |title=Jimmy Carter's Crusade for Dylan Thomas Wins a Supporter—his Grateful Widow, Caitlin |website=People |first=M.J. |last=Wilson |date=June 27, 1977 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222125301/https://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20068169,00.html}} this came to fruition in 1982.{{cite web |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/dylan-thomas |title=Dylan Thomas |website=Westminster Abbey |publisher=The Dean and Chapter of Westminster |year=2015 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105450/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/dylan-thomas |archive-date=December 22, 2015}} In 1994, Carter published a book of poetry, Always a Reckoning and Other Poems, illustrated by his granddaughter Sarah Chuldenko.{{Cite web |title=All About Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter's Children and Grandchildren |url=https://people.com/politics/all-about-jimmy-carter-rosalynn-carter-children-grandchildren/ |access-date=January 4, 2025 |website=People |language=en}}

Carter was a personal friend of Elvis Presley, whom he and Rosalynn met on June 30, 1973.{{cite web |title=Elvis Presley and Politics |url=https://www.neatorama.com/2015/07/15/Elvis-Presley-and-Politics/ |website=Neatorama |date=July 15, 2015 |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705121127/https://www.neatorama.com/2015/07/15/Elvis-Presley-and-Politics/ |url-status=live}} They remained in contact by telephone two months before Presley's sudden death in August 1977. According to Carter, Presley was almost incoherent because of barbiturates; although he phoned the White House several more times, that was the last time they spoke.{{cite magazine |title=Takes: Elvis Presley on the Line |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/takes-elvis-presley-on-the-line |magazine=The New Yorker |date=August 16, 2011 |author=Erin Overbey |author-link=Erin Overbey |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220212448/https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/takes-elvis-presley-on-the-line |url-status=live}} The day after Presley's death, Carter issued a statement and said Presley had "changed the face of American popular culture".{{cite web |title=Statement by the President on the Death of Elvis Presley |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=7969/ |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=November 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101190121/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=7969%2F |url-status=live}}

Carter filed a report with both the International UFO Bureau and the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena{{cite news|first=Thomas|last=O'Toole|title=UFO Over Georgia? Jimmy Logged One|date=April 30, 1977|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/04/30/ufo-over-georgia-jimmy-logged-one/080ef1c3-6ff3-41a9-a1e4-a37c54b5cbca/|access-date=October 1, 2021|archive-date=November 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109013122/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/04/30/ufo-over-georgia-jimmy-logged-one/080ef1c3-6ff3-41a9-a1e4-a37c54b5cbca/|url-status=live}} saying that he saw an unidentified flying object in October 1969.{{cite news|first=Ed|last=Kilgore|title=Jimmy Carter Saw a UFO on This Day in 1973|date=September 18, 2019|work=New York|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/jimmy-carter-saw-a-ufo-on-this-day-in-1973.html|access-date=October 1, 2021|archive-date=October 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001025315/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/jimmy-carter-saw-a-ufo-on-this-day-in-1973.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nicap.org/waves/CarterSightingRptOct1969.pdf|title=Official report by Carter to the International UFO Bureau|access-date=September 17, 2021|archive-date=September 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913190524/https://www.nicap.org/waves/CarterSightingRptOct1969.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Joseph|last=Egelhof|title=Jimmy Carter's UFO|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86289659/|access-date=October 1, 2021|work=Boston Evening Globe|page=15|date=November 11, 1977|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=March 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321155347/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86289659/the-boston-globe/|url-status=live}} Records showed that Carter got the date wrong, and it was in fact on January 6, 1969. In 2016, a former Air Force scientist found old government reports about a scientific project that on that date launched a barium cloud to examine the upper atmosphere. It would have appeared in the sky at an elevation of 33 degrees, which is almost exactly what Carter had speculated.{{sfn|Alter|2020|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QwAAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 201–202]}}

From a young age, Carter showed deep commitment to evangelical Christianity.Somini Sengupta, [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/21/us/carter-sadly-turns-back-on-national-baptist-body.html "Carter Sadly Turns Back on National Baptist Body"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217225008/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/21/us/carter-sadly-turns-back-on-national-baptist-body.html |date=December 17, 2014}}, The New York Times, October 21, 2000. Page A9. Retrieved August 4, 2008.{{Cite web |last=Balmer |first=Randall |author-link=Randall Balmer |date=February 22, 2023 |title=Jimmy Carter Was America's Evangelical-in-Chief |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/22/jimmy-carter-foreign-policy-america-evangelical-christianity/ |access-date=March 16, 2023 |website=Foreign Policy |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316174428/https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/22/jimmy-carter-foreign-policy-america-evangelical-christianity/ |url-status=live}} He taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.{{Cite magazine|last1=Burns|first1=Rebecca|date=June 1, 2016|title=Pilgrimage to Plains: The faithful come from around the world to hear Jimmy Carter preach|url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/pilgrimage-to-plains-jimmy-carter/|magazine=Atlanta Magazine|access-date=September 9, 2021|archive-date=October 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001115130/https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/pilgrimage-to-plains-jimmy-carter/|url-status=live}} At a private inauguration worship service, the preacher was Nelson Price, the pastor of Roswell Street Baptist Church of Marietta, Georgia.Hobbs, Herschel H. and Mullins, Edgar Young. (1978). The Axioms of Religion. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press. Revised edition. p. 22. {{ISBN|978-0-8054-1707-4}}. An evangelical Christian, Carter appealed to voters after the scandals of the Nixon Administration, and is credited with popularizing the term "born again" into American lexicon during his 1976 presidential campaign.{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Daniel |date=May 20, 2021 |title=Evangelicals and the American Presidency |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/billy-graham-evangelicals-and-american-presidency/ |access-date=March 16, 2023 |publisher=PBS |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316174428/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/billy-graham-evangelicals-and-american-presidency/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Haberman |first=Clyde |date=October 28, 2018 |title=Religion and Right-Wing Politics: How Evangelicals Reshaped Elections |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/us/religion-politics-evangelicals.html |access-date=March 16, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514195454/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/us/religion-politics-evangelicals.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Joshua |date=March 1, 2023 |title=How Evangelical Voters Swung From Carter to Trump |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-evangelical-voters-swung-from-carter-to-trump/2023/03/01/e43a7112-b833-11ed-b0df-8ca14de679ad_story.html |access-date=March 16, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320002043/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-evangelical-voters-swung-from-carter-to-trump/2023/03/01/e43a7112-b833-11ed-b0df-8ca14de679ad_story.html |url-status=live}} As president, Carter prayed several times a day, and said Jesus was the driving force in his life. He was greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man that asked: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"{{cite book |title=Conversations with Carter |isbn=978-1-55587-801-6 |year=1998 |page=14 |first1=Jimmy |last1=Carter |first2=Don |last2=Richardson |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers}} In 2000, after the Southern Baptist Convention announced it would no longer permit women to become pastors, he renounced his membership, saying: "I personally feel that women should play an absolutely equal role in service of Christ in the church."{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter Leaves Southern Baptists |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95311&page=1 |date=October 20, 2000 |access-date=October 12, 2022 |agency=ABC News |archive-date=October 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011054437/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95311&page=1 |url-status=live}} He remained a member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Carter's support for the Equal Rights Amendment{{cite journal | doi=10.1525/rac.2014.24.1.100 | title=The Politicization of Family Life: How Headship Became Essential to Evangelical Identity in the Late Twentieth Century | year=2014 | last1=Stasson | first1=Anneke | journal=Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation | volume=24 | pages=100–138 | s2cid=142760970}} led many evangelical conservatives to leave the Democratic Party, contributing to the development of the Christian right in American politics.Ellis, Blake A. "An Alternative Politics: Texas Baptists and the Rise of the Christian Right, 1975–1985." The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol. 112, no. 4, 2009, pp. 361–86. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242432 JSTOR website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510041215/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242432 |date=May 10, 2023}} Retrieved May 5, 2023.

