Former US President Jimmy Carter, aged 98, is receiving palliative care at his residence, where he wants to “spend the time he has left to live” after a series of hospitalizations, his foundation announced Saturday evening. Jimmy Carter is the oldest living American president. The former Democratic president, who held the highest position in the White House from 1977 to 1981, chose to remain in his residence, surrounded by those close to him, “in lieu of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center said in a statement. In a message published on Twitter on Saturday, Jason Carter, one of the grandsons of the former president of the United States, revealed that he saw his two grandfathers the previous day. “They are reconciled, and, as always, their home is full of love,” he added.

Numerous American politicians wanted to salute the career of the former president, elected to the supreme office of the White House in 1976, in an America still marked by the Watergate scandal, which forced President Nixon to resign. “You are a gift to our country,” Democratic Senator Tina Smith said. Jimmy Carter had only one term as president of the United States. Artisan of the Camp David Accords that led, in March 1979, to the signing of an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, the former democratic leader was strongly criticized in his country during the crisis triggered by the taking of American hostages in Iran in 1979–1980. After leaving the White House, Jimmy Carter founded the Carter Center in 1982 to promote development, health, and diplomatic conflict resolution around the world. A tireless traveler, Jimmy Carter traveled to almost all areas marked by military conflicts, including Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, and East Timor. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, especially for his “decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.” The former resident of the White House, who often talks about his Christian faith in interviews, has already faced a series of health problems that forced him to be hospitalized several times in 2019. In the same year, he became the first American president in history to reach the age of 95. Jimmy Carter was not present in January 2021 at the inauguration of Joe Biden, a ceremony traditionally attended by former presidents of the United States. In 1976, Joe Biden, then a young senator from Delaware, was one of the first politicians to support Jimmy Carter in the race to win the presidential election. In April 2021, Jimmy Carter welcomed Joe Biden to his small hometown of Plains, in the state of Georgia, where he lives after leaving the White House. The former head of state did not appear in front of journalists at that time, but his wife, Rosalynn, who moves with the help of a metal frame, could be seen with the Bidens. Two months later, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrated 75 years of marriage. The former American president and his wife met in 1945 through the younger sister of the democratic politician, who was then a student at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

By Paul Bumman