Jimmy Carter Turns 100: Joe Biden And Others Honor 39th President’s Milestone

Jimmy Carter passed the century mark today, the first president to so, with Joe Biden and other former presidents honoring the Nobel Prize winner and human rights advocate.

On his 100th birthday, Carter is in hospice care and confined to his modest Plains, GA home, but in recent months, “he’s really gotten re-engaged with the world,” his grandson, Jason Carter, told The New York Times. His grandson has said that Carter wanted to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election.

A concert is planned this evening in the town, and a concert taped last month, featuring artists including the B-52s, Chuck Leavell and D-Nice, will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting tonight and also will be available for streaming.

The Carter Center also is encouraging people to contribute to a digital mosaic of Carter’s life.

At the White House, a display was set up on the north lawn, with the number “100,” and the message, “Happy Birthday President Carter.”

“Your hopeful vision for our country, your commitment to a better world, and you unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continues to be a guiding light for all of us,” Biden said in a video message to Carter on Sunday.

President Barack Obama said, “I have always admired President Carter for many things — his accomplishments in the White House. His incredible impact since leaving office. His fundamental decency.”

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also sent in tributes to the concert event.

Carter is the longest living U.S. president in history, and has had the longest post-presidency.

Biden was one of the first Capitol Hill lawmakers to endorse Carter for his 1976 presidential run. With one term as Georgia governor, Carter was an unknown on the national stage, but ended up defeating a field of Democratic party stalwarts, including Henry Jackson and Mo Udall, in the primary. Carter went on to defeat President Gerald Ford in the November election.

Carter himself was defeated after one-term by Ronald Reagan, who ushered in a new era of conservatism. But Carter began a new chapter in his post-presidency devoted to human rights, resolving conflicts and fighting disease, as well as election integrity. He was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 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’s wife, Rosalynn, died last year after 77 years of marriage, another record for presidential spouses.