President Jimmy Carter
The Early Years
Jimmy Carter was born at Wise Hospital in Plains, Georgia. He was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital.
At age four, Carter's family moved to a farm in Archery, Georgia, where he grew up. Throughout his childhood, Carter helped on the farm. He attended elementary and high school in Plains. In 1943, he began attending the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating 59th in a class of 820 in June 1946. Carter initially intended to make a career in the Navy. He first served as an electronics instructor aboard the battleships *Wyoming* and *Mississippi*. He then attended submarine school, where he graduated third in his class. In 1951, he joined the nuclear submarine program and was chosen to become an engineering officer aboard the *Sea Wolf*, one of the first nuclear-powered submarines. In 1953, Carter resigned from the Navy to manage the family business after his father's death.
Under Carter’s leadership, the family’s peanut business prospered. In 1962, he ran for the Georgia legislature and became a state senator, a position he held until 1967. In 1966, he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. However, in 1970, he ran again for governor and won. His term as governor is best remembered for his efforts to combat racial discrimination in Georgia.
Carter was a reform-minded governor who successfully introduced a wide range of changes to Georgia’s government. He was the first candidate to announce his bid for the Democratic nomination for president.
Accomplishments in Office
On President Carter's first day in office, he pardoned all the draft evaders of the Vietnam War.
Carter had won his election campaign as an outsider and came to Washington intent on using that to his advantage. Unfortunately, he found that this made almost all his activities more difficult. He proposed an ambitious energy program, only to see it severely watered down in Congress. Carter was instrumental in concluding a treaty to turn over the Panama canal to the Panamanians, but he was forced to commit enormous political capital, getting Congress to approve.
Carter's largest success was his successful negotiations of the Camp David Peace agreement, between Israel and Egypt. His success at the Camp David underlaid his greatest strength that ultimately became one of his greatest weakness. President Carter had tremendous personal tenacity in dealing with issues, and became involved in all the details. That allowed him to succeed at Camp David. However, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a significant event that destroyed what was left of detente, and the Iranian seizure of American Hostages, dominated all other government activities in Carter's last year in office, insuring his defeat to Ronald Reagan.
The First Family
Father: James Earl Carter, Sr.
Mother: Lillian Gordy Carter
Wife: Rosalyn Smith
Daughter: Ann Lynn
Sons: John William, James Earl, Jeffery
Major Events
Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel
The Cabinet
Secretary of State: Cyrus Vance
Secretaries of The Treasury: W. Michael Blumenthal, G. William Miller
Secretary of Defense: Harold Brown
Attorney Generals: Griffin Bell, Benjamin Civiletti
Secretary of The Interior: Cecil Andrus
Secretary of Agriculture: Robert Bergland
Secretary of Commerce: Juanita Kreps
Secretary of Labor: F. Ray Marshall
Secretaries of Health, Ed., and Welfare: Joseph Califano, Patricia Robert Harris
Secretaries of Housing & Urban Dev.: Patricia Robert Harris, Moon Landrieu
Secretaries of Transportation: Brock Adams, Neil Goldschmidt
Secretaries of Energy: James Schlesinger, Charles Duncan, Jr.
Secretary of Education: Shirley Hufstedler
?Military
Attempted freeing hostages in Iran.
Did You Know?
First President from Georgia.
First President to be born in a hispital.
First President to graduate from the Naval Academy.
Inaugural Address