File:JimmyCarteronBicycle.jpg

On August 3, 2015, Carter underwent elective surgery to remove a small mass on his liver, and his prognosis for a full recovery was initially said to be excellent. On August 12, he announced he had been diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized.{{cite news |last=Pramuk |first=Jacob |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/12/former-president-jimmy-carter-reveals-he-has-cancer.html |title=Former President Jimmy Carter reveals he has cancer |publisher=CNBC |date=August 12, 2015 |location=New York City |access-date=August 12, 2015 |archive-date=August 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812221113/https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/12/former-president-jimmy-carter-reveals-he-has-cancer.html |url-status=live}} On August 20, Carter said that melanoma had been found in his brain and liver and that he had begun treatment.{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-20/jimmy-carter-says-he-will-undergo-treatment-for-cancer-in-brain |title=Jimmy Carter Says He's Being Treated for Cancer in Brain |first=Toluse |last=Olorunnipa |publisher=Bloomberg News |date=August 20, 2015 |access-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=August 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821073525/https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-20/jimmy-carter-says-he-will-undergo-treatment-for-cancer-in-brain |url-status=live}} On December 5, he announced that his medical scans no longer showed any cancer.{{cite press release |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/carter-center-statement-120615.html |title=Statement from Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter |date=December 5, 2015 |publisher=The Carter Center |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140501/https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/carter-center-statement-120615.html |url-status=live}}

Carter broke his hip in a fall at his Plains home on May 13, 2019, and underwent surgery the same day at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-jimmy-carter-undergoes-surgery-breaking-hip/story?id=63012990 |title=Former President Jimmy Carter undergoes surgery after breaking hip |first=Julia |last=Jacobo |work=ABC News |date=May 13, 2019 |access-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-date=October 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007151021/https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-jimmy-carter-undergoes-surgery-breaking-hip/story?id=63012990 |url-status=live}} On October 6, an injury above his left eyebrow sustained in another fall at home required 14 stitches{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-jimmy-carter-requires-stitches-fall-home-feels/story?id=66100086 |title=Former President Jimmy Carter requires 14 stitches after fall at home, 'feels fine' |first=Mark |last=Osborne |work=ABC News |date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022184927/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-jimmy-carter-requires-stitches-fall-home-feels/story?id=66100086 |url-status=live}} and resulted in a black eye.{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-carter-black-eye-stitches-after-fall-2019-10 |title=Jimmy Carter was left with a black eye and needed 14 stitches after falling at his Georgia home |last=Hall |first=Kristin M. |website=Business Insider |access-date=November 29, 2019 |archive-date=January 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104213134/https://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-carter-black-eye-stitches-after-fall-2019-10 |url-status=live}} On October 21, Carter was admitted to the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center after sustaining a minor pelvic fracture from falling at home for the third time in 2019.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/jimmy-carter-hospital-fall-home/index.html |title=Jimmy Carter hospitalized after fall at Georgia home |first1=Veronica |last1=Stracqualursi |first2=Devon M. |last2=Sayers |first3=Betsy |last3=Klein |publisher=CNN|date=October 22, 2019 |access-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022125848/https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/jimmy-carter-hospital-fall-home/index.html |url-status=live}}

On November 11, 2019, Carter was hospitalized at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding connected with his falls.{{cite news |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_pastor-jimmy-carter-and-walking-post-brain-surgery/6179409.html |title=Pastor: Jimmy Carter 'Up and Walking' Post Brain Surgery |publisher=Voice of America |date=November 14, 2019 |access-date=November 14, 2019 |archive-date=March 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322191758/https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_pastor-jimmy-carter-and-walking-post-brain-surgery/6179409.html |url-status=live}} He was released from the hospital on November 27.{{cite news |title=Former President Jimmy Carter admitted to hospital for brain surgery |last=Allen |first=Karma |work=ABC News |date=November 11, 2019 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-jimmy-carter-admitted-hospital-brain-surgery/story?id=66926890 |access-date=November 11, 2019 |archive-date=November 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112032603/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-jimmy-carter-admitted-hospital-brain-surgery/story?id=66926890 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Duster |first=Chandelis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/politics/jimmy-carter-released-from-hospital/index.html |title=Jimmy Carter released from hospital after two week stay |publisher=CNN|date=November 27, 2019 |access-date=November 29, 2019 |archive-date=November 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129004504/https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/politics/jimmy-carter-released-from-hospital/index.html |url-status=live}} On December 2, 2019, Carter was readmitted to the hospital for a urinary tract infection. He was released on December 4.{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/03/784376075/jimmy-carter-hospitalized-for-urinary-tract-infection|title=Jimmy Carter Hospitalized for Urinary Tract Infection|date=December 3, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2021 |first1=Brakkton|last1=Booker|publisher=NPR|archive-date=October 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011214301/https://www.npr.org/2019/12/03/784376075/jimmy-carter-hospitalized-for-urinary-tract-infection|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jimmy-carter-discharged-georgia-hospital-urinary-tract-infection-n1095951|title=Jimmy Carter discharged from Georgia hospital after urinary tract infection|date=December 4, 2019|access-date=September 7, 2021|publisher=NPR|archive-date=June 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628005459/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jimmy-carter-discharged-georgia-hospital-urinary-tract-infection-n1095951|url-status=live}}

On February 18, 2023, the Carter Center announced that following a "series of short hospital stays", Carter decided to "spend his remaining time at home with his family" in Plains to "receive hospice care"{{Cite web |date=February 18, 2023 |title=Statement on President Carter's Health |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-on-president-carters-health.html |access-date=February 22, 2023 |publisher=Carter Center |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313045849/https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-on-president-carters-health.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-gerald-ford-ronald-reagan-hospice-care-f4e26c10a7b366f14e62f690da403b0a |title=Carter Center: Former President Jimmy Carter in hospice care |last=Barrow |first=Bill |date=February 18, 2023 |work=Associated Press News |access-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218204155/https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-gerald-ford-ronald-reagan-hospice-care-f4e26c10a7b366f14e62f690da403b0a |url-status=live}} for an unspecified illness.{{Cite news |date=February 21, 2023 |title=Jimmy Carter enters hospice care. What is it? |url=https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-hospice-care-86b6d73e53eec03ab3cb9980c71bbb32 |access-date=February 18, 2024 |work=Associated Press News |quote=Hospice care{{spaces}}... is reserved for those declared by two physicians to be terminally ill, with six months or less to live.}}{{Cite news |last=Stableford |first=Dylan |date=November 28, 2023 |title=Rosalynn Carter funeral: Jimmy Carter and all 5 living first ladies attend service |url=https://news.yahoo.com/watch-live-rosalynn-carter-funeral-jimmy-carter-all-5-living-first-ladies-melania-trump-hillary-clinton-michelle-obama-162011346.html |access-date=February 18, 2024 |publisher=Yahoo! News |quote=In February, he decided to forgo further medical treatment for an undisclosed illness and entered hospice care at his home. |archive-date=November 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128184156/https://news.yahoo.com/watch-live-rosalynn-carter-funeral-jimmy-carter-all-5-living-first-ladies-melania-trump-hillary-clinton-michelle-obama-162011346.html |url-status=live}}

