Former President Jimmy Carter Receiving Hospice Care at Home at 98 Years Old

Former President Jimmy Carter is receiving hospice care at his home, the Carter Center announced Saturday, after a series of short hospital stays.[0] The 98-year-old Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, is the longest-living former president in U.S. history.[1]

“He has the full support of his family and his medical team,” the Carter Center said in a statement.[2] The Carter family requests privacy at this time and appreciates the support expressed by their many fans.[3]

In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by a selection committee that praised him “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”[4]

Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center in 1982 in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.[5] The center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care.[6]

When the 1976 election cycle began, Carter was a relatively unknown Georgia governor who decided to run for president.[7] In 1976, he managed to overcome then-President Gerald R. Ford, gaining an advantage as a non-Washingtonian in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that caused Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.[7]

In August 2015, Carter underwent a surgical procedure to have a small cancerous mass taken out of his liver.[7] In the year that followed, Carter declared that he no longer needed any kind of treatment, as an experimental medication had eradicated all traces of cancer.[7]

In October, Carter celebrated his birthday in Plains, the small Georgia town he and his wife Rosalynn were born in between the World Wars I and II. Family and friends were present to share the special occasion.[7]

The Carter family has our prayers at this time. We hope that President Carter's decades of service to Georgia, America, and the world bring peace to all.

0. “Former US President Jimmy Carter begins hospice care at home” Al Jazeera English, 19 Feb. 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/19/former-us-president-jimmy-carter-enters-hospice-care-at-home

1. “Jimmy Carter, 98, opts for hospice care after string of hospital visits” The Guardian US, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/18/jimmy-carter-hospice-care-health

2. “Former President Jimmy Carter to Enter Hospice Care” TMZ, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.tmz.com/2023/02/18/former-president-jimmy-carter-to-enter-hospice-care/

3. “Secret Service spokesman tells Jimmy Carter agency will be ‘forever by your side'” New York Post , 19 Feb. 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/02/19/secret-service-tells-hospice-bound-jimmy-carter-agency-will-be-forever-by-your-side/

4. “Former president Jimmy Carter opts for home hospice care for final days” The Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/18/jimmy-carter-hospice-care/

5. “Jimmy Carter, an LGBTQ+ Ally, to Begin Receiving Hospice Care” Advocate.com, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.advocate.com/news/jimmy-carter-hospice

6. “Statement on President Carter's Health” The Carter Center, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-on-president-carters-health.html

7. “Jimmy Carter to receive hospice care at home following series of hospital stays” WBAL TV Baltimore, 19 Feb. 2023, https://www.wbaltv.com/article/jimmy-carter-to-receive-hospice-care-at-home-following-series-of-hospital-stays/42968892