STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We are expecting more than a week of events to remember the life of Jimmy Carter, who's died at the age of 100.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Biden made a statement about his predecessor, who was elected in 1976.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Millions of people all around the world - all over the world - feel they lost a friend, as well, even though they never met him. That's because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds.
FADEL: Those deeds spread across many decades. His single term in office was remembered for inflation, international unrest and the seizure of American hostages in Tehran. He also made significant changes in the U.S. government that endure to this day. And after leaving the White House, he founded the Carter Center, which promoted health care and monitored elections around the world.
INSKEEP: Let's go back to the beginning of this 100-year story. NPR's Stephen Fowler is in Atlanta, one of the places where Carter will be remembered. Stephen, good morning.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: How did Jimmy Carter emerge on the national scene?
FOWLER: Well, first, Carter was born in this tiny southwest Georgia town called Plains. He joined the Navy. He was a lieutenant, the only U.S. president to have qualified on submarines. And after he left the service, he ran his family's peanut farm. Then he became a state senator, before becoming governor of Georgia. He was a rural, religious white Southerner, but also said in his gubernatorial inaugural address that, quote, "the time for racial discrimination is over." He had an unorthodox campaign style. While he was governor, he befriended popular Georgia musicians like the Allman Brothers, who played concerts for him. And he had a Peanut Brigade of friends and family and volunteers who fanned out across the country to spread his message. Carter's presidential inauguration also came after the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, so many saw him as the right person at the right time for the mood of the American people.
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JIMMY CARTER: So together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.
INSKEEP: He told people he would never lie to them and that he would never duck a controversial issue, but there certainly turned out to be plenty of controversy during his presidency.
FOWLER: Well, that's arguably an understatement, Steve. I mean, there were signature achievements when Carter was in office, like the Camp David Accords that brokered peace between Israel and Egypt. He also did a ton to reorganize how the executive branch operated. He elevated the role of the vice president and did things like establish the Department of Education. But he had issues with Congress. He dealt with rampant inflation and soaring energy costs, and there was also the Iran hostage crisis. Carter faced a shellacking in his reelection campaign, and he left office as one of the most unpopular presidents in history.
INSKEEP: There are historians in more recent times who've argued that his presidency was more successful than it seemed at the time, but the one thing that people seem to agree on now is his post-presidency - more than 40 years long.
FOWLER: He didn't stay in politics, but he didn't shy away from using his platform, either. You could see Jimmy Carter building affordable housing with the Habitat for Humanity nonprofit. He taught at Emory University in Atlanta. And for years, he would speak to first-year students, answering questions about politics and things like, what's your favorite type of peanut butter?
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
FOWLER: But his signature work with the eponymous Carter Center, along with his late wife, Rosalynn, vowed to, quote, "wage peace" through work on democracy, global health, human rights, including effectively eradicating the parasitic disease the Guinea worm in Africa. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
INSKEEP: And now we're going to spend more than a week remembering him. What are the funeral plans?
FOWLER: He'll get a state funeral. It'll be a week-plus of events. President Biden set January 9 as a national day of mourning. And the plans have been in place, and more will be revealed soon - including at the Carter Center here in Atlanta, just down the road from me.
INSKEEP: Stephen, thanks very much. Really appreciate it.
FOWLER: Thank you.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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