Jimmy Carter celebrates 95 anniversary, breaking record for longevity among US presidents

Former President Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 95th birthday - the first former US president to reach this milestone. In his later years, Carter continues his humanitarian work and occasionally returns to politics and political debate almost 40 years after leaving office.

Carter was the 39 president of the United States, serving the country from 1977 to 1981 year. He still lives in the tiny town of Plains, Georgia. The former American leader did not plan public celebrations, writes Time.

The 39 president, born in the 1924 year and raised during the Great Depression, only recently admitted that it is difficult for him to walk after a hip replacement surgery in May. But he continues to work actively with programs at the post-presidential center that he and Rosalynne Carter opened in Atlanta in 1982. Carter still teaches at Sunday School at the Baptist Church. The Carters are planning to head to Nashville, Tennessee later this week to help build homes for the needy with the Habitat for Humanity.

Carter survived cancer in the 2015 year and this spring became the longest-lived US president in history, surpassing George W. Bush, who died in the 2018 year. Rosalynn Carter, now 92 of the year, is one of the longest-lived first ladies. The couple have been married for 73 years.

On the subject: Jimmy Carter broke the record for longevity among US presidents

In recent public appearances, the former president has created the impression of a man still striving to preserve his legacy, reinforcing criticism of US military spending and wars, negatively speaking about growing money in US politics and calling for action to tackle the climate crisis. He expressed particular pride that the United States did not participate in any foreign wars during his tenure.

“I just want to keep the world at peace,” Carter said during his annual Carter Center talk.

“We have been at war for over 226 years. We have been at peace for about 16 years,” he said of the United States since independence in 1776. Carter argued that every military conflict in the United States from the Korean War onwards was a war of “choice.”

“The United States is very inclined to go to war,” Carter said, calling it in part “a mechanism by which we can implement American policies ... in other countries.” A Naval Academy graduate and World War II veteran, Carter believes presidents support this war cycle in part because "we make heroes" out of wartime commanders.

Carter did not support anyone publicly at the presidential primaries in the Democratic Party, although some candidates urge the former president to do so. But he says re-election of Donald Trump will be a “disaster."

Carter said he voted for Bernie Sanders and is warning Democrats this time not to go too far. He noted that supporting government-run health insurance could cost the party votes. It would seem that this excludes Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but Carter noted that he would like to see a woman president. He also once made a remark about age, saying that at 80 years old (at that time) he would not have been able to cope with “the responsibilities that I experienced as president.” This could be a reference not only to Sanders, 78, but also to the more moderate former Vice President Joe Biden, 76. Warren is 70 years old.

Among the two possible candidates that could meet Carter's stated priorities for the party may be the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigic and the 59-year-old Senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobushar. Carter did not give any indication of whom he would support, only explaining that he would “vote for the Democrats” in the general election.

On the subject: Unfamiliar President: Jimmy Carter showed his simple life after the presidency

Despite the fact that he clearly declares his desire to vote next year, Carter is realistic about the fact that he is already 95, he was born when the Earth’s population was only a quarter of the current, and the average life expectancy of an American man was only 58 years.

Carter also noted that he wants to live long enough to declare the eradication of Guinea worm disease, a parasitic infection caused by poor drinking water. In 1986, there were 21 million cases of the disease in 3,5 countries - and then the Carter Center began a program to eradicate the disease. In 2018, only 28 cases were reported worldwide.

The former president told the Carter Center audience that he plans to start devoting more time to his family.

“This may be our last conversation with you,” Carter said. “We might talk again next year, or maybe not.”

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