Today, March 22, 2019, marks the day that Jimmy Carter, former 39th president of the United States, breaks the record for the oldest living president at 94 years and 172 days. The former president takes over the coveted position formerly held by George H.W. Bush who was 94 years and 171 days old at the time of his death in November 2018. This is considered an impressive feat as there have only been a handful of other presidents to have survived into their 90s.

 President Jimmy Carter, in office from 1977-1981, was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Following a stint in the United States Navy, Carter, along with his wife and three sons, inherited his late father’s peanut farming business and faced a difficult transition from Navy to agriculture. The family faced quite a few struggles during the early days of this transition and had to spend a year living in public housing. To this day, Carter remains the only president to have lived in subsidized housing. Carter delved into the world of politics in the early 1960s when he ran for Georgia State Senator, a position he held from 1963-1967, with the primary platform to decrease racial tensions throughout the South and provide more opportunities to create a stronger future for less fortunate citizens. After a successful run as a state senator, Carter then held the position of Governor of Georgia from 1971-1975. Following his time as governor, Carter announced his run for President of the United States on December 12, 1974. He and his running mate, Walter Mondale, narrowly defeated Gerald Ford with 297 electoral votes in the November 1976 US Presidential election.

 As president, Carter worked tirelessly to improve the poor economic state of the United States at the time by tackling pressing issues such as inflation and unemployment. While President Carter created almost eight million jobs by the end of his presidency, inflation and interest rates had reached an all time high and efforts to reduce them led to a short economic recession. President Carter will always be remembered for his many successes in various domestic affairs, such as establishing a national energy policy in an effort to combat the national energy crisis, expanding the national parks to protect over 100 million acres of land, creating the Department of Education and bringing record numbers of women and minorities to the workplace.

 Unfortunately, President Carter failed to secure a second term as president; however, he still strived to serve the United States. In 1982, he created the Carter Center to improve the quality of life for those struggling both in and out of the states. Today, President Carter along with his wife, Rosalynn Carter frequently volunteer a large portion of their time to working with Habitat for Humanity. President Carter is a remarkable citizen and political leader, and his accomplishments are still profoundly looked upon as he becomes the longest-living President of the United States.