A look at Jimmy Carter’s legacy in Georgia and around the world

MORE: Celebrating life, legacy of Jimmy Carter

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Jimmy Carter, the only Georgian to serve as president, was born in Plains on Oct. 1, 1924, to Earl Carter, a farmer and businessman, and Lillian Carter, a registered nurse.

He grew up in the nearby community of Archery.

In 1941, after graduating from Plains High, Carter enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College in Americus. One year later, he transferred to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and in 1943, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

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After receiving his naval commission, Carter married Rosalynn Smith of Plains on July 7, 1946, after which they moved to Norfolk, Va.

Carter served as a naval officer from 1946 to 1952 but resigned from the Navy to return to Plains and take over the family peanut farm after his father died of cancer.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter operated Carter’s Warehouse, a general-purpose seed and farm supply company in Plains.

Carter was named to his first public office in 1954 when he accepted an appointment to the Sumter County Board of Education. In 1962, he was elected as a state senator, and in 1966, ran for governor but lost to Lester Maddox in an election so close it was thrown into the state House of Representatives to be decided.

In 1971, Carter ran again for governor and won.

From there, he went on to the White House.

From the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, here’s a detailed timeline of his presidency:

1977

Jan. 20 - Inaugurated president
Feb. 2 - Signs Emergency Natural Gas Act and holds “fireside chat” in which he wore a sweater and urged Americans to do so while cutting down their heaters to conserve natural gas.
March 30 - Soviet Union rejects SALT II proposals
April 4 – Anwar Sadat and Carter meet in Washington
April 6 - Carter signs Reorganization Act
April 18 - Second address to the nation on energy
May 7 - London Economic Summit
June 30 - Carter halts B-1 bomber production
July 19 – Menachem Begin and Carter meet in Washington
Aug. 4 - Department of Energy established
Sept. 7 - Panama Canal Treaty signing
Sept. 21 - Bert Lance resigns
Sept. 27 - Agreement with Soviet Union on SALT II
Oct. 5 - Signs International Covenant on Human Rights
Nov. 19 - Sadat visits Israel

1978

March 16 - Senate ratifies first Panama Treaty
Sept. 4 - Camp David Summit begins
Sept. 17 - Camp David Accords signed
Oct. 13 - Civil Service Reform Act Signed
Oct. 15 - Congress passes first energy package
Dec. 15 - Announces normalization of relations with People’s Republic of China

1979

Jan. 16 - Shah leaves Iran
Jan. 19 - Deng Xiaoping visits Washington
Feb. 1 – Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran
March 8 - Trip to Egypt and Israel
March 26 - Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty signing
March 28 - Three Mile Island nuclear incident
April 5 - Address to the nation on energy
June 12 - Carter proposes National Health Plan to Congress
June 18 - Signing of SALT II Treaty in Vienna with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev
July 3 - Cancels energy speech; begins meetings at Camp David on state of the administration
July 15 - Address to the Nation—the “malaise” speech
July 17 - Announces Cabinet and senior staff changes
Aug. 15 - Andrew Young resigns as ambassador to the United Nations
Aug. 31 - Soviet troops reported in Cuba
Oct. 17 - Department of Education established
Oct. 20 - Decision to admit the Shah to the United States for medical treatment
Nov. 4 - American Embassy in Teheran overrun
Dec. 27 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan begins

1980

Jan. 4 - Address to the Nation on Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; sanctions announced
Jan. 20 - First caucuses in Iowa
Jan. 21 - State of Union Message outlining “Carter Doctrine”
Feb. 20 - Decision to boycott 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow
March 14 - Anti-inflation program announced; balanced budget sent to Congress
April 11 - Decision to attempt hostage rescue mission
April 21 - Vance resigns as secretary of state
April 24 – Iranian hostage rescue mission fails
May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts
July 16 - Republicans nominate Ronald Reagan
July 22 - Carter statement on Billy Carter’s relations with Libya
August 13 - Democratic Convention nominates Jimmy Carter
Sept. 22 - Iraq invades Iran
Oct. 28 - Carter-Reagan debate
Nov. 4 - Reagan defeats Carter in election
Dec. 2 - Carter signs Alaska Lands Bill
Dec. 7 - Carter warns Soviets against military intervention in Poland
Dec. 11 - Carter signs Superfund Bill to clean up toxic waste dumps

1981

Jan. 16 - Final terms for release of American hostages negotiated
Jan. 20 – At noon, Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president
Jan. 20 – At 12:20 p.m. EST, hostages released in Teheran
Jan. 21 - Reagan sends Carter to Germany to welcome hostages

Two years after leaving office, Carter established The Carter Center in Atlanta. Also after leaving the White House, Carter became a distinguished professor at Emory University.

In his hometown of Plains, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site was established in 1987. The National Historic Site includes the Depot Museum, Plains High School Museum, and the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm.