Biography

Who was Jimmy Carter’s father James Earl Carter Sr.?

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

James Earl Carter Jr. is a retired politician from the United States who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.

A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967, and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. He was born on October 1, 1924.

Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946, and joined the United States Navy, serving in the submarine service. He returned home afterward, where he revived his family’s peanut-growing business.

Who was Jimmy Carter’s father James Earl Carter Sr.?

 

James Earl Carter Sr. was an American retired politician and entrepreneur who represented Sumter County in the Georgia House of Representatives from January 1953 until his death in July 1953. He was the father and namesake of the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, and the husband of Bessie Lillian Carter. He was born September 12, 1894, and sadly died on  July 22, 1953.

James Earl Carter Sr. was born in Arlington, Georgia on September 12, 1894. He was the fourth of five children born to William Archibald Carter and Nina Pratt. In 1904, after his father was murdered by a business partner – which the nine-year-old James witnessed – the Carter family moved to Plains, Georgia. The relocation allowed a supportive uncle to provide guidance to James who was enrolled in the Riverside Military Academy where he lived until the completion of 10th grade. Biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies speculated that the sudden death of his father left James with an approach to life that was both conservative and cautious. In a 1980 address to the Democratic National Committee, Jimmy Carter stated that his father had continued a trend set by previous generations of the Carter family by not finishing high school.