The 39th president Jimmy Carter is gold plating his place as America longest-lived commander-in-chief by celebrating his 100th birthday today.
He is the first US president to live for an entire century – and, in the course of his long life, Carter has seen the world transform: the population of the US has tripled, the internet was invented and there have been 16 presidents, not including himself.
He was 15 when World War II broke out, 38 for the grand opening of the first ever Walmart, and 45 when man first walked on the moon.
And many of the most remarkable events to take place in that time were in part thanks to him: He was a proponent of the civil rights movement; he doubled the size of America's national parks; and he also created the government Departments for Education and Energy.
From his humble beginning as a peanut farmer's son, he rose through the ranks of the Navy and politics, serving as a state senator, governor and then as president from 1977 to 1981.
So, as Carter marks his birthday today at his home in Plains, Georgia – the same town where he was born in 1924 – we look back on his extraordinary life in pictures.
Carter was born on October 1 in Plains, Georgia, the eldest child of Bessie Lillian Gordy and James Earl Carter Sr. His mother worked as a registered nurse and he was the first ever US president to be born in a hospital. His father ran a general store in their 600-person town and invested in farmland, on which he grew peanuts. Carter had one brother and two sisters.
The family moved several times when he was young, but Carter attended Plains High School from 1937 to 1941. He was a hard worker and it is rumored he was even in the running for valedictorian but was passed over when he skipped school with his friends. Pictured here in 1937 with his dog, Bozo.
Carter, in the number 10 jersey, had many hobbies: he played on the school basketball team, despite being only 5'9", loved reading and also joined the Future Farmers of America where he developed a passion for woodworking.
After leaving school, he set his sights on Naval college. He worked his way through Georgia Southwestern College and then the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he took part in a Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He was then appointed to the highly-competitive Naval Academy, in Maryland, and graduated in 1946.
While he was at the Academy he fell in love with Rosalynn Smith. The pair had actually known each other for most of their lives as Carter's mother had delivered Rosalynn in the Plains local hospital. Their families were friendly and Rosalynn was particularly close with Carter's younger sister Ruth. But it was only when Carter returned home in the summer before his final year at the academy that he asked Rosalynn out on a whim. They went to the cinema and he would later say he knew he had met his future wife. They dated long distance and married on July 7, 1947. Pictured here together with his mother (right) at his graduation from the US Naval Academy in 1946.
After their marriage, the Carters (pictured here in 1946) moved around the US going wherever the Navy needed Jimmy: living in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York and California. He trained for submarine duty and started working with the fledgling nuclear submarine program. Their first child, John, was born in Virginia in 1947, followed by James in 1950, Donnel in 1952 and Amy - much later in 1967.
In December 1952, Carter was involved in decommissioning a nuclear reactor after it was damaged in an accident and had a partial meltdown. It was so dangerous that each staff member had to be lowered into the reactor in full protective gear for only 90 seconds at a time. Carter's job was to turn a single screw. The experience inspired him to start a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation. Pictured here in 1952.
But when Carter's father died in July 1953, he was given a release from active duty so he could return home to take over the family peanut farm. He convinced Rosalynn to leave New York state (where they were living at the time), and go back to Plains, which she later described as feeling like a 'monumental step backwards'. Together they built up his father's business into a successful enterprise.
Carter began to establish himself in the Plains community, becoming a key figure in the Baptist Church and chairman of the county school board. In 1962, aged 38, he ran successfully for the Georgia State Senate, announcing his campaign just 15 days before the election. He initially lost the vote, but an investigation uncovered a voting fraud against him and he won a re-held vote. Pictured in 1966.
After two terms as state senator, Carter announced he would run for the House of Representatives. However, when one of his main rivals, Bo Callaway, announced he was running for governor instead of for the House, Carter decided to challenge him and ran for governor too. He lost at the Democratic primary and returned to farming while preparing to run again in 1970. Pictured watching the results of the 1970 governor elections come in: Carter won.
Throughout his tenure as governor, Carter prioritized civil rights and integration, he brought in several reforms to schools and communities, setting up centers for mentally disabled children and educational programs for prisoners. In 1972, he was a delegate at the Democratic National Convention and decided to run for president in 1976.
