Longest-Living Ex-US President Jimmy Carter, 98, to Receive Hospice Care at Home | He is Surrounded by Loved Ones

Former US President Jimmy Carter is about to begin receiving hospice care, per PEOPLE. The Carter Center announced in a statement on Twitter on February 18 that Carter, 98, will be moved to hospice care following "a series of short hospital stays." In recent years, he has suffered from several health issues including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, although he had responded well to the treatment he received, as per Reuters.

Now, "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," the statement said. "He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers," the statement concluded.

Many well-wishers expressed their support for the former President and replied to the Twitter announcement. @Amanda St. Amand replied, "May his remaining time be peaceful. A lovely, kind, and decent man - there really can be elected officials who are fine human beings." @MaryBethSchneider replied, "Just reading this brought tears to my eyes. Bless him." @MikeChiappetta wrote, "Godspeed Mr. President. Wishing peace to you & your family." @RonWaxman wrote, "President Carter is as fine a man as there is. Sending nothing but love to him and his family."

President Carter's health news comes after he set a new record as the longest-living United States president in October 2022. He has held the title since March 2019 after the previous titleholder, President George W. Bush died at the age of 94, as per PEOPLE. Carter is a Democrat who served as a President of the United States from January 1977 to January 1981.

The Carter Center which has been founded by President Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter in 1982 has assisted in a wide range of humanitarian efforts for 40 years now. He may have held the highest office for four years but in the four decades that followed his White House Tenure, he has managed to hold his place as one who helped others both domestically and internationally. 

As per Reuters, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

He is loved by many as a former President. "As the longest-living president in US history, President Jimmy Carter has had a remarkable life of service that deserves worldwide celebration," said Paige Alexander, the Carter Center CEO, in a statement on Carter's birthday, reported PEOPLE.  On a digital bulletin board created by the Carter Center team to celebrate the former President's birthday, people from all corners of the world have been leaving warm messages and recalling favorite moments of Jimmy, some recent and some dating back several decades.

President Carter's long post-White House life of 41 years and counting, outlasting Herbert Hoover's next-longest post-presidency timespan by a decade gave him the time to author 30 books, the most recent published when he was 93, and get back to the no-frills American lifestyle he and Rosalynn are fond of. 

Until the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Carters spent a week each year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, helping to build affordable houses. For many of those years, President Carter also taught Sunday school classes in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, a small rural area with a population in the hundreds.

References:

https://people.com/politics/jimmy-carter-to-begin-receiving-hospice-care/

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-us-president-jimmy-carter-receive-hospice-care-statement-2023-02-18/

https://people.com/politics/jimmy-carter-sets-new-record-longest-living-president/

https://twitter.com/CarterCenter/status/1627039245025280003?s=20

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Andrew Toth