At 100 years old, Carter was the longest-lived former U.S. president.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyldnlrnxdo |title=Jimmy Carter, former US president, turns 100 |first=Ana |last=Faguy |date=October 1, 2024 |publisher=BBC |access-date=October 1, 2024}} He was the earliest-serving living former president since Gerald Ford's death in 2006. In 2012, he surpassed Herbert Hoover as the longest-retired president. In 2017 and 2021, he became the first president to live to the 40th anniversary of his inauguration and post-presidency, respectively. In 2017, Carter, then 92, became the oldest former president ever to attend an American presidential inauguration.{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/4639799/jimmy-carter-beat-cancer-donald-trump-inauguration/ |title=How Jimmy Carter Beat Cancer and Became the Oldest President to Attend an Inauguration |first=Katie |last=Reilly |date=January 20, 2017 |magazine=Time |access-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120162759/https://time.com/4639799/jimmy-carter-beat-cancer-donald-trump-inauguration/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter is poised to be the president who has lived the longest in US history |last=Jacobo |first=Julia |date=March 21, 2019 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jimmy-carter-now-oldest-living-president-us-history/story?id=61835536 |work=ABC News |access-date=October 8, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824213745/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jimmy-carter-now-oldest-living-president-us-history/story?id=61835536 |url-status=live}} On March 22, 2019, he became the longest-lived U.S. president.{{cite news |last=Barrow |first=Bill |title=Jimmy Carter's new milestone: Longest-lived U.S. president |newspaper=The Detroit News |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/22/carter-president-longest-lived/39240613/ |date=March 22, 2019 |access-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322193330/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/22/carter-president-longest-lived/39240613/ |url-status=live}} He said in a 2019 interview with People that he never expected to live as long as he had and that the best explanation for longevity was a good marriage.{{Cite magazine |last=Carlson |first=Adam |date=October 15, 2019 |title=Jimmy Carter: Why I Chose Habitat and How I Keep Going |url=https://people.com/politics/jimmy-carter-living-to-95-habitat-humanity-build-rosalynn-marriage/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305211103/https://people.com/politics/jimmy-carter-living-to-95-habitat-humanity-build-rosalynn-marriage/ |archive-date=March 5, 2023 |access-date=March 8, 2023 |magazine=People}}

The Carter Center announced Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song, an event concert to celebrate Carter's 100th birthday that featured appearances by musicians and celebrities. The event took place on September 17, 2024, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Matthew W. |date=September 18, 2024 |title='Jimmy Carter 100' event turns Fox Theatre into a 'Love Shack' |url=https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/jimmy-carter-100-event-turns-fox-theatre-into-a-love-shack-review/DKDYTOWPTZDVBE3DNEMEFM7EIM/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 18, 2024 |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |issn=1539-7459}} On October 1, 2024, Carter turned 100, the first U.S. president to do so.{{Cite news |date=October 1, 2024 |title=President Jimmy Carter becomes the first US president to live to 100 years old |url=https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2024/09/30/jimmy-carter-former-us-president-celebrates-100th-birthday/75450406007/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |newspaper=USA Today}} Local events celebrating his birthday included a F-18 Super Hornet flyover formation by eight Navy pilots from Naval Air Station Oceana, which Carter viewed from his backyard, and a naturalization ceremony for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, which Chip Carter attended.{{Cite web |date=October 1, 2024 |title=Jimmy Carter and his hometown of Plains celebrate the 39th president's 100th birthday |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/jimmy-carter-his/XVIWDPWIQNGPFBSYG5XC2SRHE4/ |access-date=October 1, 2024 |publisher=WSB-TV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001212651/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/jimmy-carter-his/XVIWDPWIQNGPFBSYG5XC2SRHE4/ |archive-date=October 1, 2024}}{{Cite web |date=October 1, 2024 |title=Local Navy pilots honor former President Carter's 100th Birthday with flyover |url=https://www.whro.org/military-veterans/2024-10-01/local-navy-pilots-honor-former-president-carters-100th-birthday-with-flyover |access-date=October 1, 2024 |publisher=WHRO-TV}}

Carter made arrangements to be buried in front of his home at 209 Woodland Drive in Plains. In 2006, he said that a funeral in Washington, D.C., with visitation at the Carter Center, was also planned.{{Cite news |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/650212241/Carter-hopes-to-be-buried-in-hometown-of-Plains-Ga.html |title=President Carter Talks of Funeral Plans |date=December 4, 2006 |newspaper=Deseret News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-date=March 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302031127/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/650212241/Carter-hopes-to-be-buried-in-hometown-of-Plains-Ga.html}} Carter asked President Biden to deliver his eulogy.{{cite news |last1=Judd |first1=Donald |date=March 14, 2023 |title=Biden says Carter asked him to deliver his eulogy |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/jimmy-carter-eulogy-biden/index.html |access-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314044102/https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/jimmy-carter-eulogy-biden/index.html |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter}}

File:Jimmy Carter lay-in state at U.S. Capitol.jpg in the U.S. Capitol rotunda]]

Carter died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100.{{cite news| last1=Sullivan |first1=Kevin |last2=Walsh |first2=Edward |title=Jimmy Carter, 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 100, his son says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/12/29/jimmy-carter-president-dead/ |access-date=December 29, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 29, 2024}}{{Cite news |last1=Zurcher |first1=Anthony |last2=Geoghegan |first2=Tom |date=December 29, 2024 |title=Jimmy Carter, former US president, dies aged 100 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpww85w5p30o |access-date=December 29, 2024 |work=BBC News}}{{Cite news |date=December 29, 2024 |title=Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Passes Away at 100 |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2024/statement-on-president-jimmy-carter-122924.html |access-date=December 29, 2024 |publisher=Carter Center}}

Shortly after the announcement, President Joe Biden released a statement honoring Carter's legacy, calling him a "man of principle, faith, and humility".{{cite web |last1=Biden |first1=Joseph |title=Statement by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/29/statement-by-president-joe-biden-and-first-lady-jill-biden-on-the-passing-of-former-president-jimmy-carter/ |website=The White House |date=December 29, 2024 |access-date=December 30, 2024}} The nation held an official state funeral and day of mourning for Carter on January 9, 2025. All five living U.S. presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, president-elect Donald Trump, and incumbent Biden—attended Carter's funeral.{{cite web |last1=Anthony |first1=Ted |title=From Carter's funeral, an American snapshot: A singular image, 5 presidents, 379 years of history |url=https://apnews.com/article/carter-obama-bush-trump-biden-clinton-funeral-6c7e8c12019f2b83f3e30b3ecd1eb4ad |website=AP News |access-date=January 10, 2024}}

{{clear right}}

When Carter left office in 1981, scholars and even many Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure.{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter's Legacy of Failure |url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Jimmy-Carter-s-Legacy-of-Failure-2483048.php |date=December 12, 2006 |first=Cinnamon |last=Stillwell |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717125517/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Jimmy-Carter-s-Legacy-of-Failure-2483048.php |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter: Why He Failed |url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2000/01/21politics-hess |date=January 21, 2000 |publisher=Brookings Institution |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725153444/https://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2000/01/21politics-hess |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |first=Ramesh |last=Ponnuru |title=In Carter's Shadow |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810305,00.html |magazine=Time |date=May 28, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725145652/https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810305,00.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Siders |first=David |date=March 13, 2019 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/jimmy-carter-trump-1207385 |title=Democrats find a foil for Trump in Jimmy Carter |newspaper=Politico |access-date=September 28, 2024}} Betty Glad, a political scientist at the University of Illinois, summarized the public consensus on Carter: "he didn't have a well-developed political philosophy and gave people a feeling he didn't quite know where he was headed."

