The state of Georgia, the nation and the world lost a remarkable human being Sunday night.
President James Earl Carter Jr., whose improbable rise from peanut farmer to president, died at 100, joining his beloved Rosalynn.
America’s 39th president leaves behind a legacy of service, honor and decency.
Before he was president, Jimmy Carter served the people of Georgia. He took office under the Gold Dome in 1971, declaring, “I believe I know our people of this state as well as anyone could. Based on this knowledge of Georgians; north and south, rural and urban, liberal and conservative, I say to you quite frankly, that the time of racial discrimination is over.”
President Carter always led with character.
Though critics and the history books might quibble with his policy decisions or the effectiveness of his presidency, no one can challenge Carter’s tireless commitment to leaving the world a better place for the next generation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has covered Carter’s life and legacy for two-thirds of a century, from the peanut farms of Plains, to the Georgia state Senate, to the Governor’s Mansion to the White House and the world stage. We have had a front-row seat to the entirety of his remarkable life. The earliest known mention of Carter in our coverage was in 1938, when he was barely a teenager.
As his years advanced and his health declined, our team documented Carter’s dignified final days, redefining the humanity of hospice care, cherishing his time with his beloved bride of 77 years and celebrating his 100th birthday.
After The AJC broke the news of the president’s death, reporters, editors, photographers and producers came together to call sources, write updates, craft headlines — all to get the news to our audiences urgently and comprehensively. In the coming days and weeks, our team will continue to shed light on the ways that Carter mattered to Georgia, to America and to the world.
As the world mourns, we have compiled decades of in-depth coverage of President Carter’s life and his legacy for our subscribers.
AJC readers will find:
Dispatches from the President’s hometown of Plains
Tributes from across Atlanta and Georgia
Exclusive commentary from presidential historian Jon Meacham
Decades of cartoons, including from Pulitzer Prize-winner Mike Luckovich
A special edition of the Politically Georgia Podcast
And, as the president takes his final journey across the country, from Plains to Atlanta to Washington, where he will lie in state in the Capitol before returning home again, our reporters will be there to document it all.
We hope you will join us as we honor the life and times of America’s 39th president.
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