James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States, has died at the age of 100. Carter, a Georgia Democrat, rose to political prominence in the wake of Watergate and the resignation of the late former President Richard Nixon. From 1971 to 1975, Carter served as the Governor of Georgia before riding a wave of government skepticism, populism, and anti-war fervor into office, defeating Nixon’s vice president, Gerald Ford, in the 1976 presidential election.
As a primary candidate for governor in 1970, Carter ran as a conservative-leaning populist Democrat, positioning himself well against Georgia’s incumbent liberal Democrat governor, Carl Sanders. Carter hammered Sanders for his lavish lifestyle, personal wealth, and deep ties to the national Democratic Party. With 49 percent of the vote, Carter came out ahead of Sanders, who mustered only 38 percent support. This…