Historians have ranked Carter's presidency as below average.{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter's Post-Presidency |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-post-presidency/ |publisher=PBS |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506081425/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-post-presidency/}}{{sfn|Brinkley|1998|pp=505–530}} After leaving office, he told allies he predicted history would be kinder to him than voters were in the 1980 election.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/wisconsin-state-journal-historians-rate/161375991/ Historians rate best and worst presidents]. Wisconsin State Journal. January 10, 1982. Retrieved December 22, 2024. In a 1982 Chicago Tribune survey, when 49 historians and scholars were asked to rank the best and worst U.S. presidents, Carter was ranked the tenth worst.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-world-presidents-rated-truman-ike/156226892/ Presidents rated: Truman, Ike near the top]. Chicago Tribune. The World. February 4, 1982. Retrieved September 29, 2024. In 2006, conservative British historian Andrew Roberts ranked Carter the worst U.S. president.Roberts, Andrew (November 11, 2006). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-jimmy-carter/161333473/ Jimmy Carter]. The Independent. Retrieved December 21, 2024. Yet some of Carter's policy accomplishments have been more favorably received.Schumann, Megan (February 23, 2023). [https://www.rutgers.edu/news/jimmy-carters-legacy-rutgers-historian-reflects-39th-president Jimmy Carter's Legacy: Historian Reflects on the 39th President]. Rutgers University. Retrieved December 21, 2024. The 2009 documentary Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace credits Carter's efforts at Camp David, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt, with bringing the only meaningful peace to the Middle East.{{cite web |last=Gibb |first=Lindsay |url=https://realscreen.com/2009/06/08/montecarlofest-20090608/ |title=Monte-Carlo TV fest opens with doc for first time |date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=June 12, 2012 |archive-date=March 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326204832/https://realscreen.com/2009/06/08/montecarlofest-20090608/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=WorldScreen.com – Archives |url=https://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/21252 |website=worldscreen.com |access-date=June 22, 2015 |url-access=subscription }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Stuart E. Eizenstat, who served as Carter's chief White House domestic policy adviser, wrote, "Carter's accomplishments at home and abroad were more extensive and longer lasting than those of almost all modern presidents."Eizenstat, Stuart, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/12/29/stuart-eizenstat-jimmy-carter-accomplishments/ "History views Carter's legacy — and his many accomplishments — all wrong"], The Washington Post, December 29, 2024.

While historians generally consider Carter a below-average president, his post-presidency activities have been universally praised, including his peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts.{{sfn|Brinkley|1998|pp=505–530}} The Independent wrote in 2009, "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/jimmy-carter-1482922.html |title=Jimmy Carter:39th president – 1977–1981 |work=The Independent |location=London |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223024100/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/jimmy-carter-1482922.html |url-status=live}}

In exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, many voters still held Ford's pardon of Nixon in 1974 against him.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polls-fords-image-improved-over-time/ |publisher=CBS News |title=Polls: Ford's Image Improved Over Time |date=December 27, 2006 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=September 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908032831/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/27/opinion/polls/main2301584.shtml |url-status=live}} By comparison, Carter was viewed as a sincere, honest, and well-meaning southerner. During his presidency, polls generally showed that most Americans saw Carter as likable and "a man of high moral principles".Light, Larry (January 17, 1980). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anniston-star-carter-runs-on-first-t/156081570/ Carter runs on first-term record and as rallying point in crisis]. Congressional Quarterly. Retrieved September 26, 2024. In the 1980 election, Reagan projected an easy self-confidence, in contrast to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. Carter was portrayed as more pessimistic and indecisive than Reagan, who was known for his charm and delegation of tasks to subordinates.{{cite news |first=E. J. |last=Dionne |date=May 18, 1989 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/18/us/washington-talk-carter-begins-to-shed-negative-public-image.html |title=Washington Talk; Carter Begins to Shed Negative Public Image |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=May 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524021900/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/18/us/washington-talk-carter-begins-to-shed-negative-public-image.html |url-status=live}} Reagan used the economic issues, the Iran hostage crisis, and the lack of Washington cooperation to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader. Carter was the first elected incumbent president since Herbert Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/brinkley-unfinished.html |title=The Unfinished Presidency – Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House |website=The New York Times |year=1998 |access-date=November 27, 2015 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233450/https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/brinkley-unfinished.html |url-status=live}}

Carter began his presidency with an approval rating between 66% and 75%.{{cite web |url=https://www.gallup.com/poll/113923/History-Foretells-Obama-First-Job-Approval-Rating.aspx |title=What History Foretells for Obama's First Job Approval Rating |publisher=Gallup.com |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-date=January 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111182110/https://www.gallup.com/poll/113923/History-Foretells-Obama-First-Job-Approval-Rating.aspx |url-status=live}}Gallup, George (March 27, 1978). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-carters-decline/156055551/ Carter's Decline Is Halted]. Gallup Organization. Retrieved September 26, 2024. He maintained approval ratings above 50% until March 1978, and the following month his approval rating fell to 39%,Gallup, George (June 4, 1978). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-macon-news-carter-gains-in-popularit/161398320/ Carter Gains In Popularity]. The Macon News. Retrieved December 23, 2024. primarily due to the declining economy.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pantagraph-carters-approval-rating/156056662/ Carter's approval rating shows rich, poor similar]. The Pantagraph. April 9, 1978. Retrieved September 26, 2024. His ratings briefly rebounded after the Camp David Accords in late 1978Gallup, George (October 1, 1978). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-carters-popularity-rise-all-t/161451925/ Carter's popularity rise all-time gain]. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved December 24, 2024. but dipped during the 1979 energy crisis and got as low as 28% in July 1979.Gallup, George (August 14, 1979). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-trust-in-carter-s/156057185/ Trust in Carter Still Strong]. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved September 26, 2024. At the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis, his approval rating surged to 61%, up 23 points from his pre-crisis rating.[https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/10/archives/survey-finds-carters-popularity-has-risen-sharply-in-iran-crisis.html Survey Finds Carter's Popularity Has Risen Sharply in Iran Crisis]. The New York Times. December 10, 1979. Retrieved September 26, 2024. Polls also found that up to 77% of Americans approved of Carter's initial response to the crisis, but by June 1980, amid heated criticism from across the political spectrum[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-carters-lead-over-ken/156180040/ Carter's Lead over Kennedy Is Declining]. Gallup Organization. The Tampa Tribune. April 17, 1980. Retrieved September 28, 2024. for his failure to free the hostages, his approval rating slumped to 33%; that same month Reagan surpassed Carter in pre-1980 election polling.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-for-the-first-time-re/156058167/ For the First Time, Reagan Leads Carter]. The Tampa Tribune. June 18, 1980. Retrieved September 26, 2024. As Carter was leaving office, a Gallup poll found that 48% of Americans thought he had been an "average" or "above average" president, 46% said he had been "below average" or "poor", and only 3% thought he had been "outstanding".[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-only-3-regard-carter-a/156083128/ Only 3% regard Carter as 'outstanding' president]. The Miami Herald. January 9, 1981. Retrieved September 26, 2024. His average approval rating during his entire presidency was 46%,Panagopoulos, Costas (January 2, 2007). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/ledger-enquirer-fort-didnt-have-it-easy/161260379/ Ford didn't have it easy]. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved December 20, 2024.Swanson, Emily (August 27, 2017). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-roanoke-times-trump-setting-records/161260871/ Trump setting records for low average presidential approval]. The Roanoke Times. Retrieved December 20, 2024. and he left office as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents in history.{{cite web |url=https://www.gallup.com/poll/113770/Bush-Presidency-Closes-34-Approval-61-Disapproval.aspx |title=Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval |date=January 14, 2009 |publisher=Gallup, Inc. |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119053947/https://www.gallup.com/poll/113770/Bush-Presidency-Closes-34-Approval-61-Disapproval.aspx |archive-date=January 19, 2009}}

