Former US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100.
Mr Carter, the oldest living former US leader, became the 39th president of the country in 1977.
A former peanut farmer and a Democrat, Mr Carter won the presidency following the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War.
He died today, the AP reports citing the Carter Center – more than a year after starting hospice care at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia where he grew up.
It was in Plains where Mr Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November last year, spent most of their lives.
The Carter Center wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia.’
The former president became known as a campaigner for human rights which was recognised by the Nobel Peace Prize committee in 2002.
When awarding him with the coveted prize, they cited his ‘untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.’
Human Rights Watch said on X when posting about his passing: ‘Carter set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority, and he continued to fight for human rights after he left office.’
Mr Carter, born James Earl Carter Jr, beat the Republican president Gerald Ford in his electoral win in 1977 and he served until 1981.
But before his rise to power, he had gotten life experience in the US Navy after leaving his hometown of Plains. He went on to sit in the Georgia state senate which kicked off his political career.
Recently, Mr Carter had expressed he would be willing to travel to North Korea for peace talks on behalf of US President Donald Trump, the news agency reports.
He had previously travelled to the secretive country in August 2008 to help secure the release of a captured US citizen, Aijalon Mahli Gomes.
In 2019 ahead of the US presidential election campaign, Mr Carter said that re-electing Mr Trump would be a ‘disaster,’ CNN reported.
He also joked at the time – at the age of 94 – that there should be an age limit on the presidency.
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He revealed his cancer diagnosis in August 2015 after having surgery to remove a small tumour in his liver. In 2019, he was taken to hospital after suffering falls, a brain bleed and a broken pelvis among others.
The former first lady Rosalynn had also advocated for human rights and mental health alongside her husband of 77 years.
She passed away after a long battle with dementia and a decline in her health.
The pair had four children after marrying in 1946 – Amy, James, Donnel and Jack.
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