Jimmy Carter ‘can’t wait’ to vote for Kamala Harris, grandson tells Democratic National Convention
Jimmy Carter was 39th president of the U.S., only chief executive to hail from Georgia
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Jason Carter told the Democratic National Convention crowd Tuesday night his grandfather, former President Jimmy Carter, can’t wait to cast his vote for Kamala Harris in November.
Jason Carter served in the Georgia State Senate from 2010 to 2015. In 2014, he was the Democratic party’s nominee for the governor’s race in Georgia. Then-incumbent Nathan Deal won that election.
His grandfather, Jimmy Carter — 99, the only U.S. president to hail from Georgia and whose historic post-presidency set a standard of activism and advocacy unsured in American history — continues to receive hospice care more than a year after the Carter Center made that announcement.
“His legacy is measured by the lives he has touched and the good he has done,” Jason said of his grandfather. “Kamala Harris carries my grandfather’s legacy. She knows what is right and she fights for it.”
Jason told the DNC crowd the former president says he wishes he could attend and that while his body may be weak, his spirit is strong.
“My grandfather can’t wait to vote for Kamala Harris,” Jason said.
>> WATCH BELOW:
Jimmy Carter’s last public appearance was in November 2023 at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral; the former first lady ed away at the age of 96, only days after entering hospice care herself.
In late May, the Carter Center announced Mrs. Carter was experiencing dementia. The announcement came months after the center announced Jimmy Carter was entering hospice care.
On Oct. 17, 2019, having married 26,765 days, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter became the longest-married presidential couple in history (George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush previously held the record).
The couple’s last public appearance together was at the annual Plains Peanut Festival in October 2023.
Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Ga., a small farming town located about 150 miles south of downtown Atlanta. He grew up in the nearby community of Archery.
Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before heading to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1946. While serving in the Navy, he became a submariner and rose to the rank of lieutenant.
On July 7, 1946, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. Seven years later, he resigned from the Navy and returned to Georgia. Carter was an active member of the community and eventually entered the political world in 1962, when he was elected to the Georgia Senate.
Four years later, he would run for governor, but lost in a primary to the eventual winner, Lester Maddox. Carter would try again four years later, and this time, would cruise to an easy victory over Republican Hal Suit. He was sworn in as Georgia’s 76th governor on Jan. 12, 1971.
Exactly three years to the date of his inauguration into the governor’s mansion, Carter announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He would go on to win the Democratic nomination in 1976 and was elected on Nov. 2, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Gerald Ford.
The first — and still only — president from Georgia capped off the day by walking in the inauguration parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, something never seen from a just-inaugurated president.
Carter’s rise to the White House ranks as one of the most unlikely political victories in U.S. history. He was virtually unknown to the country, and campaigned on a promise to never tell a lie.
Carter was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1977, but would only serve one term in office. He was defeated soundly in the 1980 election by Republican Ronald Reagan.
While some presidents ride off into the sunset after serving in office, Carter was just getting started. In 1982, Carter became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta and founded the Carter Center.
In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
Carter taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for nearly four decades. Thousands of people from all over the world would line up outside the small church to hear his ministry over the years. Some say Carter knew the Bible better than any president since Abraham Lincoln.
Carter was diagnosed with cancer in August 2015 at age 91 after having surgery to remove a lesion on his liver. After having the surgery, Carter announced the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. Later that year, the Carter Center said he had been cleared of the disease.
Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