In a 1990 Gallup survey, 45% of respondents said they approved of the overall job Carter did as president, leaving only Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson with lower ratings.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-post-standard-jfk-tops-presidents-l/156388619/ JFK Tops Presidents' List]. Gallup Organization. The Post-Standard. December 5, 1990. Retrieved October 1, 2024. In a 2006 poll, 61% of respondents said they approved of the job Carter did as president, his highest rating since 1979.Panagopoulos, Costas (December 29, 2006). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-ford-won-the-publics/158133879/ Ford won the public's affection]. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 30, 2024. In a 2021 survey, 27% of respondents said he had been an "outstanding" or "above average" president, 43% regarded him as "average", and only 24% said he had been "below average" or "poor".Jones, Jeffrey M. (December 29, 2024). [https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/235277/jimmy-carter-retrospective.aspx Jimmy Carter Retrospective]. Gallup Organization. Retrieved December 31, 2024. A 2025 YouGov poll listed Carter as the most popular politician in America, with an overall approval rating of 64%.{{cite web |title=The Most Popular Politicians (Q1 2025) |url=https://today.yougov.com/ratings/politics/popularity/politicians/all |website=YouGov |access-date=14 June 2025}}

{{Further|List of awards and honors received by Jimmy Carter}}

Carterpuri, a village in Haryana, India, was renamed in his honor after he visited in 1978.{{Cite web |title=The Hindu : Carterpuri awaits Clinton visit |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2000/02/29/stories/0229000n.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041119195807/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2000/02/29/stories/0229000n.htm |archive-date=November 19, 2004 |access-date=April 11, 2011}}{{Cite web |date=January 3, 2025 |title=Carterpuri - Indian village named to honor Jimmy Carter - pays tribute |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/jimmy-carter-indian-village-funeral-b2673334.html |access-date=January 4, 2025 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

Carter received the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in 1984.

File:Jcnhsvistctr.jpg

File:Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.jpg was opened in 1986.]]

The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum was opened in 1986.{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Applebome |title=Carter Center: More Than the Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/30/travel/carter-center-more-than-the-past.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 30, 1993 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705073105/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/30/travel/carter-center-more-than-the-past.html |url-status=live}} The following year, buildings connected to Carter's life were granted status as National Historic Sites{{cite news |first=Najja |last=Parker |title=Guide to visiting Jimmy Carter Historical Park in Plains, Georgia |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/world/guide-visiting-jimmy-carter-historic-site-plains-georgia/VVYPV6Ni0LqcJ0UaPuQkWP/ |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=May 9, 2018 |access-date=July 8, 2023 |archive-date=July 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708012111/https://www.ajc.com/news/world/guide-visiting-jimmy-carter-historic-site-plains-georgia/VVYPV6Ni0LqcJ0UaPuQkWP/ |url-status=live}} and in 2021 were collectively renamed the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park.{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Jones |title=Jimmy Carter historic sites become national historic park |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/world/guide-visiting-jimmy-carter-historic-site-plains-georgia/VVYPV6Ni0LqcJ0UaPuQkWP/ |publisher=WTVM |date=January 15, 2021 |access-date=July 8, 2023 |archive-date=July 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708012349/https://www.wtvm.com/2021/01/15/jimmy-carter-historic-sites-become-national-historic-park/ |url-status=live}}

In 1991, Carter was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at Kansas State University,{{cite web |url=https://www.pbk.org/presidents |title=PBK – Phi Beta Kappa Presidents |website=pbk.org |access-date=November 29, 2019 |archive-date=November 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118101012/https://www.pbk.org/presidents |url-status=live}} and was elected to the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Jimmy+Carter&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=April 14, 2022 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}} In 1998, the U.S. Navy named the third and final {{sclass|Seawolf|submarine|0}} submarine {{USS|Jimmy Carter}}.{{cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Jamie |date=April 8, 1998 |title=Navy to name submarine after former president Jimmy Carter |url=https://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/08/carter.sub/ |publisher=CNN|access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622200204/https://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/08/carter.sub/ |url-status=dead}}

Carter received the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights, given in honor of human rights achievements,{{cite web |title=HR Prize – List of previous recipients |url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRPrizeListofpreviousrecipients.aspx |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408010114/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRPrizeListofpreviousrecipients.aspx |url-status=live}} and the Hoover Medal, recognizing engineers who have contributed to global causes.{{cite web |url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/honors-awards/unit-awards/hoover-awards/1998 |title=James Earl Carter Jr 1998 – ASME |access-date=July 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714192308/https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/honors-awards/unit-awards/hoover-awards/1998 |archive-date=July 14, 2014}} Carter's 2002 Nobel Peace Prize{{cite press release |title=The Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Jimmy Carter |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/press.html |publisher=Nobel Foundation |date=October 11, 2002 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701001814/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/press.html |url-status=live}} was partially a response to president George W. Bush's threats of war against Iraq and Carter's criticism of the Bush administration.{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/11/carter.nobel/index.html |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121014447/https://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/11/carter.nobel/index.html |archive-date=November 21, 2009 |url-status=live |publisher=CNN|date=October 11, 2002}}

In 2009, the Souther Field Airport in Americus, Georgia, was renamed Jimmy Carter Regional Airport.{{cite news |title=Jimmy Carter Regional Airport Becomes a Reality |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/11/jimmy-carter-regional-airport-reality/ |date=October 11, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Fox News |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707030437/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/11/jimmy-carter-regional-airport-reality/ |archive-date=July 7, 2015}}

In November 2024, Carter received his 10th nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for audio recordings of his books. He won four times—for Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (2007), A Full Life: Reflections at 90 (2015), Faith: A Journey For All (2018), and Last Sunday in Plains: A Centennial Celebration (2024).{{cite news |author=Gregory Krieg |title=Former President Jimmy Carter wins Grammy Award |publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/15/politics/jimmy-carter-grammy-award-spoken-word/ |date=February 15, 2016 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924221903/https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/15/politics/jimmy-carter-grammy-award-spoken-word/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |first1=Jeff |last1=Leeds |first2=Lorne |last2=Manly |title=Defiant Dixie Chicks Are Big Winners at the Grammys |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/arts/music/12gram.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 12, 2007 |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714142349/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/arts/music/12gram.html?_r=0 |url-status=live}}Judy Kurtz, [https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/262293-jimmy-carter-up-for-another-grammy/ Jimmy Carter up for another Grammy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114135944/https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/262293-jimmy-carter-up-for-another-grammy/ |date=November 14, 2023}}, The Hill (December 7, 2015).{{cite web |last1=Karanth |first1=Sanjana |title=Jimmy Carter Wins 2019 Grammy Award For Spoken Word Album |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jimmy-carter-grammys-spoken-word-album_us_5c60b896e4b0eec79b24c9cc?guccounter=1 |website=HuffPost |date=February 11, 2019 |access-date=February 11, 2019 |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011336/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jimmy-carter-grammys-spoken-word-album_us_5c60b896e4b0eec79b24c9cc?guccounter=1 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Musa |first1=Amanda |title=100-year-old Jimmy Carter receives 10th Grammy Award nomination for spoken-word album 'Last Sundays in Plains' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/09/us/jimmy-carter-grammy-nomination/index.html |access-date=November 9, 2024 |publisher=CNN |date=November 9, 2024}}{{cite magazine |title=Kendrick Reigns, Charli Shines, Jimmy Carter Gets a Nod: The Best and Weirdest 2025 Grammy Noms |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/2025-grammys-best-weirdest-1235157302/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=November 9, 2024 |date=November 8, 2024}} He is the most nominated and awarded recipient in the category.

