Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States and a former governor and senator, was in the White House from Jan. 1977 to Jan. 1980 and has been a household name ever since. Anytime his name trends on X, which is more often that you might think, it begs the question: is the 99-year-old still with us?
Before emerging victorious in the 1976 presidential contest and unseating Republican Party leader Gerald Ford, Carter was mostly considered a dark horse contender. However, he made several important decisions for the U.S. while in office that defined the country’s politics for years to come. His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education and he also successfully pursued the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the Camp David Accords.
On the flip side, the Iran hostage crisis, energy crisis, Three Mile Island accident, Nicaraguan Revolution, and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan all brought down Carter’s administration by a landslide. Following his defeat by the Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, he became viewed as a below-average president among political scientists and historians. None of this prevented Carter from living a long, fruitful life thereafter, but the question of his mortality does tend to follow him like a ghost.
Is Jimmy Carter still with us?
Yes, Jimmy Carter is still alive and well at 99. Born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, the former president is thus far the longest-lived president in U.S. history. However, he’s been in hospice care since Feb. 2023 after turning down medical treatment and has decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family at his Georgia home.
In a recent development, a hoax circulated on X saying that Carter had passed away. The former president’s personal healthcare professional, Dr. Michael Raines, quickly released a statement on the local TV station WALB on Tuesday, July 23, denying any such rumors.
“Well, I can confirm that the reports out there are not true. President Carter has not had any significant health issues in the last three or four weeks or since the last time I saw him, and I am on the way there today to reevaluate him and make my usual visit with him… he is doing as well as can be expected being in hospice, but he has not passed away.”
In recent years, X users have become accustomed to random celebrity names trending, a phenomenon often accompanied by feelings of dread and questions of whether or not that person is still alive. This Carter hoax, and others like it, serves as an important reminder not to panic when an unexpected name is present in thousands of fresh tweets. As of now, Carter is still alive and well, and we hope to see him celebrate his 100th birthday this October!