HOSPICE: Jimmy Carter decides against further medical intervention
The Carter Center announced today that Former President Jimmy Carter would now remain at home in hospice care after a series of brief hospital stays recently.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former US President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team,” a statement from the Center said.
The 98-year-old Carter reportedly made the decision on his own with the help of his family which has requested “privacy at this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”
Seven years ago, Carter had announced that he had undergone treatment for melanoma that had spread to both his liver and his brain.
Even after recovering from that surgery, Carter continued to work with the charitable organization Habitat For Humanity, building houses for the homeless.
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. was born and raised in Plains, Georgia where, after a stint in the Navy, he returned to run his family’s peanut farming business before becoming a force within Georgia’s Democratic Party.
He was a little-known dark-horse candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976 when he managed to defeat then-President Gerald Ford, who had ascended to the presidency after Richard Nixon was forced to resign after the Watergate scandal made his impeachment imminent in those quaint old days when Republicans still experienced shame.
Highlights of his time in office included the pardon that he gave to all Vietnam-era war resisters who evaded the then mandatory draft; the establishment of two new cabinet-level federal departments — The Department of Education and the Department of Energy; the Strategic Arms Limitations (SALT) talks with the then-Soviet Union; and the installation of solar panels on the White House roof as part of his energy conservation initiatives.
Carter also won the Nobel Peace prize for his role in brokering the Camp David Accords between Israel and Palestine.
Carter faced many challenges during his tenure in office including the first major energy crisis that the United States had ever faced; an economy sabotaged by the massive inflation that the energy crisis jump-started; American hostages taken during the Iran revolution; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
At 98, Carter is currently the longest-lived U.S. president ever, besting George H. W. Bush, who was 94 when he passed away in 2018.
Once the news of Jimmy Carter’s transition to hospice care was announced, Twitter was filled with posts praising the former president for his virtuous life.
https://twitter.com/AyanDasGATech/status/1627055638458277889?s=20
https://twitter.com/eniledam05/status/1627055647912267776?s=20
Jimmy Carter on hospice care now. Such a great humantarian!
— Janice Perkins (@aero06janice) February 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/donnedia/status/1627055357335044096?s=20
https://twitter.com/megsamthx/status/1627055666774052864?s=20
A president that has done so much for others after leaving office. I hope Jimmy Carter’s remaining days are peaceful.
“Over the course of more than 30 years, they have worked alongside nearly 103,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,331 homes.” pic.twitter.com/GKO35ZrhIH
— Josh Mc (@JoshMcVa) February 18, 2023
Jimmy Carter was a better President than 45.
Don’t @ me.
— Ivan the K™ (@IvanTheK) February 18, 2023
Still amazed and appalled by the fact that the US political press makes no particular distinction between someone like Jimmy Carter and someone like Donald Trump, when it comes to being qualified to be president. Basic human decency simply isn't a press value.
— Steve Shepherd (@shepherdwong) February 18, 2023
https://twitter.com/MNPragmatist/status/1627055626013769729?s=20
https://twitter.com/fbost77/status/1627055621580414978?s=20
Let’s all hope that the rest of Jimmy Carter’s moments on earth are as peaceful and pain-free as possible.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
