Carter, who was the oldest living president, is remembered for brokering some massive agreements, plus tackling inflation that plagued the economy during the late 1970s.
Carter, who was the oldest living president, is remembered for brokering some massive agreements–including the Panama Canal treaties and the Camp David Accords, in 1978–along with tackling inflation that plagued the U.S. economy during the late 1970s. But lingering inflation, and his handling of Iran’s seizure of U.S. embassy staff and holding them hostage, contributed to his election loss in 1980. Yet he was awarded the 2002 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.” Born on Oct. 1, 1924 in the rural town of Plains, Georgia, James Earl Carter Jr. grew up with two sisters and one brother. His father, James Earl Carter Sr., was a politician and businessman, while his mother, Lillian Carter, was a nurse. The Carters moved to the sprawling 360-acre family farm in 1928, which would become an emblem in the future president’s campaign. Carter became involved in the family business at an early age: At just five years old, he sold boiled peanuts within his community He studied engineering at Georgia Southwestern College, later transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology and, by 1943, enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy. Three years later, he married the love of his life, Rosalynn Smith, and, that same year, graduated with distinction from the Naval Academy with a science degree. Carter then served in the Navy for six years where he eventually worked in the emerging nuclear submarine program.
But when Carter’s father died in 1953, he was honorably discharged and returned to his native Plains along with the rest of his family to manage the family farm and peanut warehousing business. Back on the farm, Carter saw a cost-savvy strategy in growing peanut seeds on his own rather than sourcing them from other suppliers, as was done previously. The money saved allowed him to expand the business beyond peanuts to include other crops, such as corn and cotton, which also helped spur the family warehouse business. That enterprise was known as Carter’s Warehouse, which sold anything from peanut seeds to fertilizer. His agriculture business even sold insurance and its value would grow exponentially over the years and ballooning to a couple million in sales decades later. The Carter family grew along with the business. Jimmy and Rosalynn raised four children: a trio of sons, John, James, and Donnel, and one daughter, Amy.
Carter entered politics in the mid 1960s, making his debut as Georgia’s state senator in 1963 on the Democrat ticket. In 1966, he launched his first campaign to become the state’s governor, but was unsuccessful. Second time was the charm: He became Georgia’s governor in 1971 and would serve a full term. His governorship focused on racial equality and improving how the state government operated, including a consolidation of about 265 state agencies into 20. Carter then set his sights on the presidency in December, 1974, and campaigned for two years. He clinched the Democratic nomination, which put him head-to-head against Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who struggled to deal with inflation, the same issue that would weigh on his successor. Carter prevailed, snagging nearly 1.7 million more votes than Ford, and became the 39th President in January, 1977. “People would ask me how I could stand the long campaigning, how I could stand being charged with the responsibilities of a great nation, one of the most powerful and difficult jobs in the world,” Carter said. “It wasn’t any more difficult than picking cotton all day or shaking peanuts.”
Carter’s business acumen certainly shaped his presidency, which might explain his great focus on small businesses. He was tuned in to the challenges business owners faced (which are not too unlike the challenges business see today): access to capital, inflation, bureaucratic red tape, and unique challenges female founders and minority business owners encounter. “[T]oo often in the past the Federal government has been insensitive to the needs and concerns of small business,” Carter said in a Small Business Message to Congress. “It is essential, not just for the sake of the small businessmen and businesswomen of America, but for the economic welfare of the Nation as a whole, that the voice of small business be heard and heeded.” Under the Carter Administration, small business lending jumped 72 percent within a year: Small Business Administration loans hit $3.1 billion in 1979, up from $1.8 billion the year before. Buying goods and services from minority business owners was another focus of his administration. The federal government, bought $2.5 billion in goods from minority entrepreneurs in 1979, up from $1.1 billion the year before.
Carter also signed legislation that reduced the long-term capital gains tax to 28 percent from 49 percent, and lowered corporate income taxes. He implemented a paperwork reduction program as well to help businesses save time when completing federal forms. At a macro-level, he worked to taper inflation and unemployment while trying to grow the economy. In taking office, Carter transferred the family farm and business to be managed by a blind trust. He paid dearly for it. Because of how the trust managed the family farm, Carter left office at 56, he faced a mountain of debt–more than $1 million, or $3.6 million today. So the Carters sold the family business and embraced a new occupation: book writing. Carter had written more than 30 books–ranging from children’s literature to a diary on his presidency and reflections on his life–to help meet his debt obligations. After leaving the White House, Carter opened up the Carter Presidential Center which sought to strengthen democracy and protect human rights. In the fall of 1984, Carter and his wife started building homes with Habitat for Humanity–an effort that continued well into the former president’s 90s. The Carters helped build nearly 4,400 homes over four decades.