Jimmy Carterhas officially become the oldest living American president.
Carter, the nation’s 39th president, lives in Plains, Georgia, with his wife of 72 years, Rosalynn Carter, 91.
Despite his advanced age and a cancer diagnosis in recent years, Carter remains active and continues to regularly teach Sunday schoolat his local Maranatha Baptist Church.
“He and Mrs. Carter take walks, and they have followed a healthy diet for a lifetime,” Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileotold CNN.
“Both President and Mrs. Carter are both determined to use their influence for as long as they can to make the world a better place, and millions of the world’s poorest people are grateful for their resolve and heart,” Congileo added.
Carter, who famously worked on his family’s peanut farm before entering into politics, assumed the presidency in 1976. During his one term in office, the Democratic former Georgia governor helped broker a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, but went on to face various foreign policy setbacks.
He lost his bid for re-election to Republican Ronald Reagan.
After leaving office, Carter, who has been nicknamed the “active ex-president,”received the Nobel Peace Prizein 2002, and both he and his wife have continued their work with Habitat for Humanity.
According to the organization’s website, the former president and his wife have been working with Habitat for more than three decades and have helped build, renovate and repair of “more than 4,000 homes.”
Library of Congress/MCT/MCT via Getty
Carter and his wife currently share amodest lifetogether in Georgia, where they live in a $167,000 two-bedroom rancher.
That year, Carter’s pensions, office, staff and other expenses cost the government $456,000 — less than half the $952,000budgeted forGeorge H. W. Bush and the $1 million for former presidentsBill Clinton,George W. BushandBarack Obama.
To this day, Carter continues to teach Sunday School at Marantha Baptist Church, but hascut back his schedulein recent years. Currently, he has only two scheduled dates listed on thechurch’s website: April 14, and 28.
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Although Carter continues to live an active lifestyle — and continuesto speak out against the Trump administration— he has experienced a handful of health problems in his later years.
In 2015, the former president revealed he was diagnosed with cancer after a melanoma was discovered in his liver. He said the disease spread to other parts of his body — includingfour “very small” spots in his brain— but a year latersaid he was cancer-free.
In July 2017, Carter also collapsed from dehydration while working at a Habitat for Humanity work site in Winnipeg, Canada, but wasback in actionthe following day.
source: people.com
