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Jimmy Carter becomes the first president ever to live to be 100 years old
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Jimmy Carter becomes the first president ever to live to be 100 years old

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Former Democrat President Carter turns 100 years old on Tuesday, earning the distinction of being the first president to ever live an entire century.

Carter, the nation’s 39th president, was a man of several firsts. He was the first American president to be born in a hospital, was the first Naval Academy graduate to become president, and was the first president to make a formal state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa, among other things. Now Carter is the first American president in history to live to be 100 years old.

Carter remains under hospice care in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he has lived since the height of his presidency in 1981. This coming February, he will mark two years in hospice care for the former president who outlived his wife, Rosalynn. She died last year at the age of 96.

JIMMY CARTER’S GRANDSON SAYS FORMER PRESIDENT ‘COMING TO THE END’

Former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn are shown taking a walk in their hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Former President Carter and his wife Rosalynn are shown taking a walk in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. (Matt McClain/Washington Post via Getty Images/File)

“It’s funny, President Carter has accomplished so much and rarely fails. But the one thing he’s not good at is hospice,” said Jill Stuckey, a family friend of the Carters for more than 30 years and the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter Plains National Historical Park. ‘He lives, and we are so happy about that. So if he wasn’t good at anything, we’re glad it’s a hospice.”

When asked what Stuckey thought set Carter apart from other former presidents who lived to old age, she said it was “tenacity.”

“He and Mrs. Carter were concerned about living as long as possible and being as healthy as possible so they could help as many people as possible,” Stuckey told Fox News Digital. “They’ve eaten well every meal. They’ve exercised every day. They’re just relentless in taking care of themselves so that they can live as long as they can to take care of others. And that’s what President Carter proves today: that all Those things make a difference.”

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Stuckey said events commemorating Carter’s 100th birthday have been taking place in Plains since Saturday, when the city held its annual peanut festival.

“We celebrate peanut harvest season here in Plains, and it coincides with President Carter’s birthday every year, so we kind of combine them,” Stuckey said.

A float moves down Main Street during the 26th annual Plains Peanut Festival ahead of former President Carter's birthday on Oct. 1.

A float moves down Main Street during the 26th annual Plains Peanut Festival ahead of former President Carter’s birthday on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

She also indicated that several other events commemorating his birthday will take place in Plains on Tuesday, on Carter’s birthday, including a naturalization ceremony for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, attended by both Jimmy and Rosalynn.

After the ceremony, there will be a flyover in honor of the former president, organized with the help of Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. In the late afternoon, Plains will also host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new statues dedicated to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Meanwhile, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in celebration of Carter’s birthday, volunteers gathered to build 30 new homes in five days. Participants reportedly included country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

“You are one of the most influential statesmen in our history,” President Biden said in a video released Tuesday ahead of Carter’s birthday.

This weekend, Grand Ole Opry member and country legend Charlie McCoy performed a special rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” in honor of the former president.

WHY JIMMY CARTER IS THE FATHER OF THE POST PRESIDENTATE, SAW THE POWER OF HIS STATUS

Snow covers a statue of former President Carter on March 21, 2023 in Rapid City, SD

Snow covers a statue of former President Carter on March 21, 2023 in Rapid City, SD (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

“I remember the first time I saw him, and I was in awe, and that feeling has always been there. You can be around presidents all the time, but the first time is the most meaningful,” says Cathie Skoog, a former member of the White House Communications Office. ‘He didn’t care what people thought. He did what he thought was right for the country.”

Carter’s presidency was marked by efforts to protect the environment, promote human rights and propel the American education system to new heights. Carter overhauled the civil service, deregulated the airline industry to boost competition and created the Departments of Energy and Education. It was also the Carter administration that required both seat belts and air bags in cars.

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However, Carter’s presidency was also marked by trials, including high inflation, an energy crisis and failed negotiations to secure the release of dozens of American hostages captured in Iran. Carter’s Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, ultimately resigned in protest of the administration’s handling of the hostage crisis.

Amid the Iranian revolution underway at the time, oil prices in the US rose significantly. In July 1979, Carter blamed Americans, discouraged by rising inflation and the energy crisis, for the country’s loss of confidence.

“The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us,” Carter said in his speech. “For the first time in our country’s history, a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the last five years. Two-thirds of our people don’t even vote. The productivity of American workers has actually fallen, and Americans’ willingness to save for the future has fallen below that of everyone else in the Western world.”

“We must face the truth, and then we can change our course,” he continued. “We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves and faith in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and trust in America is now the most important task before us.”