Jimmy Carter turns 100. A concert in his honor raised $1.2 million that will be donated to the international programs of the Carter Center founded by the former American President and his wife Rosalynn in 1982, the year after leaving the White House, where they arrived in 1977, with the mission of "bringing peace, fighting disease and building hope".
Former Democratic governor of Georgia, Carter was the 39th president of the United States. He promoted human rights and reforms in the energy sector. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, "for his decades-long efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts", and the Camp David Accords alone, which made peace between Israel and Egypt possible, would suffice. "In a situation currently marked by the threat of the use of force, Carter has defended the principle that conflicts, as far as possible, must be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and economic development," the Norwegian Nobel Committee acknowledged at the time.
Thousands of Habitat for Humanities volunteers, the NGO with which the Carters have literally been building houses for 35 years, have built 30 homes in St. Paul, Minnesota, in five days of work, to celebrate the former President's birthday.
"He has done more in the years after his presidency than anyone else. He is not looking for attention. He wants to change things. He tries to live the life of a Christian, a true Christian who cares about the poor and the homeless and children," commented Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a presidential historian at Norfolk State University, in an interview with Politico.
