Former US president Jimmy Carter celebrates 100th birthday

Mr Carter was last seen publicly nearly a year ago, when he attended his wife’s two funeral services (Picture: Alex Brandon, Pool/AP)

Jimmy Carter was preparing to celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the son of a Depression-era farmer to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Living the last 19 months in home hospice care in Plains, the Georgia Democrat and 39th president has continued to defy expectations, just as he did with his rise from his family peanut farming and warehouse business to the world stage.