Jimmy Carter.Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
On his 98th birthday,Jimmy Carterhas once again set a new record as the longest-living United States president.
He’s held the title since March of 2019, months after the previous title holder — PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush—died at the age of 94.
Jason Carter, grandson of the former first couple who currently serves as president of the Carter Center board of trustees, tells PEOPLE he’s not surprised that his grandfather would still bepolitically engagedas he approaches 100 years old.
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“As the longest-living president in U.S. history, President Jimmy Carter has had a remarkable life of service that deserves worldwide celebration,” said Paige Alexander, the Carter Center CEO, in a statement.
Jimmy Carter Library
Until the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the Carters spent a week each year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. For many of those years, Jimmy also taught Sunday school classes in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, a small rural area with a population in the hundreds.
As President Carter continues feeling blessed for the full life he’s had, his hard-to-beat record as the longest-living U.S. president is a reminder of the man on the other end of the spectrum — PresidentJohn F. Kennedy— who had the shortest life of anyone who worked from the Oval Office, being fatally shot in 1963 at the age of 46.
source: people.com