He announced his presidential bid in 1974 at the National Press Club in Washington DC (pictured making the announcement with his daughter Amy, then seven). He ran on a platform of change, marketing himself as a political outsider and setting himself apart from the on-going Watergate scandal. 'I'll never tell a lie,' was one of his favorite slogans. He chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.
Despite a controversial interview in Playboy just weeks before the election - in which Carter bizarrely said he had 'looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times' - he won the election against President Gerald Ford. Carter was 52. Pictured here with his family in 1976.
Carter won the popular vote by 50.1 percent to 48.0 percent, and won 297 electoral votes to Ford's 240.
Carter was inaugurated on January 20, 1977 (pictured). On his second day in office, he issued an executive order giving amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders. He focused on international relations, seeking peaceful solutions to global conflicts, and championed the environment, even installing solar panels on the roof of the White House (in 1979).
Carter initially had very high approval ratings, he focused on energy policy, trying to reduce the US's reliance on foreign oil. But the Iranian Revolution in 1979 markedly drove up gas prices regardless and meant many of his achievements were overshadowed. He stayed fit, running with Rosalynn often around the White House grounds. Pictured jogging on the South Lawn during his presidency.
Carter knew a young Joe Biden when he was a Delaware Senator. Here they are pictured together in February 1978 when Carter was fundraising for Biden in Wilmington during his campaign for a second term as senator.
Despite his efforts, Carter's presidency was widely considered a failure at the time. Amid the nation's growing energy crisis, Americans were not convinced he had made their lives better and he was viewed as a 'weak leader'. Pictured in the Oval office in 1978.
Carter made international human rights a top concern and suspended economic and military aid to Chile, El Salvador, and Nicaragua in protest of abuses. He brokered the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, a historic peace treaty which saw the two countries officially recognize each other's governments. Pictured with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (right) and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat at Camp David.
Carter came under further heavy fire at the end of his presidency, in part for a disastrous 'Crisis of Confidence' speech delivered in July 1979 (pictured) in which he seemed to blame the American people for 'what's wrong with America'. That speech (often referred to as his 'Malaise Speech'), combined with the Iranian Hostage Crisis, which saw 52 Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for 444 days despite a failed rescue mission, severely damaged his reputation. The hostages were finally released on the day he left office in 1981. Carter lost his campaign for re-election against Ronald Reagan.
After leaving the White House, Carter spent time with his family. He now has 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Pictured here with some of his grandchildren attending his surprise 70th birthday party in 1994.
With Rosalynn, he opened The Carter Center in 1982, focusing their work on international human rights issues. The Center has overseen over 110 elections globally, helping to ensure they are run honestly, and has also helped develop healthcare provisions in Africa and Latin America and promoted peace in the Middle East. Pictured in 2000 with Rosalynn at the 200th Anniversary White House Dinner, hosted by then-President Bill Clinton.
In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his 'decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts'. Carter and Rosalynn also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity extensively, raising money and physically laboring on new homes across America. In 2000, pictured, Habitat volunteers built more than 90 homes in Georgia.
Throughout his life, Carter has written 31 books, including several memoirs, nonfiction books about politics and international affairs, poetry, historical fiction and even a children's book. Pictured here with Rosalynn in 2002 after a press conference to talk about accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.
Carter remains a devout Christian and baseball fan. He took up fly-fishing and painting and kept up his running until he was well into his 80s. He taught himself to ski when he was 62 and made his own wine. He also taught Sunday school. Pictured here throwing the first pitch at the home opener of the San Diego Padres in 2004 - he usually supports the Atlanta Braves.
Carter stayed engaged with politics post-presidency, visiting North Korea, Taiwan, Israel and South Africa to advocate, negotiate peace treaties and discuss the release of various prisoners. Here he is pictured with former presidents (from left) George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in 2009.
Carter and Rosalynn visited the White House in 2021 to see President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This photo went quickly viral because the wide-angle lens made them seem much smaller than the Bidens.
Rosalynn developed dementia and died on November 19, 2023, days after she entered hospice care. They had been married 77 years. Carter (pictured at Rosalynn's funeral) has suffered his own health difficulties: he was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and underwent successful treatment. He became the longest-living president aged 94 in 2019, but fell and broke his hip the same year. He started receiving hospice care at home in February of last year. His family say he hopes to vote for Kamala Harris in November's presidential election.