On February 21, 2024, the White House Historical Association unveiled its official 2024 White House Christmas ornament honoring Carter's naval service and efforts for peace. This was the first time a president being honored was alive at the time of the unveiling.{{Cite news |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSSQFo97Mg |title=Jimmy Carter becomes first president to live to see White House ornament honoring his legacy |date=February 21, 2024 |type=Video |agency=Associated Press |access-date=September 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223062708/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSSQFo97Mg |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}

{{Div col}}

• {{Annotated link |Electoral history of Jimmy Carter}}
• {{Annotated link |Jimmy Carter rabbit incident}}
• {{Annotated link |List of centenarians (politicians and civil servants)}}
• {{Annotated link |List of members of the American Legion}}
• List of peace activists
• {{Annotated link |List of presidents of the United States}}
• {{Annotated link |List of presidents of the United States by previous experience}}
• "Mush from the Wimp" – Joke headline from The Boston Globe in a 1980 op-ed
• {{Annotated link |Political positions of Jimmy Carter}}

{{Div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

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• {{Cite book |last1=Balmer |first1=Randall |year=2014 |title=Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02958-7}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Biven |first1=W. Carl |title=Jimmy Carter's Economy: Policy in an Age of Limits |year=2002 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0-8078-6124-3 |oclc=53876246}}
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• {{Cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Jeff |title=Ancestors of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter |year=2012 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-0-7864-8954-1 |oclc=802261814}}
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• {{Cite book |last1=Hayward |first1=Steven F. |title=The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-president Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators, and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry |year=2004 |publisher=Regnery Publishing |isbn=978-1-59698-278-9 |oclc=836407503 |quote=Earl may not have voted for FRD again, but he was not above receiving several New Deal agricultural subsidies as the Depression wore on.}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Hayward |first1=Steven F. |title=The Age of Reagan: the Fall of the Old Liberal Order: 1964–1980 |year=2009 |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-45370-9}}
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• {{Cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Burton I. |last2=Kaufman |first2=Scott |title=The Presidency of James Earl Carter |publisher=University Press of Kansas |edition=2 |ol=7763218M |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7006-1471-4}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Diane |last2=Kaufman |first2=Scott |title=Historical Dictionary Of the Carter Era |year=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-7968-3 |oclc=834614686}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Marguet |first1=Serge |title=A Brief History of Nuclear Reactor Accidents from Leipzig to Fukushima |year=2022 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-031-10500-5 |oclc=1366112034}}
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• {{Cite book |last1=Mukunda |first1=Gautam |title=Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-520-97703-7 |publisher=University of California Press |oclc=1303569935}}
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• {{Cite book |last1=Panton |first1=Kenneth J. |title=Historical Dictionary of the United States |year=2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2419-2 |oclc=1295808727}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=Bernard Jr. |title=Jimmy Carter: U.S. President and Humanitarian |year=2006 |publisher=Ferguson Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8160-5903-4}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Schneider |first1=Dorothy |last2=Schneider |first2=Carl J. |title=First Ladies: a Biographical Dictionary |year=2005 |publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-1-4381-0815-5 |edition=2 |oclc=234178582}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Sunny |title=Jimmy Carter: From Peanuts to Presidency |year=1978 |publisher=Vesta Publications |isbn=0-919806-61-9 |oclc=6041403}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Wead |first1=Doug |title=The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders |year=2005 |publisher=Atria Books |isbn=978-1-4165-1307-0}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Wertheimer |first1=Molly Meijer |title=Inventing a Voice: the Rhetoric of American First Ladies of the Twentieth Century |year=2004 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=0-7425-2970-3 |oclc=835122766}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Wooten |first1=James T. |title=Dasher: The Roots and the Rising of Jimmy Carter |year=1978 |publisher=Summit Books |isbn=0-671-40004-5 |oclc=3481251}}
• {{Cite book |ref={{sfnRef|World Book|2001}} |title=World Book Encyclopedia (Hardcover) [Jimmy Carter entry] |publisher=World Book |date=January 2001 |isbn=978-0-7166-0101-2}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Zelizer |first1=Julian E. |title=Jimmy Carter |publisher=Times Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8050-8957-8 |lccn=2010016818 |ol=24804105M}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{Cite news |last=Hingston |first=Sandy |url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/04/24/princeton-sprint-football-team/ |title=Why This Princeton Football Team Won't Be Suiting Up Next Season |work=Philadelphia |date=April 24, 2016 |access-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-date=November 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106124516/https://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/04/24/princeton-sprint-football-team/ |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/06/05/the-class-of-the-naval-academy-has-50th-reunion/1631f2ba-b06e-4fe4-9968-1c39efb7d6bc/ |title=The Class of the Naval Academy Has 50th Reunion |date=June 5, 1996 |access-date=March 4, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Amy |last=Argetsinger |author-link=Amy Argetsinger}}
• {{Cite news |last1=Barrow |first1=Bill |last2=Warren |first2=Michael |title=Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dies At 96 |url=https://apnews.com/article/rosalynn-carter-dead-e4291133392444bc9ad9d1da461d95c1 |access-date=September 24, 2024 |work=Associated Press News |date=November 20, 2023}}
• {{Cite news |last=Milnes |first=Arthur |url=https://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/when_jimmy_carter_faced_radioactivity_head_on/ |title=When Jimmy Carter Faced Radioactivity Head-on |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=January 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217161647/https://ottawariverkeeper.ca/news/when_jimmy_carter_faced_radioactivity_head_on |archive-date=February 17, 2011}}
• {{Cite news |last=Suciu |first=Peter |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-president-jimmy-carter-got-his-very-own-submarine-137717 |title=Why President Jimmy Carter Got His Very Own Submarine |newspaper=The National Interest |date=March 27, 2020}}
• {{Cite magazine |last1=Berman |first1=Eliza |title=A Governor Speaks Out on Race: LIFE's Look at Jimmy Carter, 1971 |url=https://www.life.com/history/jimmy-carter-governor-inauguration-discrimination/ |access-date=September 24, 2024 |magazine=Life |year=2022}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1971a}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19710714&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Aims to Create Human Relations Panel |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=July 8, 1971 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140454/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19710714&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1971b}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GW5NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vDUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3623%2C1460658 |title=Gov. Carter Orders Cuts In Georgia Spending |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=July 14, 1971 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901170904/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GW5NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vDUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3623,1460658 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1972a}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19720113&printsec=frontpage |title=Two Budget Proposals Offered By Gov. Carter to Legislature |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=January 13, 1972 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140459/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19720113&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1972b}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N5pMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xzUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2478%2C241190 |title=Reappointment Rejection Could Bring Session |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=March 2, 1972 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901170905/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N5pMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xzUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2478,241190 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|NBC News|2008}} |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25889670 |title=Jimmy Carter Battles Plan for Dams – Again |date=July 28, 2008 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |publisher=NBC News |archive-date=August 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801090635/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/25889670/ns/us_news-environment/t/jimmy-carter-battles-plan-dams-again/ |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1973a}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730201&printsec=frontpage |title=Governors Disagree on School Busing |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=February 1, 1973 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140451/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730201&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1971c}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19711107&printsec=frontpage |title=Southern Governors Meeting in Atlanta |date=November 7, 1971 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140455/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19711107&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/jimmy-carter-supreme-court-death-penalty |title=Jimmy Carter Calls for Fresh Moratorium on Death Penalty |newspaper=The Guardian |date=November 11, 2013 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705115637/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/11/jimmy-carter-supreme-court-death-penalty |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1972c}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19720804&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter, Wallace Hold Election Conference |date=August 4, 1972 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011183951/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19720804&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1973b}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730513&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Cautions Democrats to Play it Cool on Watergate |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=May 13, 1973 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817013656/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730513&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite news |ref={{sfnRef|Rome News-Tribune|1973c}} |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730514&printsec=frontpage |title=Carter Off on European Tour |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |date=May 14, 1973 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140453/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BJbdYPG6LGMC&dat=19730514&printsec=frontpage |url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|National Park Service|2020}} |title=Plains High School |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/plains-high-school.htm |date=October 14, 2020 |access-date=July 17, 2022 |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717143320/https://www.nps.gov/places/plains-high-school.htm |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |last=Rattini |first=Kristin Baird |year=2020 |title=Jimmy Carter |url=https://www.gtalumni.org/s/1481/alumni/17/magazine-pages.aspx?sid=1481&gid=21&pgid=18394&cid=40232&ecid=40232&crid=0&calpgid=18390&calcid=40218 |publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association |access-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106231900/https://www.gtalumni.org/s/1481/alumni/17/magazine-pages.aspx?sid=1481&gid=21&pgid=18394&cid=40232&ecid=40232&crid=0&calpgid=18390&calcid=40218 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|Carter Center|2023}} |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-rosalynn-carter-111923.html |title=Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Passes Away at Age 96 |date=November 19, 2023 |publisher=Carter Center |access-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119201739/https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-rosalynn-carter-111923.html |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|Jimmy Carter Library and Museum|2004}} |title=Jimmy Carter's Naval Service |date=November 19, 2004 |url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/jec/jcnavy.phtml |website=Jimmy Carter Library and Museum |access-date=November 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116012607/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/jec/jcnavy.phtml |archive-date=November 16, 2015}}
• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|Naval History and Heritage Command|1997}} |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-c/carter-james-e.html |title=James Earl Carter, Jr. |work=Naval History and Heritage Command |date=October 19, 1997 |access-date=February 20, 2023 |archive-date=February 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220154017/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-c/carter-james-e.html |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |last=Eckstein |first=Megan |url=https://news.usni.org/2015/03/09/from-ensign-to-commander-in-chief-a-look-at-the-presidents-who-served-in-the-u-s-navy-reserve |title=From Ensign to Commander-in-Chief: A Look at the Presidents Who Served in the U.S. Navy Reserve |date=March 9, 2015 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=USNI News |publisher=United States Naval Institute |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816164136/https://news.usni.org/2015/03/09/from-ensign-to-commander-in-chief-a-look-at-the-presidents-who-served-in-the-u-s-navy-reserve |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|Naval History and Heritage Command|2023}} |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/presidents/carter.html |title=Lieutenant James Earl Carter Jr., USN |date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816204427/https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/presidents/carter.html |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |last1=Donica |first1=Adrienne |last2=Piccotti |first2=Tyler |url=https://www.biography.com/us-president/jimmy-carter |title=Jimmy Carter |date=March 27, 2018 |website=Biography.com |access-date=December 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606151959/https://www.biography.com/us-president/jimmy-carter |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |ref={{sfnRef|Georgia General Assembly|1965}} |title=Members Of The General Assembly Of Georgia: State Senate and Hous of Representatives – Term 1965–1966 |publisher=Georgia General Assembly |url=https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/govdimag.cgi?path=dbs/1965/ga/s700/_ps1/g4/1965_h66/sess_p1_sno_p1.con/&user=galileo&sessionid=637f8586-1547653717-5036&serverid=DU&instcode=afpl&return=ggpd%3fuserid%3dgalileo%26dbs%3dggpd%26action%3dretrieve%26recno%3d70%26numrecs%3d100%26__rtype%3drecno%26key%3dy-ga-bs700-b-ps1-bg4-b1965-h66-bsess-p1-sno-p1 |date=February 1965 |access-date=May 12, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216151724/https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/govdimag.cgi?path=dbs%2F1965%2Fga%2Fs700%2F_ps1%2Fg4%2F1965_h66%2Fsess_p1_sno_p1.con%2F&user=galileo&sessionid=637f8586-1547653717-5036&serverid=DU&instcode=afpl&return=ggpd%3Fuserid%3Dgalileo&dbs=ggpd&action=retrieve&recno=70&numrecs=100&__rtype=recno&key=y-ga-bs700-b-ps1-bg4-b1965-h66-bsess-p1-sno-p1 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite web |last=Sidey |first=Hugh S. |url=https://www.worldbook.com/content-spotlight/item/1156-lives-and-times-of-american-presidents-1961-present/1156-lives-and-times-of-american-presidents-1961-present?start=5 |title=Carter, Jimmy |publisher=World Book |date=January 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427131522/https://www.worldbook.com/content-spotlight/item/1156-lives-and-times-of-american-presidents-1961-present/1156-lives-and-times-of-american-presidents-1961-present?start=5 |archive-date=April 27, 2012}}

