Building a legacy of peace

JIMMY Carter grew up on a farm in Georgia and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1946.

After working with the nuclear submarine programme, he resigned his commission in 1953 and returned to farming.

In 1962 he entered local politics and by 1971 was elected Governor of Georgia.

Running for the Democratic party, Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election.

Although he worked hard to champion human rights and responsible government, his term was dogged by high inflation, high unemployment and an energy crisis.

The last 14 months of his term were doomed by an ongoing hostage situation at the US embassy in Iran.

Carter ran for a second term in 1980, but was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan.

Since leaving office, he has continued to work for the disenfranchised around the world, fighting hunger and poverty through a variety of non-profit organisations.

He is married to Rosalynn, and they have three sons and a daughter: John William, James Earl III, Donnel Jeffrey, and Amy Lynn.

But in the Middle East, through the 1978 Camp David agreement, he helped achieve peace between Egypt and Israel and achieved ratification of the Panama Canal treaties.

Building on the work of predecessors, he established full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.

He also completed negotiations on the SALT II nuclear limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.