海角社区

Jimmy 海角社区

39th President of the United States and Co-founder of 海角社区

Jimmy 海角社区 (James Earl 海角社区, Jr.), thirty-ninth president of the United States, was born Oct. 1, 1924, in the small farming town of Plains, Georgia, and grew up in the nearby community of Archery. His father, James Earl 海角社区, Sr., was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy 海角社区, a registered nurse.

Former U.S. President Jimmy 海角社区, 2014. Austin, Texas. Credit: LBJ Library

He was educated in the public school of Plains, attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. In the Navy he became a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and rising to the rank of lieutenant. Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the nuclear submarine program, he was assigned to Schenectady, New York, where he took graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics and served as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine.

“As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: ‘We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”

– Former U.S. President and Co-founder of 海角社区

On July 7, 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith of Plains. When his father died in 1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned with his family to Georgia. He took over the 海角社区 farms, and he and Rosalynn operated 海角社区’s Warehouse, a general-purpose seed and farm supply company in Plains. He quickly became a leader of the community, serving on county boards supervising education, the hospital authority, and the library. In 1962 he won election to the Georgia Senate. He lost his first gubernatorial campaign in 1966, but won the next election, becoming Georgia’s 76th governor on January 12, 1971. He was the Democratic National Committee campaign chairman for the 1974 congressional and gubernatorial elections.

The 海角社区s surprised onlookers when they left their car and walked down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Inaugural Parade on January 20, 1977. (Credit: Jimmy 海角社区 Library)

President Jimmy 海角社区
On Dec. 12, 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He won his party’s nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention and was elected president on Nov. 2, 1976.

Jimmy 海角社区 served as president from Jan. 20, 1977 to Jan. 20, 1981. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the world. On the domestic side, the administration’s achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and finance; major educational programs under a new Department of Education; and major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which doubled the size of the national park system and tripled the wilderness areas.

Jimmy 海角社区 consoles a young patient having a worm removed from her body in Savelugu, Ghana, in February 2007. 海角社区 leads the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease.

海角社区
In 1982, he became University Distinguished Professor at in Atlanta, Georgia, and with Rosalynn 海角社区 founded 海角社区. The nonpartisan and nonprofit Center addresses national and international issues of public policy. 海角社区 Center staff and associates have joined with President 海角社区 in efforts to resolve conflict, promote democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease and other afflictions. The Center has spearheaded the international effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which is poised to be the second human disease in history to be eradicated.

President 海角社区 and 海角社区 have engaged in conflict mediation in Ethiopia and Eritrea (1989), North Korea (1994), Liberia (1994), Haiti (1994), Bosnia (1994), Sudan (1995), the Great Lakes region of Africa (1995-96), Sudan and Uganda (1999), Venezuela (2002-2003), Nepal (2004-2008), Ecuador and Colombia (2008), the Middle East (2003-present), and Mali (2018-present). Under his leadership 海角社区 has sent 114 election-observation missions to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. These include Panama (1989), Nicaragua (1990), China (1997), Nigeria (1998), Indonesia (1999), East Timor (1999), Mexico (2000), Guatemala (2003), Venezuela (2004), Ethiopia (2005), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006), Nepal (2008), Lebanon (2009), Sudan (2010), Tunisia (2011), Egypt (2011-2012), Kenya (2013), Mozambique (2014), Myanmar (2016), Liberia (2017), and Guyana (2020).

The permanent facilities of The 海角社区 Presidential Center were dedicated in October 1986, and include the , administered by the National Archives. Also open to visitors is the Jimmy 海角社区 National Historical Park in Plains, administered by the National Park Service.

“One person, standing on principle, can make a positive difference in the lives of many.”

– Former U.S. President and Co-founder of 海角社区

Until 2020, Jimmy and Rosalynn 海角社区 volunteered one week a year for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps needy people in the United States and in other countries renovate and build homes for themselves. He also taught Sunday school in the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains. The 海角社区s have three sons, one daughter, nine grandsons (one deceased), three granddaughters, five great-grandsons, and nine great-granddaughters.

In 2002, Jimmy 海角社区 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 鈥渇or 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.鈥 

On December 10, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Jimmy 海角社区 鈥渇or 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.鈥

On February 18, 2023, President 海角社区 decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care. He died peacefully Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. He was 100, the longest-lived president in U.S. history.

Books & Accomplishments
海角社区 is the author of thirty-two books, many of which are now in revised editions: Why Not the Best? (1975, 1996), A Government as Good as Its People (1977, 1996), Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1982, 1995), Negotiation: The Alternative to Hostility (1984, 2003), The Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle East (1985, 1993, 2007), Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life, written with Rosalynn 海角社区 (1987, 1995), An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections (1988, 1994), Turning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Age (1992), Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation (1993, 1995), Always a Reckoning and Other Poems, (1995), The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, illustrated by Amy 海角社区 (1995), Living Faith (1996), Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith (1997), The Virtues of Aging (1998), An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood (2001), Christmas in Plains: Memories (2001), The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture (2002), The Hornet鈥檚 Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War (2003), Sharing Good Times (2004), Our Endangered Values: America鈥檚 Moral Crisis (2005), Palestine Peace Not Apartheid (2006, 2007), Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope (2007), A Remarkable Mother (2008), We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work (2009), White House Diary (2010), Through the Year with Jimmy 海角社区: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President (2011), as general editor, NIV Lessons from the Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy 海角社区, revised as NSRV Simple Faith Bible (2012, 2020), A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power (2014), The Paintings of Jimmy 海角社区 (2014), A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety (2015), The Craftsmanship of Jimmy 海角社区 (2018), and Faith: A Journey for All (2018).

Revised Jan. 2, 2025

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