{{refend}}

{{Further|Jimmy Carter bibliography|Presidency of Jimmy Carter#Further reading}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• Andelic, Patrick. Donkey Work: Congressional Democrats in Conservative America, 1974–1994 (2019) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0700628037/ excerpt] {{Web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331131229/https://www.amazon.com/Donkey-Work-Congressional-Democrats-Conservative/dp/0700628037/ |date=March 31, 2021 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Berggren |first1=D. Jason |last2=Rae |first2=Nicol C. |title=Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush: Faith, Foreign Policy, and an Evangelical Presidential Style |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=606–632 |issn=0360-4918 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2006.02570.x}}
• {{Cite book |last=Bird |first=Kai |author-link=Kai Bird |year=2021 |title=The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter |edition=First hardcover |location=New York |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-451-49523-5 |oclc=1280936868}} In-depth biography focused on the presidency. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451495233/ Excerpt]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125173151/https://www.amazon.com/Outlier-Unfinished-Presidency-Jimmy-Carter/dp/0451495233/ |date=January 25, 2022 }}.
• {{cite book |last=Busch |first=Andrew E. |title=Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right |date=2005 |publisher=University Press of Kansas}}
• {{cite journal|last=Clymer|first=Kenton|title=Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and Cambodia|journal=Diplomatic History|year=2003|volume=27|issue=2|pages=245–278|issn=0145-2096|jstor=24914265|doi=10.1111/1467-7709.00349}}
• Daigle, Craig. "Beyond Camp David: Jimmy Carter, Palestinian Self-Determination, and Human Rights." Diplomatic History 42.5 (2018): 802–830.
• {{cite book |last=Dumbrell |first=John |title=The Carter Presidency: A Re-evaluation |year=1995 |edition=2nd |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, UK |isbn=978-0-7190-4693-3}}
• {{cite book |editor-last1=Fink |editor-first1=Gary M. |editor-first2=Hugh Davis |editor-last2=Graham |title=The Carter Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era |year=1998 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence |isbn=978-0-7006-0895-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700608959 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Flint |first1=Andrew R. |first2=Joy |last2=Porter |date=March 2005 |title=Jimmy Carter: The re-emergence of faith-based politics and the abortion rights issue |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=28–51 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2004.00234.x|url=https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4404056 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Freedman |first=Robert |title=The Religious Right and the Carter Administration |journal=The Historical Journal |year=2005 |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=231–260 |issn=0018-246X |doi=10.1017/S0018246X04004285 |s2cid=154791980}}
• {{cite book |last=Gillon |first=Steven M. |title=The Democrats' Dilemma: Walter F. Mondale and the Liberal Legacy |year=1992 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-07630-2}}
• {{cite book |last=Glad |first=Betty |title=Jimmy Carter: In Search of the Great White House |year=1980 |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-07527-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/jimmycarterinsea0000glad }}
• {{cite book |last=Hahn |first=Dan F. |chapter=The rhetoric of Jimmy Carter, 1976–1980 |editor-first1=Theodore |editor-last1=Windt |editor-first2=Beth |editor-last2=Ingold |title=Essays in Presidential Rhetoric |year=1992 |edition=3rd |publisher=Kendall/Hunt |location=Dubuque, Iowa |pages=331–365 |isbn=978-0-8403-7568-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Hargrove |first=Erwin C. |title=Jimmy Carter as President: Leadership and the Politics of the Public Good |year=1988 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |location=Baton Rouge |isbn=978-0-8071-1499-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/jimmycarteraspre00erwi }}
• {{cite book |author-link=David Harris (protestor) |last=Harris |first=David |title=The Crisis: the President, the Prophet, and the Shah – 1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam |publisher=Little, Brown |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/crisispresidentp00harr |isbn=978-0-316-32394-9 }}
• Jensehaugen, Jørgen. Arab-Israeli diplomacy under Carter: the US, Israel and the Palestinians (Bloomsbury, 2018).
• {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Charles O. |title=The Trusteeship Presidency: Jimmy Carter and the United States Congress |year=1988 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |location=Baton Rouge |isbn=978-0-8071-1426-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/trusteeshippresi0000jone }}
• {{cite book |last=Jorden |first=William J. |title=Panama Odyssey |year=1984 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=978-0-292-76469-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/panamaodyssey00jord }}
• {{cite book |last=Keys |first=Barbara J. |date=2014 |title=Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |url={{GBurl|id=BZHzAgAAQBAJ}} |isbn=978-0-674-72603-1 |access-date=March 21, 2022 }}
• {{cite book |last=Kucharsky |first=David |title=The Man From Plains: The Mind and Spirit of Jimmy Carter |year=1976 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-064891-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/manfromplainsthe00kuch }}
• {{cite book |last=Mattson |first=Kevin |title=What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President? |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2010 |url={{GBurl|id=RbpdkYGh65kC}} |isbn=978-1-60819-206-9 |access-date=March 21, 2022 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Iwan |title=Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and the New Democratic Economics |journal=The Historical Journal |year=2004 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=1015–1039 |issn=0018-246X |doi=10.1017/S0018246X0400408X |s2cid=159975563}}
• Reichard, Gary W. "Early Returns: Assessing Jimmy Carter" Presidential Studies Quarterly 20#3 (Summer 1990) 603–620. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40574538 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513054928/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40574538 |date=May 13, 2021 }}
• {{cite book |last=Ribuffo |first=Leo P. |chapter=God and Jimmy Carter |editor=M. L. Bradbury and James B. Gilbert |title=Transforming Faith: The Sacred and Secular in Modern American History |year=1989 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/transformingfait0000unse/page/141 141–159] |isbn=978-0-313-25707-0 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/transformingfait0000unse/page/141 }}
• {{cite book |last=Ribuffo |first=Leo P. |chapter='Malaise' revisited: Jimmy Carter and the crisis of confidence |editor=John Patrick Diggins |title=The Liberal Persuasion: Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and the Challenge of the American Past |year=1997 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780691048291/page/164 164–185] |isbn=978-0-691-04829-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780691048291/page/164 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last1=Rosenbaum |editor-first1=Herbert D. |editor-last2=Ugrinsky |editor-first2=Alexej |title=The Presidency and Domestic Policies of Jimmy Carter |year=1994 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=83–116 |isbn=978-0-313-28845-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Schram |first=Martin |title=Running for President, 1976: The Carter Campaign |year=1977 |publisher=Stein and Day |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8128-2245-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/runningforpresid0000schr }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Schmitz |first1=David F. |last2=Walker |first2=Vanessa |title=Jimmy Carter and the Foreign Policy of Human Rights: the Development of a Post-cold War Foreign Policy |journal=Diplomatic History |year=2004 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=113–143 |issn=0145-2096 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.2004.00400.x}}
• {{cite journal |last=Strong |first=Robert A. |date=Fall 1986 |title=Recapturing leadership: The Carter administration and the crisis of confidence |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=636–650}}
• {{cite book |last=Strong |first=Robert A. |title=Working in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy |year=2000 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |location=Baton Rouge |isbn=978-0-8071-2445-1}}
• {{cite news |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/01/opinion/topics-thermostatic-legacy.html |title=Topics; Thermostatic Legacy |date=January 1, 1981 |at=Section 1, Page 18, Column 1 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009183157/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/01/opinion/topics-thermostatic-legacy.html |url-status=live }}
• {{cite news |first=Steve |last=Vogel |title=Remembering Failed Iranian Mission |url= |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 4, 2000}}
• {{cite book |last=White |first=Theodore H. |author-link=Theodore H. White |title=America in Search of Itself: The Making of the President, 1956–1980 |year=1982 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-039007-5}}
• Williams, Daniel K. The Election of the Evangelical: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and the Presidential Contest of 1976 (University Press of Kansas, 2020) [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55955 online review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820141336/https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55955 |date=August 20, 2021 }}
• {{cite book |last=Witcover |first=Jules |title=Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972–1976 |year=1977 |publisher=Viking Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-670-45461-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/marathonpursuit000witc }}
• {{cite news |url=https://millercenter.org/president/carter/life-after-the-presidency |title=Jimmy Carter: Life After the Presidency |date=October 4, 2016 |publisher=Miller Center |access-date=September 22, 2018 |archive-date=September 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101708/https://millercenter.org/president/carter/life-after-the-presidency |url-status=live }}

{{refend}}

{{Main|Bibliography of Jimmy Carter#Books by Carter}}

• {{Cite book |last=Califano |first=Joseph A. Jr. |author-link=Joseph A. Califano Jr.|date=2007 |orig-date=1981 |title=Governing America: An Insider's Report from the White House and the Cabinet |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5211-6}}
• Carter, Jimmy (1977). [https://archive.org/details/whynotbest00cart Why Not the Best?].
• Carter, Jimmy (1982). Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President; [https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Faith-President-Jimmy-Carter/dp/0553050230/ excerpt]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108053822/https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Faith-President-Jimmy-Carter/dp/0553050230 |date=January 8, 2016 }}.
• Carter, Jimmy (1978–1981). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977. Annual compilation of all his public documents.
• Carter, Jimmy (2001). An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood. [https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Before-Daylight-Memories-Boyhood/dp/0743211995/ Excerpt]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808060049/https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Before-Daylight-Memories-Boyhood/dp/0743211995/ |date=August 8, 2022 }}.
• Carter, Jimmy (2002). [https://archive.org/details/nobelpeaceprizel0000cart The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture: Delivered in Oslo on December 10, 2002].
• Carter, Jimmy (2003). Negotiation: The Alternative To Hostility; [https://www.amazon.com/Negotiation-Carl-Vinson-Memorial-Lecture/dp/086554882X/ excerpt]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830060621/https://www.amazon.com/Negotiation-Carl-Vinson-Memorial-Lecture/dp/086554882X |date=August 30, 2022 }}.
• Carter, Jimmy (2005). Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. [https://www.amazon.com/Our-Endangered-Values-Americas-Crisis/dp/0743284577/ Excerpt]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810185448/https://www.amazon.com/Our-Endangered-Values-Americas-Crisis/dp/0743284577 |date=August 10, 2023 }}.
• Carter, Jimmy (2006). [https://archive.org/details/palestinepeaceno00cart Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid].
• Carter, Jimmy (2007). [https://archive.org/details/beyondwhitehouse0000cart_c2f5 Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope].
• Carter, Jimmy (2011). [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312577193 White House Diary].
• Carter, Jimmy (2015). [https://archive.org/details/fulllifereflecti0000cart_c1q5 A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety].
• {{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=Hamilton |date=1982 |title=Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter Presidency |publisher=Putnam |isbn=978-0-399-12738-0}}
• {{Cite book |last=Lance |first=Bert |date=1991 |title=The Truth of the Matter: My Life In and Out of Politics |url=https://archive.org/details/truthofmattermyl0000lanc |url-access=registration |publisher=Summit |isbn=978-0-671-69027-4}}

{{sister project links|d=Q23685|c=Category:Jimmy Carter|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=

Author:James Earl Carter|wikt=no|species=no}}

• [https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/ Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum]
• [https://www.cartercenter.org/ The Carter Center]
• [https://www.nps.gov/jica/index.htm Jimmy Carter National Historic Site]
• [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/james-carter/ White House biography]
• {{C-SPAN|2484}}
• {{IMDb name| 0141699}}
• {{discogs artist|Jimmy Carter (5)}}

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