Former President Jimmy Carter, 98, to Receive Hospice Care

Former President Jimmy Carter is set to receive hospice care.

The 98-year-old's nonprofit organization The Carter Center announced the news Feb. 18. "After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention," their statement read. "He has the full support of his family and his medical team."

The group continued, "The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers."

Carter is married to former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, 95. The two share four children—John William "Jack" Carter, James Earl "Chip" Carter III, Donnel Jeffrey "Jeff" Carter and Amy Carter.

Following The Carter Center's statement, Jack's son Jason Carter, the chairman of the group's board of trustees, tweeted, "I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and—as always—their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words."

Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, is the oldest and longest-living president in U.S. history. The former peanut farmer served as president from 1977 to 1981.

In 1978, he helped broker the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, a peace deal that helped stabilize part of the Middle East. In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." 

For the last several years, Carter focused on his humanitarian causes. In 2015, he battled cancer, telling reporters at The Carter Center that he was set to undergo treatment for melanoma that spread to his liver and brain.

"I've had a wonderful life. I've have thousands of friends and I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence so I was surprisingly at ease—much more so than my wife was," he said. "But now I feel, you know, it's in the hands of God, who I worship, and I'll be prepared for anything that comes."

Later that year, Carter said in a statement, "My most recent MRI brain scan did not reveal any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones." He said he would continue medical treatment.

Carter also shared the news with attendees of a Sunday school class he often teaches at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where he lives.

"When I went this week they didn't find any cancer at all," he said. "So I have good news. So a lot of people prayed for me, and I appreciate that."

Carter's health took another turn for the worse in 2019, when he suffered a serious fall at home, fracturing his pelvis.

On Oct. 1, 2022, Carter turned 98. "He is looking at his 98th birthday with faith in God's plan for him," his grandson Jason told the Associated Press at the time, "and that's just a beautiful blessing for all of us to know, personally, that he is at peace and happy with where he has been and where he's going."