Former US President Jimmy Carter has chosen hospice care and to “spend his remaining time at home with his family” over further medical intervention, according to the Carter Center on Saturday.
Carter, 98, was a Democrat who served from January 1977 to January 1981 and has lived longer after leaving the White House than any other former president in US history.
“His family and medical team are completely behind him. The Carter family requests privacy during this time and thanks his many admirers for their concern “According to a statement issued by the center.
In recent years, the Georgia native had suffered from a number of health issues, including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, despite responding well to treatment.
The former peanut farmer’s four years as president were marred by domestic economic woes and the Iran hostage crisis, which ended just after he left office. Carter, on the other hand, played a key role in mediating the Camp David accords, which led to the historic Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
In 1980, he was defeated in an electoral landslide by Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, a former actor and California governor.
Carter, on the other hand, rehabilitated his legacy by working tirelessly on humanitarian causes for decades.
In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
He was also frequently seen, hammer in hand, assisting Habitat for Humanity volunteers in the construction of affordable houses.
Carter has four children with his wife Rosalynn, whom he married in 1946.
