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5 times the world fell in love with Jimmy Carter after his presidency

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife former first lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary Saturday, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Ga.. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool, File) (John Bazemore, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Rest in peace, Rosalynn Carter.

The former First Lady and wife of the oldest living U.S. President passed away at the age of 96 on Sunday in Plains, Georgia.

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But even though Jimmy Carter spent time in the Oval Office, history will remember the Carters for much more than Jimmy’s tenure as president.

Here are five ways the world fell in love with both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter after they left the White House.

1. Habitat for Humanity efforts

Jimmy Carter didn’t create Habitat for Humanity — Miller and Linda Fuller did so in 1976 — but he did play a big role in its growth across the nation.

It started in 1984 when Carter passed by a Habitat for Humanity build site while speaking at a church in New York City.

Rather quickly, the Carters recruited a few dozen volunteers to help renovate a six-story apartment building that gave affordable housing to 19 families.

Since that day, the Carters have worked in 14 different countries and with roughly 103,000 volunteers to repair, renovate and build more than 4,300 homes, according to Habitat for Humanity.

2. Jimmy Carter’s time as a Sunday school teacher

Carter has spent most of his adult life teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, according to exploregeorgia.org.

When Carter has spoken, doors have opened at 8:30 a.m. and the sessions have started at 10 a.m.

Visitors had to pass a U.S. Secret Service screening and were given an orientation on how to behave in church before Carter came out.

3. A record presidential marriage

The Carters were married for 77 years, a record for presidential couples. They were married on July 7, 1946.

4. Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize

In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.″

Carter said the prize was awarded him primarily because of the Carter Center, which he founded in 1982 to help resolve conflicts, advance democracy and prevent diseases around the world.

5. The Carters exhibited a humble life

This was the case even while Carter was in the White House. According to millercenter.org, Carter ordered a smaller presidential limousine and retired the presidential yacht from service. It was also custom for first ladies to commission their own china pattern for the executive mansion, but Rosalynn Carter declined to do so. That grounded and humble mindset continued beyond the White House.


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