Former President Jimmy Carter will receive hospice care at his Plains, Georgia, home as his health deteriorates, according to a Saturday announcement from the Carter Center.
At 98 years old, Carter is the longest-living former US executive.
The nature of Carter’s current health issues was not announced.
Electing hospice care signals a person is nearing the end of life, where care focuses on comfort rather than continued treatment.
One study found 93% of hospice patients pass away within six months.
The former peanut farmer, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976 on his way to a single term marked by an energy crisis, a historic agreement between Israel and Egypt, and the normalization of relations with China (see timeline).
Since losing reelection in 1980, Carter has worked as a humanitarian advocate alongside his wife, Rosalynn.
He recovered in 2015 from a melanoma diagnosis that spread to his brain and liver.
Carter didn’t want to “capitalize financially on being in the White House,” he said in 2018, instead choosing to focus on humanitarian efforts.
The former peanut farmer and Navy man shared, “it just never had been my ambition to be rich.”
He’s been an ex-president longer than anyone else in history; Carter became the oldest living former president in American history on his 95th birthday three years ago.
He makes history every single day, after celebrating his 98th birthday on October 1, 2022.
“I think the best explanation for [a long life] is to marry the best spouse: someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you and keep you alive and interested in life,” Carter said in 2019.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been married for 78 years.