James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr., who would become the 39th president of the United States, was born on October 1, 1924 in the town of Plains, Ga. He is the oldest of four children born to James Earl Carter and his wife Lillian, shown here at age 6 with his sister Gloria, age 4, in Plains, Ga.

Carter, pictured at age 7, attended public schools in Plains, Ga. He went on to study engineering at Georgia Southwestern Junior College before joining the Naval ROTC at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Carter in his military uniform, circa 1944, was part of the Navy’s atomic submarine program during WWII. He attained his childhood goal of attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., graduating in the top 10 percent of his class in 1946.

Carter appears before a crowd during his second campaign to become the Governor of Georgia on Aug. 2, 1970 at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Ga. His first attempt in 1966 failed. He began is political career as a community leader and served two terms at a state senator before running for governor.

Judge Robert H. Jordan administers the oath of office to Gov. Jimmy Carter during ceremonies at the state capitol in Atlanta. Ga. on Jan. 12, 1971. He became Georgia’s 76th governor. In his inaugural address he stated, “I say to you quite frankly, that the time for racial discrimination is over. No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job, or simple justice.”

Governor Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn meet Elvis Presley in Atlanta, June 29, 1973. Upon hearing of the death of Presley in 1977, Carter released a statement in which he said, “His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture.”

Carter holds a handful of peanuts, referencing to his background as a peanut farmer, during a campaign event in Boston in 1976. Carter announced he was running for President in 1974, campaigning for two years with the promise, “I will never lie to you,” before winning the Democratic party’s nomination at the 1976 convention

Carter participates in a televised debate with President Gerald Ford in the second of three presidential debates, Oct. 6, 1976. Ford made a major gaffe during the debate, stating, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration,” leaving many voters questioning Ford’s knowledge of foreign affairs.

President-elect Jimmy Carter embraces his wife Rosalynn upon winning the election, Nov. 2, 1976. Carter narrowly won the 1976 presidential election getting 297 electoral votes and 50.06% of the popular vote.

President-elect Jimmy Carter lifts his daughter Amy beside his wife Rosalynn during a celebration of his presidential election, in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 3, 1976.

President-elect Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn with their family in Plains, Ga. on Nov. 5, 1976. Daughter Amy sits in front with her brothers, from left, Donnel “Jeff,” Jack and James “Chip” Carter along with their wives.

President Gerald Ford talks with President-elect Jimmy Carter during Carter’s inauguration at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 1977. Carter developed a close friendship with his predecessor.

President Jimmy Carter shocked the nation when he ordered Secret Service agents to stop the motorcade so he and first lady Rosalynn Carter could walk the inaugural parade route from the U.S. Capitol to the White House, along with their nine-year-old daughter, Amy, Jan. 20, 1977.

President Carter greets boxer Muhammad Ali at a White House dinner celebrating the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty in Washington in 1977. The treaty gave Panama eventual control over the waterway and calming U.S. relations with Latin America.

President Carter signs a request to Congress for new emergency powers in light of a natural gas crisis, Jan. 26, 1977, with James Schlesinger, the country's first Secretary of Energy. The unusually harsh winter depleted the country's natural gas supplies.

The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, wipes his eyes during his visit to Washington, DC after police used tear gas to break up protesters outside the White House gates, Nov. 15, 1977.

Jimmy Carter talks with his daughter Amy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in 1978. She was just nine-years-old when the first family moved into the residence.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the start of the second trilateral meeting with President Jimmy Carter, Sept. 7, 1978, at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. The talks led to the Camp David Accords, a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt, signed Sept. 17, 1978.

Motorists line up for gas on May 9, 1979, the first day of gas rationing imposed on nine California counties following the revolution in Iran that caused a shortage of crude oil. It was the second energy crisis that occurred during Carter’s presidency. In July, with inflation and unemployment rising and continued oil shortages, Carter would deliver a speech from the Oval office that became known as the “Crisis of Confidence” or “Malaise” speech in which he encouraged citizens to do what they could to reduce their consumption of energy.

President Jimmy Carter walks with Pope John-Paul II at the White House on Oct. 6, 1979. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to ever visit the White House.

In January of 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini forced the Shah of Iran to disband his government and flee his country. President Carter allowed the Shah to come to the U.S. to seek medical treatment for cancer, angering a group of Iranian students, who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans as hostages on Nov. 4, 1979. In April of 1980, a military mission to rescue the hostages failed when a sand storm caused some of the helicopters to malfunction. Pictured is the wreckage from the failed rescue attempt which left eight marines dead.

President Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, shake hands as they greet one another before their debate at Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the only debate between the two candidates, held one week before the general election on October 28, 1980.

President Jimmy Carter concedes the election to Ronald Reagan as his wife, Rosalynn, daughter Amy, and other family members stand by his side, Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won in a landslide with 489 electoral votes.

The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days step off the plane in Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany, Jan. 21, 1981, shortly after President Ronald Reagan took office. Reagan sent Carter to Germany to welcome them home. Though Carter worked tirelessly to free the hostages, the crisis would prove to be the greatest failure of his presidency.

President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan join former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the Carter Center Presidential Center dedication in Atlanta, Oct. 1, 1986. The Center is home of the Carter Center and the Presidential Library and Museum. The Carter center is dedicated to peace, human rights and fighting disease, including the successful eradication of Guinea Worm and River Blindness.

Jimmy Carter throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the first game of the 1992 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays at Fulton County Stadium on Oct. 17, 1992 in Atlanta.

In December of 2002, Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo City Hall, Norway. The citation read, “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Though often considered to be an average or below average president, he is considered one of the most important and effective former presidents in history.

In 1984 the Carters began volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and continued over the years helping to build safe, affordable housing throughout the world. About 300 volunteers, including the former President and first lady, worked on houses in Baltimore, Maryland and Annapolis, October 5, 2010, as part of a week-long nationwide project with Habitat for Humanity.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela invited Carter to join The Elders, an elite group of senior statesmen dedicated to solving thorny global problems, that Mandela founded in 2007. During his presidency, Carter had been committed to ending apartheid in South Africa, though it did not end until 1991.

Jimmy Carter is pictured in Atlanta on Sept. 14, 2011.

Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton wave as they leave at the end of the Let Freedom Ring ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 2013 in Washington, D.C. The event was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Jimmy Carter signs his book "A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety" at Barnes & Noble in New York on July 7, 2015. Carter also wrote, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” which was published in 2006. The book sparked criticism with some calling it biased against Israel. Several members of the Carter Center’s board of advisors resigned in protest.

On August 12, 2015, Jimmy Carter announced that doctors had discovered a small mass on his liver during a surgery and spots on his brain that were cancerous. While undergoing radiation treatment, Carter continued to teach his Sunday school classes at Marantha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., and thousands of people came from across the country, lining up early in the morning to see him.

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, arrive at the U.S. Capitol in Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, Jan. 20, 2017.

From left, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter stand at the funeral of former President George H. W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018 in Washington, D.C.