Jimmy Carter, longest-lived president in the U.S. history, celebrated his 100th birthday
The Gerontology Research Group is pleased to announce that Mr. James Carter who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, celebrated his 100th birthday in Plains, Georgia, USA on 1 October 2024, becoming the first U.S. president who turned 100. Carter is the oldest living former U.S. president and the longest-lived president in U.S. history.
Biography
Jimmy Carter was born as James Earl Carter Jr. on a farm in Plains, Georgia, USA on 1 October 1924, to Bessie Lillian (née Gordy) Carter and James Earl Carter Sr.
On 5 June 1946, at the age of 21, Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. On 7 July, he married Rosalynn Carter (née Smith). The couple had four children together, and they remained married until Rosalynn’s death on 19 November 2023. In 1949, Carter joined the U.S. Navy. The following year, he was assigned to fight in the Korean War. Carter survived the war and returned home to his family safe and sound.
In 1970, Carter was elected as the 76th Governor of Georgia, taking office on 12 January 1971. He had previously run for election to the governorship in 1966 but was defeated in the Democratic primary. On 20 January 1977, Carter became the 39th president of the United States following his victory in the 1976 U.S. presidential election.
On 28 October 1995, at the age of 71, Carter threw the first pitch during Game 6 of the World Series.
On 6 October 2019, at the age of 95, Carter fell at his home in Plains, Georgia. The fall fractured his pelvis, which resulted in him going to the hospital. Carter also had a black eye, and received 16 stitches as a result of the fall.
In February 2023, at the age of 98, Carter entered hospice care, following a series of short hospital stays.
1969 UFO sighting incident
In 1969, on an unknown date, Jimmy Carter was soon to deliver a speech at a Lions Club meeting, and at about 7:15 pm, one of the guests at the meeting called his attention to a strange, bright white object. The object was located to their west and was reported to have been 30 degrees above the horizon. The strange object moved toward them and stopped by a grouping of pine trees. Before slowly retreating, the object had repeatedly changed colors, with an alteration to blue, to red, and finally back to its original white color. Carter later recounted that the incident lasted 10–12 minutes, and was witnessed by 10–12 people. The sighting would later be known as the “Jimmy Carter UFO incident”.
1979 rabbit incident
President Jimmy Carter took a vacation to Plains, Georgia, in April 1979. On the 20th of April, whilst Jimmy Carter was fishing in his boat, a swamp rabbit began to swim towards him. With flared nostrils, the rabbit let out a violent hiss. Carter successfully utilized his paddle to scare the rabbit away by splashing water. The rabbit, bothered by the noise of the splashing, changed course and made its way out of the pond. Carter, who suffered no injury, believed the rabbit was running away after being chased by a predator.
1979 assassination attempt
On 5 May 1979, ten minutes before President Jimmy Carter was to give a speech, secret service agents arrested a man with a starter pistol named Raymond Lee Harvey. He was arrested at the Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles, California. According to multiple sources, Harvey had a lengthy record of mental illness, but the police were obliged to investigate his claim that he was one of a four-person operation to assassinate the president. Harvey was put in jail with a $50,000 bond and later released due to a lack of evidence.
