‘It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. on 29 December 2024 at age 100’
Naval History and Heritage Command | Published Dec. 29, 2024 | By Sam Cox (Rear Adm. USN, Ret.), Director, Naval History and Heritage Command
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. on 29 December 2024 at age 100. President Carter entered the U.S. Naval Academy in July 1943 and graduated with distinction in June 1946 with the wartime-accelerated class of 1947. He served as a surface line officer before transferring to submarine duty and being selected as one of the first officers in the Navy’s nuclear power program. He resigned his commission in October 1953 upon the death of his father and the need to attend to his family’s peanut farm. He subsequently went on to serve as the 39th President of the United States, from 1977–81. He was the fifth consecutive President to have prior Navy service, although the only one to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. He established the “Carter Doctrine” in 1980, declaring that the U.S. has vital interests in the Persian Gulf and would use force to defend them if necessary.