Former US President Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100, the institute he founded has confirmed.
The former peanut farmer lived longer than any president in history and celebrated his 100th birthday in October.
The Carter Center, which fights for democracy and human rights around the world, said he died Sunday afternoon at his home in Plains, Georgia.
The Democrat served as president from 1977 to 1981, a period plagued by economic and diplomatic problems.
After leaving the White House with low approval ratings, his reputation was restored through humanitarian work that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Dad was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and selfless love,” his son, Chip Carter, said in a statement.
“The country is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we are grateful to honor his memory by continuing to live these same beliefs.”
Carter is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
His wife, Rosalynn, of 77 years, died in November 2023.
As of 2018 and the death of George HW Bush, he was the oldest US president.
Carter stopped receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness last year and began receiving home health care.
His presidency will be remembered for his struggles to deal with severe economic problems and numerous foreign policy challenges, including the Iran hostage crisis, which resulted in the deaths of eight Americans.
However, there was a significant victory in foreign policy in the Middle East when he helped broker an agreement between Egypt and Israel, which was signed at Camp David in the US in 1978.
But that seemed a distant memory two years later, when voters overwhelmingly preferred Republican Ronald Reagan, who had portrayed the president as a weak leader unable to deal with inflation and interest rates near record highs.
Carter lost the 1980 election by a landslide, winning only six US states and Washington DC.
After such a crushing defeat, Carter was often held up by Republicans as an example of liberal naivety.
At the time, many in his party either ignored him or saw the president’s shortcomings as evidence that their form of politics or democratic policy was a better way.
Today many on the right still scoff at Carter’s age but as the decades passed, his philanthropic efforts and simple lifestyle began to create a new legacy for many Americans.
After leaving the White House, he became the first and only sitting president to return fully to his pre-political home – a humble, two-room farmhouse.
He chose not to pursue the lucrative after-dinner speeches and publishing deals that await most former presidents, he told the Washington Post in 2018 that he really didn’t want to get rich.
Instead he spent his remaining years trying to solve the world’s problems of inequality and disease.
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