James Earl Carter, Jr. was born on October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia. His father was James Earl Carter, Sr. and his mother was Lillian Gordy Carter. He was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He served as our nation’s 39^th President from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981.

     “Jimmy” Carter was a naval officer and a peanut farmer. After having served seven years in the Navy, Mr. Carter entered politics. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate and later as Governor of Georgia. In December 1974, Mr. Carter announced his intentions to run for President. At first, few took his candidacy seriously, but as time went by, he gained more and more political momentum. By the time of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, Mr. Carter had garnered so much support that he was nominated as that party’s Presidential candidate on the very first ballot. Mr. Carter chose Senator Walter F. Mondale as his running mate. Together they went on to defeat the incumbent President, Gerald R. Ford. The Carter Administration was beset with many problems, including high interest rates and high monetary inflation. In 1979, Iranian radicals overran the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran and held U.S. civilian and military personnel hostage for 14 months. Those hostages were released on January 20, 1981 – the very day President Carter left office.

     Jimmy Carter married Eleanor Rosalynn Smith in 1946. They have four children: John, James, Donnel and Amy.