Carter: longest-living president at 94-plus
Former President Jimmy Carter on Friday became the longest-living president in U.S. history, another milestone as he continues a rich post-presidential life that has spanned nearly four decades.
On Friday, Carter, the nation’s 39th president, reached the age of 94 years and 172 days, making him a day older than former President George Bush was when he died in November.
The record comes more than three years after Carter announced he would receive treatment for cancer that had been discovered in his brain.
“I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” Carter said at the time in August 2015; four months later, he said he was cancer free.
In a statement Friday, a spokeswoman for the Carter Center — the Atlanta-based nonprofit that Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded in 1982 — said the former president took fewer long trips than he used to. But the spokeswoman, Deanna Congileo, said Carter “continues to remain engaged in the causes and activities that have marked his post-presidency.”
“He provides vision and assistance for Carter Center programs in global peace and health, participates in Habitat for Humanity builds one week a year, delivers Sunday school lessons in his hometown, Plains, Georgia, teaches at Emory University and much more,” Congileo said.
“He and Mrs. Carter take walks, and they have followed a healthy diet for a lifetime,” she continued. “Both President and Mrs. Carter are determined to use their influence for as long as they can to make the world a better place. Their tireless resolve and heart have helped to improve life for millions of the world’s poorest people.”
Carter, a Democrat born Oct. 1, 1924, promised to heal the country after Watergate only to last one term in office, his re-election chances hurt by a miserable economy and a hostage crisis. But while many in both parties consider Carter a disappointment as president, they generally view him as a model former president. Carter has enjoyed the longest post-presidency in U.S. history after leaving the White House in 1981.
In addition to the activities listed by Congileo, Carter has shared his life story in a series of books; doled out advice about diet, exercise and the foundations of a meaningful life; and guided the Carter Center toward a series of public health achievements.
In July 2017, Carter was hospitalized for dehydration while, at 92, he had been leading his annual Habitat for Humanity building project. A few months later he joined the other four living former U.S. presidents on a Texas stage to help raise money for hurricane recovery efforts. And last year, he attended Bush’s state funeral at Washington National Cathedral.