Jimmy Carter at 100: Georgia and the world celebrates the 39th president's birthday
PLAINS, Ga. - Former President Jimmy Carter has reached a historic milestone that no other president has ever achieved: his 100th birthday.
It's the latest achievement in the life of a man who began on a peanut farm in Georgia, went all the way to the White House, and then changed the world with his humanitarianism.
Living the last 19 months in home hospice care in Plains, the Georgia Democrat and 39th president has continued to defy expectations, just as he did through a remarkable rise from his family peanut farming and warehouse business to the world stage. He served one presidential term from 1977 to 1981 and then worked more than four decades leading The Carter Center, which he and his wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to "wage peace, fight disease, and build hope."
"These last few months, 19 months, now that he’s been in hospice, it’s been a chance for our family to reflect," his grandson Jason Carter said, "and then for the rest of the country and the world to really reflect on him. That’s been a really gratifying time."
The former president was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, where he has lived more than 80 of his 100 years. He is expected to mark his birthday in the same one-story home he and Rosalynn built in the early 1960s — before his first election to the Georgia state Senate. The former first lady, also born in Plains, died last November at 96. She is buried near a willow tree on the property.
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The last time Jimmy Carter was seen publicly was nearly a year ago when he appeared at his wife's funeral services - the first at the Carter Center for an event filled with U.S. leaders, the second with his extended family and parishioners at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, where the former president taught Sunday School for decades.
Jason Carter said the 100th birthday celebrations were not something the family expected to see once his grandmother died. The former president’s hospital bed had been set up in the same room so he could see his wife of 77 years and talk to her in her final days and hours.
"We frankly didn’t think he was going to go on much longer," Jason Carter said. "But it’s a faith journey for him, and he’s really given himself over to what he feels is God’s plan. He knows he’s not in charge. But in these last few months, especially, he has gotten a lot more engaged in world events, a lot more engaged in politics, a lot more, just engaged, emotionally, with all of us."
Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday celebrations
Celebrations for Carter's birthday have been going on for weeks. In September, the Carter Center hosted a musical gala in Atlanta to celebrate the former president with a range of genres and artists, including some who campaigned with him in 1976. The event raised more than $1.2 million for the center’s programs.
"He has always loved music. We’ve all been to concerts with them. He’s always, you know, invited people to the White House, even in those days, invited people to the Governor’s Mansion. And has lived his life celebrating with music. So, we figured it was a perfect way to do this unique 100th birthday," Jason Carter said.
Townspeople in Plains have planned another concert for Tuesday evening.
Jason Carter at Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday celebration
Former President Jimmy Carter turns 100 on October 1. Meanwhile, there's a huge crowd at the Fox Theatre ready to celebrate him in advance. Jason Carter, the former president's grandson, spoke to FOX 5 about how the concert is the perfect early birthday gift for his grandfather.
MORE: Jimmy Carter 100: His most notable achievements, things you may not know
Trees Atlanta plans to plant 100 trees at the Carter Center and at the Georgia State Capitol. The first tree will be planted at 10 a.m. at the Georgia State Capitol next to the Jimmy Carter statue. The second will be planted at noon at The Carter Center at the campus entrance.
While the family and Georgia have been focused on Carter's birthday, the former president has had another thing on his mind.
"When we started asking him about his 100th birthday, he said he was excited to vote for Kamala Harris," Jason Carter said.
Early voting in Georgia begins Oct. 15, two weeks into James Earl Carter Jr.'s 101st year.