Former US President Jimmy Carter chose hospice care. The Carter Center announced on Saturday. After a series of brief hospital stays, Carter, 98, chose to “spend the rest of his time at home with his family” rather than pursue further medical procedures.
“He has the full support of his family and medical team. The Carter family requests privacy during this time and is grateful for the sympathy shown by many of his admirers,” the center said in a statement shared on Twitter .
39th President of the USA
The 98-year-old Carter, who after leaving the White House lived longer than any other former president in US history, was a Democrat and served as the 39th President of the United States from January 1977 to January 1981. His successor was Ronald Reagan.
The presidency of the trained peanut farmer and nuclear engineer from the southern state of Georgia began with hope: In September 1978, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed two peace framework agreements – a sensational coup that Carter managed to pull off in tough secret negotiations at Camp David had threaded. Another success was the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty SALT II, which Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed in Vienna in June 1979.
But then the Islamic revolution in Iran, including the hostage crisis in Tehran, the invasion of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, the economic crisis and the collapse of the dollar overshadowed his tenure. For 444 days, Iranian students held more than 50 Americans in their power after a 1979 attack on the US embassy in Tehran. A liberation action by the military ended in a debacle.
Melanomas in liver and brain
In 1982, Carter founded his non-governmental organization, the Carter Center, which works, among other things, for peaceful conflict resolution around the world. In 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In recent years, Carter has suffered from several health issues, including melanoma, which has spread to his liver and brain. He responded well to medical treatment. He declared himself cancer-free in 2015. Carter and his wife Rosalynn, whom he married in 1946, have four children.