Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter gave up a promising navy career after his father's death to manage his family's farm in Georgia. In 1970 he was elected governor of Georgia, and in 1976 he was elected president. Devoted to world peace, Carter's greatest accomplishment was mediating a landmark peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. At home, he struggled with high unemployment and high inflation. In 1977, when revolutionaries in Iran took U.S. embassy workers hostage, Carter failed in efforts to rescue the hostages and was seen as a weak president. In 1980 he lost re-election to Republican Ronald Reagan. After leaving office, Carter monitored elections around the world, served as a mediator, and personally helped build homes for poor families in the United States and overseas. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifelong efforts to find peaceful solutions to world problems.

The Encyclopedia of Presidents offers authoritative biographies of each president since 1789, when George Washington was first sworn in. The stories of these key figures and historic events paint a full and lively picture of our nation.

Jimmy Carter gave up a promising navy career after his father's death to manage his family's farm in Georgia. In 1970 he was elected governor of Georgia, and in 1976 he was elected president. Devoted to world peace, Carter's greatest accomplishment was mediating a landmark peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. At home, he struggled with high unemployment and high inflation. In 1977, when revolutionaries in Iran took U.S. embassy workers hostage, Carter failed in efforts to rescue the hostages and was seen as a weak president. In 1980 he lost re-election to Republican Ronald Reagan. After leaving office, Carter monitored elections around the world, served as a mediator, and personally helped build homes for poor families in the United States and overseas. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifelong efforts to find peaceful solutions to world problems.