Little friends, let me introduce you to James Earl Carter Jr.!
He is an American humanitarian and politician who served as the 39th president of the United States! đ˛!
He is also the oldest living former president.
So, let us explore some amazing facts about the life and contributions of this amazing person!
Fantastic James Earl Carter Jr. Facts
Jimmy Carter was born in Georgia
Little friends, did you know that Carter was born on October 1, 1924?
He took birth in Plains, Georgia, at the Wise Sanitarium! His mom worked there as a registered nurse!
So, another interesting fact is that Carter became the first American president born in a hospitalđ˛!
Carter was the eldest son of his parents!
His father was, James Earl Carter Sr., and his motherđŠ was Bessie Lillian Gordy.
Carter is also a descendant of Thomas Carter, an English immigrant, who settled in 1935, settled in the Colony of Virginia!
Jimmy Carter was the son of a peanut farmer
Jimmyâs father James Carter Sr. was a peanut farmer.
Despite the Great Depression, Jamesâ peanut empire flourished and had more than 200 employees by the late 1930s.
As Jimmy rose through the political ranks, the family business increased as well. Later, the Carter Farms owned between 2000 and 3000 acres of land when in 1976, he won the presidential electionâď¸!!
Jimmy Carter did not grow up in the lap of luxury
Have you heard this unique fact about Carter? No? Let me tell you.
The early years of James Earl Carter didnât see any great amount of technological progression around him!
His family relocated to Archery, Georgia! It was a town that relied chiefly on mule-drawn wagons for transportation!
It was the time when Carter was just 4 years of age!
There was no electricityđĄ or even plumbing! Carter and his father usually listened to entertainment shows on a battery-operated radio to pass the time!
Jimmy Carter and his education
In 1941, after completing his high school education đfrom Plains High School, Carter became the first member of his fatherâs family to complete high school.
Later, he went to study engineering at Georgia Southwestern Junior College!
After that, he enrolled in the Naval ROTC program!
Naval Career of Jimmy Carter
During the time between 1946 and 1953, the Carters resided in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, California, and New York during his deployments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleetsđ˘!!
He even started officer training in 1948 for submarine duty and served aboard USS Pomfret!
Later in 1949, he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade!
In 1951, Carter was assigned to the diesel/electric USS K-1. There he had the power to command and even served in several positions, along with executive officer! Really impressive, isnât it?
James Earl Carter: His nickname was Jimmy Cardigan
You will be amazed to explore the fact that Carter was the first president to use his nickname when sworn into office!
He used Jimmy instead of James; however, his presidency was marked by another name, Jimmy Cardigan!
He earned the name a mere two weeks into the presidency!
After turning down the heat in the West Wing to save energy amid the crisis, Carter donned a beige cardigan for dinner!
This casual look was definitely a clue into Carterâs dislike of presidential pageantry!
Jimmy Carter caused quite a story with his interview with Playboy
I am really surprised to learn this interesting fact about Carter!
Few, if any, presidential candidates have tried to stir up support by offering an interview in the pagesđ° of Playboy!
However, Carterâs 1976 bid was really an exception!
Just a few weeks before Carter won the election, he admitted to having âcommitted adultery in my heartâ many times!
He even added that he âlooked on a lot of women with lust.â
For rejecting racist beliefs, Carter drew criticism
Carter served in the military after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy!
In 1953, after his fatherâs death, Carter was discharged and settled on the familyâs peanut farm!
There he found that the deeply rooted racial biases of the South were in direct conflict with his own progressive views of integration!
When the residents of the Plains assembled a Council of âWhite Citizensâ to combat anti-discrimination laws, Carter refused to join!
Soon, he started receiving racist remarks; however, he didnât change his views.
Later, when voters wanted to choose someone without biases, Carter was elected to the Georgia State Senate!
Carter may have seen a UFO
Love to know about extra-terrestrial things?? Then like me, you will surely love this amazing secret about Carter!
Before taking office, Carter filed an amazing report with the NICAP or the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
In the year 1969, Carter wrote that he spotted a strange aircraftđ¸ in the sky over Georgiaâs Leary!
It appeared to hover 30 degrees above the horizon prior to disappearing!
Carter even promised that if he got elected, he would release every sealed document collected by the government about UFOs!
Carter never liked the pageantry of the presidency
In the year 1977, when Carter entered the office of the presidency, he made it clear that he believed himself no more elevated in status than his voters!
He even sold the presidential yacht, considering it a symbol of excess.
Moreover, Carter carried his own briefcase and banned workers from playing âHail to the Chiefâ during appearances!
Carter installed solar panels at the White House
Did you know this wonderful fact about Carter?
He spent quite some time and effort promoting renewable energy sources because the world is struggling with a fuel crisis!
To show his commitment, Carter even ordered to install solar panels in 1979 on White House grounds! Amazing, right?
The panels were utilized to heat water on the property.
