Jimmy Carter turns 100, becoming first centenarian former US president

# Jimmy Carter turns 100, becoming first centenarian former US president

Standfirst: The milestone was marked by ceremonies in Plains, Georgia, as the longest-living former US president celebrated a century of life from hospice care.

Jimmy Carter has turned 100, becoming the first former president of the United States to reach the century mark.

The evidence packet says the former president, a Democrat who served from 1977 to 1981, has spent the past 19 months in hospice care in Georgia. It also notes that he remains engaged enough to have spoken in recent months about wanting to live long enough to vote in the November election.

The birthday was marked in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, where several events were organised. The day began with a naturalisation ceremony for 100 people from 30 countries who became US citizens. Later, military jets flew overhead in a tribute that connected the former president’s home community to the national symbolism of the occasion.

The celebrations did not stop there. Habitat for Humanity volunteers, working with the housing charity Carter has supported for decades, were building 30 homes in Minnesota that week. Earlier in the month, a concert in Atlanta raised more than $1.2 million for The Carter Center and drew recorded messages from other presidents.

Carter’s long retirement has not erased his public presence. The packet highlights his 2023 appearance at a memorial service for his wife Rosalynn, and it notes that the couple’s 77-year marriage remains the longest of any first couple. Those details help explain why the birthday attracted attention well beyond Georgia.

The milestone also carries a larger significance because Carter’s age and hospice care have made him a focal point in public discussion about aging, dignity and end-of-life care. The packet notes that his family has described him as emotionally engaged, even while ill, and that his story has helped normalise hospice as a reasonable option.

For a former president, reaching 100 is more than a personal milestone. It turns a political life into a living historical reference point. Carter is now the longest-living former US president and the first to make it to 100, a fact that gives the day unusual national resonance.

The evidence packet does not frame the birthday as a political event, but it is hard to ignore the symbolism. Naturalisation ceremonies, a flyover and charity work all made the day about more than one man. They linked Carter’s century of life to the themes that defined much of his public career: service, faith, and a continuing commitment to civic action.

That makes his 100th birthday not simply a medical or biographical landmark, but a moment of American political memory.