Jimmy Carterturned 95 on Tuesday — but the former president isn’t letting his age get in the way of his still active life.
Carter last year surpassedGeorge H. W. Bush‘s record as theoldest living president, following Bush’s 2018 death at 94 years and 171 days old.
After a busy year of volunteering, teaching, traveling and more, Carter, who has been nicknamed the“active ex-president,”is taking the day off to relax for his birthday.
He’ll be celebrating with a “quiet day at home,” according to a spokeswoman — but then he and wifeRosalynn Carter, 92, are heading to Tennessee in a few days for their annual Habitat for Humanity build.
The nation’s 39th president lives in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, with Mrs. Carter, his wife of73 years.
Former President Jimmy Carter in 2019.The organizer/China News Service/Visual China Group/Getty
Despitebreaking his hip in early May, Carter was able to “recover comfortably” and get back on his feet.
In fact, he was on his way to go turkey hunting when he sustained the fall that led to his hip surgery,according to his spokeswoman.
“President Carter said his main concern is that turkey season ends this week, and he has not reached his limit,” his spokeswoman said at the time. “He hopes the State of Georgia will allow him to rollover the unused limit to next year.”
Carter has a long-documented history of spending time outdoors, including for his and his wife’s annual Carter Work Project building homes for Habitat for Humanity.
Jason Franson/The Canadian Press/AP
The Carters will go to Nashville starting this weekend to volunteer at the36th Carter Work Project, just months after his surgery. They will team up with future Habitat homeowners and other volunteers to build 21 new homes in the city’s Park Preserve neighborhood from Monday to the following Friday, Habitat for Humanity spokesman Bryan Thomas told PEOPLE.
Carter also continues to regularly teach Sunday schoolat his local Maranatha Baptist Church.
He previously credited his energy to his daily exercise routine (including swimming and riding two and a half miles on his Trikke machine) and a healthy diet.
From left: Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter in September 2018.John Amis/AP/Shutterstock
“He never stops,” close friend and former White House adviser Gerald Rafshoon previously told PEOPLE. “He was 52 when he became president. He was 56 when he left the presidency, and I remember after the re-election loss he was planning his next stop and he wasn’t going to be inactive.”
Carter, who famously worked on his family’s peanut farm before entering into politics, assumed the presidency in 1976. During his one term in office, the Democratic former Georgia governor helped broker a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, but went on to face various foreign policy setbacks.
He lost his bid for re-election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Hereceived the Nobel Peace Prizein 2002.
Library of Congress/MCT/MCT via Getty
The former president also stays politicly active and continuesto speak out against the Trump administration.
At an event on Sept. 17, Carter, a regular critic of PresidentDonald Trump, said that he’s still unsure as to which Democrat he’ll be voting for come the next election but he believes it’d be a “disaster” for Trump to serve another term,according to CNN.
“I’m going to keep an open mind. One of the major factors I will have in my mind is who can beat Trump,” Carter said at a town hall at the Carter Center in Atlanta. “I think it will be a disaster to have four more years of Trump.”
In June, Carter said he believed there was “no doubt” that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election and that Trump’s victory was therefore illegitimate.
source: people.com