Later in 1986, Ronald Regan had the panels removed during a roof renovation!
Jimmy Carter was a movie buff who watched over 400 movies while in office
If you love to watch movies like me, then you will surely love this amazing secret about Jimmy Carter!
Carter was a movie buff, and even during his presidency, he watched many movies đŹ!
He even averaged a couple of films a week while in the office.
Among those were Midnight Cowboy (1969), All the Presidentâs Men (1976), and also Caddyshack (1980).
Moreover, Carter even screened 1977âs Star Wars with Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt!
Jimmy Carterâs work with Habitat for Humanity
Carter became quite busy after leaving the office.
Around the year 1984, he and his wife, Rosalyn, started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in and out of Georgia! đ˛!!
They lent their time and effort to create housing for low-income citizens! Quite impressive, right?
Every year, Carters engaged in an annual building effort called the Carter Work Project.
As of 2019, they have worked in 14 different countries and 103,000 volunteers to help build more than 4000 homes!
Jimmy Carter was chased by a rabbit
Little friends, have you heard this fun fact about Jimmy Carter?
Prior to running for re-election in 1980, Carter wanted to take a little time for himself and even enjoy fishing near his home in the Plains.
While in his boatâľ, a wild rabbitđ, being chased by hounds, jumped into the water and swam toward the boat.
With a paddle, Carter shooed the animal away!
Although it was a trivial incident, a photo snapped of Carter flailing at the rabbit, and many editorial cartoons gave people the perception that he was not a good adversary of the Soviet Union!
The 1980 Olympics: Jimmy Carter Boycotted it
After Soviet forces could not heed Carterâs mandate to pull their troops out of Afghanistan, Carter took a radical step! He prevented American athletes from participating in the 1980 Games in Moscow!
It was the first time the nation had failed to participate in the competition.
West Germany, Canada, Japan, and almost 50 other nations flowed Carterâs lead!
In 1984, when the Olympics moved to Los Angeles, it was the Soviet Union, who did not appear!
Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002
Let me tell you an interesting and remarkable fact about Carter!
After many years of humanitarian work, along with a longstanding association with Habitat for Humanity, in 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace PrizeđĽ.
Actually, it was a quarter-century overdue: The Nobel committee wanted to award him the prize in 1978, as he helped broker peace talks between Egypt and Israel!
However, no one had nominated him before the closing of the official deadline!
Carter and his wife Rosalynn, together have made presidential history together
In 1946, Jimmy and Rosalynn đ°ââď¸ got married, and later they celebrated a milestone in 2019!
The Carters are officially the longest presidential marriage on record, which is for almost 73 years! It exceeded the union of George H. W. Bush and Barbara by a measure of days!
Rosalynn Carter worked in several humanitarian works, including serving as a vice chair of Atlantaâs Carter Center!
Know about the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta
Have you heard this interesting fact about Carter?
It was Carterâs express wish that his presidential library would be built in the estate, someday!
The facility houses more than 40 million pages and 1 million photos related to his administration was constructed between 1984 and 1986 in Atlanta!
The location chosen for the library was once embarked for an interstate, which was a plan that Carter once didnât not want to sign off on when he was Georgiaâs governor between 1971 and 1975!
Carterâs presidential accomplishments were focused on fuel and foreign policy
In 1976, after defeating presidential incumbent Gerald Ford, Carter struggled to make his mark by reducing Americaâs dependence on foreign oil!
It decreased to 40 percent from 48 percent by the time he left office in January 1981!
Also, he asked Congress to speed up the deadline for stockpiling 500 million barrels of oil in Americaâs Strategic Petroleum Reserves by two years.
He did this because he believed that it would lessen the impact of any supply disruptions!
Carter was also quite successful in advocating for human rights! He suspended Americaâs aid to nations with a history of violations!
Carter once went into a nuclear reactor
Did you hear this unique yet astonishing fact about Jimmy Carter! No?? Letâs explore.
In the 1950, as a part of Carterâs naval duties, he had to went into a damaged nuclear reactorâ˘ď¸ in Ontarioâs Chalk River! Really interesting, isnât it?
He was a part of a team that went to clean up the reactor! The reason is that the reactor had suffered a meltdown following a power surge, causing radioactive water to gather in its basement!
Carter and his team could restore the reactor and in the process were exposed to a hefty amount of radiation as well!
Jimmy Carter: The oldest president of America
I am really surprised to explore this amazing secret about Carter! Want to know??
We can say that, probably doing good work can increases give people longevity!
In the year 2019, Jimmy Carter turned 95, and became the oldest living former president of the United States of America!
Summing up
Little fact-enthusiasts, now you know a lot about Jimmy Carter! Isnât the person and facts regarding him wonderful?
We have tried to gather as much information about Carter as possibleâŚso that your treasure of knowledge is enhanced!
Hope you like them!!
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my  Next startup Cledemy.Com)
